2-Fam In Bedstuy Near the G Train
Looking at a few properties around the 79th precinct police station near Tompkins Park.. Spoke with some potential neighbors and got a good vibe, but speaking with the police was a different story… One officer said we’d be better off looking near the 81st precinct station along the J train.. We’re a family of 4…
Looking at a few properties around the 79th precinct police station near Tompkins Park.. Spoke with some potential neighbors and got a good vibe, but speaking with the police was a different story… One officer said we’d be better off looking near the 81st precinct station along the J train.. We’re a family of 4 with two kids, age 4 and infant. Any input regarding the park, public pool and public housing in the area would be helpful. Thanks
We live off the J line on Halsey. Great area to invest in, very quiet at night and Saratoga park is nice in the Summer. There are some issues like litter around here, but never felt unsafe. This area is also off of Stuy Heights, which is beautiful all year round. Great place to go on early morning runs in the summer. Give it another couple of years and it will be too expensive to buy around here.
We have been here since 2002. The neighborhood the neighborhood continues to progress. That being said there are things that can be difficult but are manageable as long as you develop a realistic set of expectations and patience. And yes, I agree with the other posters – pay no attention to the opinions of the police about the neighborhood. However, my experiences with them basically echo what they have experienced.
There is so much to say that is positive about living in BedStuy and then there are warnings too. These types of conversations are difficult to have via blog or email, because it is not the right medium for what what needs to be communicated in order for you too get a full understanding of the pros and cons. That being said I would advise the following:
You should travel the neighborhood morning, afternoon and very late in the eve to get a feel for the traffic and what you might encounter
Visit the park/play area with your children during the times that you would use them
Do not completely ignore the comments placed by NYPD. While they might tend to be bias there is some truth in what they have to say. Sort it out.
Visit the local businesses and vendors and speak to the people in the area. They know and will gladly tell you about the street you are about to move on to. By the way, they are the people that you will have to live with and they are the ones who will help you should the shit hit the fan.
Spend some time at the dog run at Tompkins. There are some great people there and will gladly give you the pros and cons. Hopefully you will run into some of the regulars so that you can have a face to face conversation on what you can expect.
Good luck!
I used to live on Greene Ave between Tompkins and Throop. While I loved the park, and the views I had from my apartment overlooking the park, having the Gates Ave projects behind my house was a drag. A lot of larger apartment buildings around there house some extremely loud & aggressive people – both of the verbal and physical fighting variety, and the super-loud music, 24-7 variety. When I was younger, worked at night, and was a renter, I didn’t care as much, but if you’re buying and work daytime hours, the noise factor should be taken into consideration. Also, sh*t does indeed go down in the park once in a while – I was driving along Lafayette last summer during the afternoon and gunshots went off behind my car, and then 5 guys jumped out in front of us and pulled out their guns and ran down the street. It was surreal. Unlike on cop shows, having to hit the deck in your own car and speed away is not easy to do, nor is it exhilarating.
Personally, I like the south side of Bed-Stuy better – it’s quieter, the housing is more consistent and in better shape, there are a greater variety of businesses closer by, and the blocks aren’t pimpled with ugly and cheap new construction – I don’t know why it is, but those places get so run down & ill-kept so fast!
I’m totally intrigued that the officer told you to check out the area around the 81st precinct. That’s at the Gates ave stop on the J that gets such a bad rap from a lot of folks on this blog. I have no idea whether its actually safer by the J but interesting that the cop seemed to think so.
It seems like there is sort of a critical mass for new businesses on the western side of the neighborhood–from Franklin to Nostrand and in Stuy heights, a bit less so in the middle and in the east.
I’d definitely recommend checking out a few different parts of the neighborhood. Bed Stuy is massive and quite different from place to place. You’re definitely on the right track talking to neighbors. Those are the folks you’re going to see every day.
I moved to Clinton Hill in 1989. I felt like such a pioneer, a homesteader! Much to my surprise, shame and embarrassment, I found a wonderful block with great families, and when I became a mom in 1998, it was a great place to raise my kid (until we moved to Bed Stuy in 2006!).
Montrose Morris has great advice about how to evaluate the block. If you can, go there at various times at various hours of the day (weekday, weekend, afternoon, evening, late night). I am pretty familiar with the area you’re describing (I live closer to the Nostrand stop on the A) and the blocks vary one by one. While you may be disappointed that there are active outdoor drug dealers, the chances are that you will find families just like yours, working people wanting the best for their kids and themselves. Check out the Hattie Carthan Community Garden just west of Tompkins Park, across from the dog run. There is also a very well organized group of parents with young kids in Stuyvesant Heights (in the area Dave described), not so far from where you are thinking of moving. You can also check out the Y at Bedford and Monroe.
Join these Yahoogroups:
groups.yahoo.com/group/bedstuykids
groups.yahoo.com/group/fgkids
The Fort Greene Kids group’s targeted membership includes Ft Greene and Clinton Hill but it has a ton of families now living in Bed-Stuy. Lots of duplications of posts but worth reading both.
A good portion of western Bed-Stuy is in School District 13 which includes most of the North Slope, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Heights, and Clinton Hill. Check that out by calling 311 with the address. There is certainly no guarantee that you’ll be able to get your kid into a greatly improved school but there are plenty of improving schools in Dist. 13 and it’s worth checking out.
I love the public pool! It is really fabulous with nice attendants and a lot of space. I also feel incredibly comfortable walking around there, even if I do make choices about which blocks to avoid, but after my initial shyness I have had great conversations with people who had lived there for a long time already.
Every block has its own character. Some are nothing but easy, some are difficult. Some are very noisy, especially in the summer, so do your research. But I have felt very welcomed there.
I agree. The police are absolutely NOT the people to talk to. Go to a school for a crafts fair or a book sale, go to the park or to the library or a playground.
I’ve lived in Clinton Hill since the 70s. One marathon day during the Koch era, it was extremely cold and rainy and I shared a big black umbrella with a young white cop stationed on the corner of Washington and Lafayette. My idiot friend was flirting with the cop and he was bitching about the crappy precinct, how crappy the job was, and how crappy the neighborhood was. Eventually, he got to the sarcastic punchline – “What are they gonna do? Send me to a bad neighborhood”. I withdrew the umberella. I lived in that “BAD” neighborhood and he had really pissed me off.
Most cops live in the suburbs in mostly white, working-class enclaves, sharing a proscribed outlook and value-set. Your question about the neighborhood is SO outside their norm that it’s meaningless.
Go to a restaurant, rent a furnished apartment or stay in a nearby B&B for a weekend, go to the dog run, talk to the store keepers. ANYBODY will have a more accurate perspective than the precinct.
And if you do call the police to come over and watch your happy well-functioning family, they get really pissed off for some reason. 😉
Police told me the same thing when I moved to Clinton Hill 9 years ago. I wouldn’t pay them much heed.