bushwick is a neighborhood in the northeastern part of the new york city borough of brooklyn. it is fifteen minutes away from manhattan by either of the two subway lines serving it.
it is my new home.in 1638 bushwick was bought from some indians by a man named peter stuyvestant. i'm sure he didn't REALLY "buy" it, he probably just murdered them or killed their babies until they left, but anyways. in 1661 he ended up naming it "boswijck", meaning "little town in the woods" or "heavy woods" in 17th century dutch. which is now really ironic considering there are about two trees. it then became part of new netherland. isn't this all very fascinating?
when bushwick was founded, it was primarily an area for farming food and tobacco, but as brooklyn and new york city grew, factories that manufactured sugar, oil, and chemicals were built. then in the 1840s and 1850s all the germans started moving in and along with them came beer (yay) and breweries. thus bushwick was dubbed the "beer capital of the northeast".
ANYWAY. blah, blah, blah, then starting in the 1950s everything started going to shit. this continued through the seventies. things just kept getting worse for bushwick. the 80s and 90s weren't any better. in 1990 there were 77 murders, 80 rapes and 2,242 robberies. geez. throughout this time buildings that were deemed unsafe were knocked over making it more and more desolate.
when bushwick was founded, it was primarily an area for farming food and tobacco, but as brooklyn and new york city grew, factories that manufactured sugar, oil, and chemicals were built. then in the 1840s and 1850s all the germans started moving in and along with them came beer (yay) and breweries. thus bushwick was dubbed the "beer capital of the northeast".ANYWAY. blah, blah, blah, then starting in the 1950s everything started going to shit. this continued through the seventies. things just kept getting worse for bushwick. the 80s and 90s weren't any better. in 1990 there were 77 murders, 80 rapes and 2,242 robberies. geez. throughout this time buildings that were deemed unsafe were knocked over making it more and more desolate.
blah, blah, 2000s, the years of change. am i boring you? anyway, now hipsters are staking their claim on this area mostly due to its gritty pregentrified ambiance. or it's the only place they can afford, like me.
with all that being said...this is where i live.
this is where i sleep.
not really, but it was laying on my street. thames street.
down the street from my home are various factories and warehouses. one block down from me is a warehouse where they store and weigh garbage.
this is a "cracker patch", so to speak. it houses a coffee shop and a natural foods store. $7 eggs anyone?
bushwick has a population over 100,000. more than half the population lives below the poverty line and receives public assistance.
hey look, it's manhattan waaaay over there. hi manhattan.
so, i guess this is home for now.
sweet dreams, bushwick.
so, i guess this is home for now.sweet dreams, bushwick.
2 comments:
So Jacob,
Where exactly do you live? I lived on Cornelia St between Wilson and Knickerbocker.
I live on Thames St, between Varick and Porter.
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