Is Bushwick, Brooklyn safe??? (Gates, Orleans: middle school, calculation, income)

[grimace8]

Originally Posted by anon1

Supposedly this hipster/yuppy scene has been taking place in Bushwick for the last six or seven years and the population has gone from what 3% white to 6% white in those 6-7 years...

exactly. i have enough living experience in northwestern brooklyn (decades) to tell you all there's just 'something about bushwick' - in other words "the transformation of bushwick", never seems to cross the finish line--yet it runs the race every year (but never wins). ...so the transformation becomes a yeti or sasquatch,etc, eluding proponents and new residents, and leaving everyone else wondering if one will ever be seen. bushwick 'never quite matches' the chatter about its 'potential' etc. i pretty much think it's destined to be stagnant. jmo.

[anon1]

They try so hard though its kinda pathetic... this neighborhood from the beginning was always strongly opposed to gentrification. And despite all the arts and cafes and converted lofts and condos being built the numbers for the most part remain the same and the #1 people moving into this area are not the hipsters but rather people from Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and South and Central America...

[tkak69]

Originally Posted by anon1

and at tkak69 really you're promoting the neighborhood? I had no idea... because the statement that crime rose 10% this year but has dropped several hundred percent over the last decade didn't give it away... are you sure you're not hispanic... cause it's usually us hispanics who tend to exagerrate so ridiculously... Bushwicks crime rate was said to have risen between the years of 07-08 compared to the start of the decade and the situation now is only slightly better than it was in 07 when gentrification supposedly took off... and with this rising crime rate from the previous two years it has now slowed to a near halt...

sure you have people such as yourself that are promoting the area falsely... but finally people are wising up to the fact that this neighborhood will not appreciate the way they hoped and for the most part are steering clear from this neighborhood...

Now we have already discussed this but the fact that Bushwick isn't what it was in the 80s and 90s doesn't make that much better of an area... The difference back then was that it was more desolate, there wasn't as much investment and the crack epidemic was in full effect... sure it was worth back then... but so was the entire country... the difference between the country and Bushwick however is that most other neighborhoods made vast improvements while Bushwick has remained as one of the worse neighborhoods in NYC along with other "supposedly gentrified areas" like Bed-stuy, Harlem, and ENY (I know, I was shocked at that one as well, but i've come to realize that on city-data anything is possible... i'm just waiting for Bloomberg to expand his condo building to Egypt so we can have a thread about egypt's gentrification)...

I did exaggerate. (Terrible habit.) Here's the ComStat report:
Bushwick crime (to date as of 3/20/11):
2011 vs. 2010: tracking 8% higher (to date 324 vs 300 incidents)
2011 vs. 2009: -2.11%
2011 vs. 2001: -20.39%
2011 vs. 1993: - 70.76%

It's imporant to remember that an 8% uptick over last year represents an overall lower number of incidents vs. what 8% represents in, say, 1993 when the overall number was much higher. IOW, year-over-year percentages aren't additive with year-over-decade percentages.

At anyrate, I just think its ironic that people like me are accused of having an agenda, when it seems like so many of the comments about "hipsters" are filled with bile, and predictions of their impending muggings seem to be gleeful. You guys throw around "hipster" like liberals use "tea-bagger" - its obviously meant to be an insult. Yes, I have an agenda. We both have agendas, except that I admit mine. Look, Im a realist; I wouldn't raise a kid here, but I don't have kids and most "hipsters" don't either. (BTW - You're right it's not that diverse; Teabaggers wouldn't be caught dead in Bushwick, but that's kind of okay with me.) But Bushwick is certainly not a death trap and I'll keep saying it to balance out all the predicters of doom.

[Phenom01]

Bush wick is safe, i dont care what anybody says.

[grimace8]

bushwick is shabby without the chic.

certain junctions and small stretches might be safer than others (and let's remember bushwick is huge) but let's be real- overall, there are way 'safer' neighborhoods to choose from.

[baabaabooey]

Originally Posted by DSNYSANMAN

As long as the majority of bushwich is puerto rican the area will never be safe.

OK I have to ask.

Mean Machine.

Ring a bell?

[anon1]

@ tkak69 im glad that you admit youre agenda but to answer your question no i don't have one... and I take extreme offense to the implication that I or whoever you were talking about feel glee about the hipsters that get beat up because not only is it ignorant but its false... When I see my people act like idiots to the hipster folk i get sick to my stomach because I realize that this is why people have so many stereotypes about my race... that being said, the hispanics that live in Bushwick for the most part are no good... and you can pretty up the neighborhood and use facts to show that Bushwick isn't Baghdad like it used to be but rather we only have 15-20 murders a year 400-500 burglaries and thousands of other violent crimes throughout the year... and the numbers that you posted don't show the fact that 2010 overall numbers were much higher in Bushwick than in 09' and this year has started off worse in terms of overall crime than last year started...

