Young family considering Bed-Stuy
I’ve read posts on brownstoner and other blogs and I know this is can be an unpopular subject. I’m pregnant with our 1st baby (due in Nov), and my husband and I are considering moving to Bed Stuy. We currently live in Park Slope. My husband grew up in Bed Stuy, and my mother-in-law still…
I’ve read posts on brownstoner and other blogs and I know this is can be an unpopular subject. I’m pregnant with our 1st baby (due in Nov), and my husband and I are considering moving to Bed Stuy. We currently live in Park Slope.
My husband grew up in Bed Stuy, and my mother-in-law still lives there (grandma to babysit- a huge plus!). We love the sense of community and the gorgeous brownstones in Bed Stuy, and we like that there is less of a “scene” then in the Slope (no disrespect to Park Slope…). At the same time, I’m a little worried about feeling isolated with a baby in Bed Stuy, especially coming from the “baby land” that is Park Slope.
I have a mixed background (Puerto Rican and Jewish), but I definitely “look white” and I’m wondering if I’ll be able to assimilate into and be accepted by the community- especially by other young mothers in the neighborhood. This is not a “safety” issue [I’ve seen many other posts, some offensive, about feeling “safe” as a white person in a black neighborhood. I think that’s ridiculous and that’s NOT what this post is about.] This is much more of a social issue, and a larger question about being a mother and raising kids in Bed Stuy in 2007+.
Are there any other women- especially mothers of babies or young children- who live in Bed Stuy today and can talk about the “motherhood community.” Where do you take your kids? What parks are good? Is it easy to meet other mothers? If you are either of color or are white, do you know mixed families in the neighborhood? What are your feelings about the racial & social diversity in Bed Stuy, as a woman/ mother?
I’d appreciate any honest (and not hater-esque, please) feedback. Thanks!
-Rachel
2 out of 7 posts mention race, get over yourself leroy
Thanks for all of your great responses. Much appreciated.
Amy- I’d love to take you up on your offer to meet at BreadStuy (and any other Bed Stuy moms if you’re interested!). If you’re still up for it, email me at rachel_public_email@yahoo.com and we can set something up. It was really nice of you to offer.
Take care, all-
Rachel
amy, petit bassam, brooks valley cafe and solomons porch (actually not 100% about SP)all have free delivery service. brooks valley, in particular, serves excellent fare, particularly for vegetarians and non-meat eaters.
A couple of things:
Alisa,
It’s Choice, not Choices. And Choice is within the Clinton Hill boundary, though extremely close to
Bed Stuy.
A great resource for many of you would be the Encyclopedia of New York City, a truly great resource, published in collaboration with the New-York Historical Society.
The Encyclopedia lists the boundaries of Bedford Stuyvesant as “Flushing Avenue to the north,Atlantic Avenue to the south, Classon Avenue to the west and Bedford & Saratoga Aves to the east.
Hold one Minute..! does raise a very important point regarding moving into traditionally African American & Caribbean American neighborhoods, striving to bring positive change as well as respecting the some of the existing cultural institutions existing in these neighborhoods.
The schools in these areas have a long history of neglect. Unemployment and economic instability are realities of many of the areas residents. When moving into these neighborhoods, we should be holding our elected officials accountable for helping to create opportunities for all residents as well as getting resources to all the institutions that need them, particularly the public schools that serve the most vulnerable of populations-children.
My husband is complaining that this response is getting too long. I’ll just stop here.
A couple of things:
Alisa,
It’s Choice, not Choices. And Choice is within the Clinton Hill boundary, though extremely close to
Bed Stuy.
A great resource for many of you would be the Encyclopedia of New York City, a truly great resource, published in collaboration with the New-York Historical Society.
The Encyclopedia lists the boundaries of Bedford Stuyvesant as “Flushing Avenue to the north,Atlantic Avenue to the south, Classon Avenue to the west and Bedford & Saratoga Aves to the east.
Hold one Minute..! does raise a very important point regarding moving into traditionally African American & Caribbean American neighborhoods, striving to bring positive change as well as respecting the some of the existing cultural institutions existing in these neighborhoods.
The schools in these areas have a long history of neglect. Unemployment and economic instability are realities of many of the areas residents. When moving into these neighborhoods, we should be holding our elected officials accountable for helping to create opportunities for all residents as well as getting resources to all the institutions that need them, particularly the public schools that serve the most vulnerable of populations-children.
My husband is complaining that this response is getting too long. I’ll just stop here.
seems the op is the one making the biggest deal out of racial issues, the first thing she states is her religion and race, then goes on about her husband and so forth….
whatever, they got priced out of park slope, i think new jersey might be better for them.
Move to Jackson Heights, no one cares what color you are here. We’re all black, white, yellow, brown… screw Brooklyn.
funny how these posts always start off with i’m white or i’m black, but race is not the main issue of my post.
wtf, when will all you go beyond whatever color you are? you define yourselves immediately by your color, then go on about how its “not” the issue, god i want to throw up
to the op, good luck~hopefully your child we be able to “pass” as white as well
Hi Rachel,
First, CONGRATULATIONS! That is a great time of year to have a baby… you miss being completely huge in the August heat!
My husband and I are both white and have lived in Bed-Stuy for nearly 4 years. I had our first baby last December and am just starting to adjust enough to get out and about. We are right in-between the mommy enclaves of stuy-heights and clinton hill/ft green and I have been testing the waters in both. My experience so far has been… in Ft. Green I tried to sign up for a playgroup and was number 50zillion on the waitlist (yes a playgroup waitlist – that felt gross). I’ve been trying to get to the Brownstone Books storytime for weeks and always miss it (not easy being on time with an infant). Today we made it to the last five minutes and had a great time! Other moms were warm and friendly and invited me to join a new playgroup starting up. I met a couple of dads with kids (didn’t see that in Ft. Green but sure it exists) and was invited to brunch by a couple with a son our age. I’ve been over there enough to start to know people and am so impressed with how welcoming everyone is to new moms. It may exist, but I haven’t yet felt the kid competition that I seem to feel in other neighborhoods. We also have many parents on our block with kids of all ages and that will continue to be a good play and support resource. We too have each others keys, bring over dinner when a baby is born etc.
That said, I have felt isolated and have wished many times that I could just walk outside and go window shopping or sit in prospect park or my choice of countless cafes. That just doesn’t exist in the same density over here although there are definitely places (and more all the time). Like the poster above, we too seem to go out of neighborhood for many things. We are trying to curb that as we would like to support as much local business growth as possible, but frankly, as much as I love my neighborhood sometimes I do want the ammenities found in other areas. For example, there aren’t many places that deliver dinner and that makes me crazy when I haven’t had time to give a moments thought to dinner etc.
We haven’t entered school age/thinking yet, but many of the neighborhood moms I talk to say there are a number of excellent charter schools starting up (Leadership Prep for one). The more families there are working to make the schools effective the better!
I don’t want to ramble on, but I’d be happy to meet you at BreadStuy (coffee shop) and tell you more if you are interested. Just leave a way for me to reach you.
all the best,
Amy,