The fact is, my agenda is to promote the truth and to give people a sense of what the area is all about... Are there decent spots in the area where you're not in danger at all times... sure... but that doesn't mean that its a good neighborhood to live in and honestly like i said (and to each his own) the hipster folk are the only people that i know that will overpay for a tiny crappy apartment in a bad neighborhood instead of a more spacious apartment in a decent neighborhood... that will only leave me scratching my head...

[grimace8]

Originally Posted by anon1

The fact is, my agenda is to promote the truth and to give people a sense of what the area is all about... Are there decent spots in the area where you're not in danger at all times... sure... but that doesn't mean that its a good neighborhood to live in

my agenda is the 1st post on page 4. from what i see, the hip eventually get fed up. i heard of a couple who were victims of an armed break in. they were tied up. the perps were 2 men and one actually apologized while committing the crime, as in 'sorry, we really don't want to do this' (then why do it? but anyway). they moved shortly thereafter. from what i remember about the story, the husband was ambushed going into his building.

[gradco2004]

I live in Bushwick, on St.Nicholas & Starr (Between DeKalb & Jefferson Stations) and I love the area. I like the diversity and ethnic influence of the area. If you are afraid of people of color, or people who don't speak English as a first language, then I don't recommend this area for you. If you enjoy learning conversational Spanish with the friendly people who run the bodegas and laundry facilities, eating good Dominican food, and reasonable rent, then you will be right at home. The L Train is modern, and the stations are being renovated as we speak. We even have "countdown clocks" that tell us when the next train is arriving. I'm 24, so as you can imagine, I come home ROUTINELY between 3am and 5am and do not feel intimidated or unsafe. Yes, people will try to talk to you, but 9-times out of 10, it's not to sell you drugs! It's to invite you to their bodega or advertise some business. This is coming first hand from a resident of the area. One issue that I will tell you about is the poor plumbing in the area (i.e. low water pressure, so toilets clog easily) and the TERRIBLE roads (in the event you have a car). Make your own decision, but I thought that you should hear from a CURRENT resident, and someone who has never lived in NYC before. God speed.

To sum it up: If you do not sell drugs, look for drugs, or hang with people involved in the drug trade, then your life is in no danger in Bushwick.

Another Side note: DO NOT let adverised prices on apartments intimidate you. The apartment that I stay in (2br/ 2bath) was advertised as $1500/mo. I viewed the apartment and told the landlord that I would take it for $1100/mo if he does not get an offer. I got my phone call 48 hours later. A lot of people are intimidated by the area (because it is not pretty on the outside (honest truth) but I have a renovated apartment 1 block from a subway station, so...

[Henna]

Originally Posted by gradco2004

I live in Bushwick, on St.Nicholas & Starr (Between DeKalb & Jefferson Stations) and I love the area. I like the diversity and ethnic influence of the area. If you are afraid of people of color, or people who don't speak English as a first language, then I don't recommend this area for you. If you enjoy learning conversational Spanish with the friendly people who run the bodegas and laundry facilities, eating good Dominican food, and reasonable rent, then you will be right at home. The L Train is modern, and the stations are being renovated as we speak. We even have "countdown clocks" that tell us when the next train is arriving. I'm 24, so as you can imagine, I come home ROUTINELY between 3am and 5am and do not feel intimidated or unsafe. Yes, people will try to talk to you, but 9-times out of 10, it's not to sell you drugs! It's to invite you to their bodega or advertise some business. This is coming first hand from a resident of the area. One issue that I will tell you about is the poor plumbing in the area (i.e. low water pressure, so toilets clog easily) and the TERRIBLE roads (in the event you have a car). Make your own decision, but I thought that you should hear from a CURRENT resident, and someone who has never lived in NYC before. God speed.

To sum it up: If you do not sell drugs, look for drugs, or hang with people involved in the drug trade, then your life is in no danger in Bushwick.

Another Side note: DO NOT let adverised prices on apartments intimidate you. The apartment that I stay in (2br/ 2bath) was advertised as $1500/mo. I viewed the apartment and told the landlord that I would take it for $1100/mo if he does not get an offer. I got my phone call 48 hours later. A lot of people are intimidated by the area (because it is not pretty on the outside (honest truth) but I have a renovated apartment 1 block from a subway station, so...

You know what I really hate? It's when you tell someone a neighborhood isn't that great in terms of crime and they point out that maybe you are afraid of people of color.

Also, btw, the L train does not belong to you. It is run by the MTA and travels into Manhattan and is a part of the system.

It seems you have moved directly to Bushwick from somewhere outside of NYC and that you have not experienced living in any other nyc neighborhood. Am I right?