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it's not safe, hasn't been since my people the oh so great italians left there in the 60's. we made that neighborhood beautiful until the guess who's moved in my grandfather had a bakery that he built in to a foccacia bread empire on knickerbocker avenue. one christmas he supplied every family with their own fresh baked loaf for christmas. it was so generous of him to share that so precious "italian love" with every one. he said the bread was so got dam good some one broke in to the store the day after christmas and stole all teh supplies and recipe ans put him out of business by next fall. he said the bastards got through the roof with what looked like a huge can opener
Oh you great italians and your amazing, generous, selfless ways always amaze me. It sucks, doesn't it? Having those puerto ricans and blacks moving in and destroying the place because they aren't as smart and loving as you italians. All your hard work.
When I first moved to NY in May I moved to that exact area of Bushwick. It's incredibly boring there. Lots of warehouses and kind of reminds me of an urban ghost town at night. Most of the stores close super early(like 8 or 9pm). There are also a ton of young white folks (tall, petite, men and women) who have moved into the area more recently from what I could tell. But they've basically taken over the area and outfitted it with spaces for them such as cafes/bars/boutique spots and will continue to since they pay more to rent the apartments than the neighborhood's older Hispanic residents who have been there for generations.
Mostly the two groups of residents keep to themselves. Being neither white nor Hispanic it was kind of a nice ethnographic study project for me observing how the two groups interact or actually don't really interact. But there didn't seem to be any open hostility on either group's part; just indifference.
So in short, it's not city living but you'll both be safe and if you like quiet and non-eventful it'll be perfect for you. Also the L is safe but always crowded even around 2am or so as all the Williamsburg kids are coming home from the bars/whatever they do in Manhattan.
I love my section of Bushwick, which is not nearer to Ridgewood and white people. I love that it still has some grit. I love that it still feels like Brooklyn and a city and not the suburbs - or I would have moved to the suburbs. I love seeing blacks, hispanics, hipsters, asians, etc all walking along the streets. I love the diversity. I'm sure there's crime but I haven't seen any with my own eyes, at least not enough for me to shake in my boots and give up the apartment (co-op) I love. I have never been raped, robbed or mugged. I've lived here almost 2 years now. Before that I lived in Williamsburg in a mostly black/Puerto Rican area (I am Puerto Rican). Again, never been raped, robbed or mugged or anything. I lived a relatively peaceful life there. And still do. I don't understand all this.
Compared to the 80s and 90s bushwick is much safer, but its still a dangerous area. I wouldn't say move there, but if you do use caution, know what your doing and try not to hang out outside after night fall and all should be good.
Is it really just "being close" to Williamsburg and thinking it's going to rub off somehow ?
Excellent post. And yes, they do think that - But blame the real estate pros for that kind of spin/ salesmanship/pushing/exploitation of noobs who don't know any better.
OP: We're giving you the real deal.
At night the safety factor there drops by a lot but that's common sense
Excellent post. And yes, they do think that - But blame the real estate pros for that kind of spin/ salesmanship/pushing/exploitation of noobs who don't know any better.
OP: We're giving you the real deal.
At night the safety factor there drops by a lot but that's common sense
Bushwick also has other other things going for it--good subway access, attractive housing stock, easy commute to Manhattan. And it's not all exploitative; if you want to live near Williamsburg but also don't the money to spend to actually live in Williamsburg, Bushwick is by far the best alternative.
Also, I think Hispanics are often viewed, subconsciously, as "less dangerous" than blacks (on the illogical level where a lot of people make these sorts of judgments), so gentrification is faster in Hispanic neighborhoods like Bushwick than in black neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy. Just a theory, though, and certainly the pace of gentrification in Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, etc. suggests this might not be true.
At brownstoneNY I disagree but I can understand where youre coming from on that point. But people have been talking about Bushwick being transformed into hipstertown/East Williamsburg really since 03'. I've lived here on the border between Ridgewood and Bushwick for nearly 15 years now and I've heard it since then and yet you'd think with all the talk it'd be filled with yuppies by now but the demographics have only shifted slightly. I was having this conversation on another thread as well. People will always try to convince you of different saying that its going to turn and that already 15-20 ive even heard some people say 25% of the population now is white but living here on the border I know the reality and the reality is that its probably maxed out at 6% non-hispanic white and then the rest for the most part is working class/ poor minorities. But that area is rapidly becoming more expensive because its right by the train stop and was never really a hot spot in Bushwick like other places. Still is majority hispanic then Black but around there theres a pretty good group of white people there as well.
Personally, I would never counsel anyone unless they lived in a previous hood to move from there location to Bushwick... I wouldnt feel comfortable potentially putting someones life at risk like that, but if you do decide to move over there... being honest there are worse places to live and that area is probably the best part of Bushwick... sounds like an oxymoron saying it but you'll understand what I mean if you go there...
At supanyc, I dont know where you've been looking but Ridgewood ain't filled with white people. Ridgewood is wayy more diverse than Bushwick and similar to Bushwick but obviously less-so it is predominantly hispanic. But theres alot of working class Europeans there, Middle eastern people, Haitian and Guyanese passing Onderdonk as well as a good number of Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, and Korean people. To me Ridgewoods like the United Nations and this neighborhood I hope never changes cause it has old NY written all over it. Ethnic vibe, working class immigrant people all over. Mix of shops, (gotta be honest, love the fact that its not filled with hipsters)... Crime will happen as it does anywhere but Ridgewoods awesome.
I grew up in Bushwick, typically the area sucks. But as Ive learned, if u ask enough people on City Data, they'll tell u about the safe parts of Iraq also. Put it like this, I wouldnt move back to Bushwick for free.
ive even heard some people say 25% of the population now is white
It's largely a revolving door of whites. They tend not to stay. So if you're white and you make friends with other whites in Bush-whack, don't get too attached -A lot of them U-Haul it outta there before a deep bond can develop. Translation: Weak sense of community.
Not really... just simple common sense. They see that what the real estate agents offered them is nowhere near the truth and that surprisingly this area is mostly minorities (wow, what a shock) that aren't good, and they leave. Williamsburg at least had the jews that kept to themselves and from there different groups of whites began moving in... theres no such thing in Bushwick... there may be some okay parts as in every bad neighborhood but overall this hood is pretty much the same way its always been except for slightly less crime-ridden than the crack epidemic days...
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my grandfather had a bakery that he built in to a foccacia bread empire on knickerbocker avenue. one christmas he supplied every family with their own fresh baked loaf for christmas. it was so generous of him to share that so precious "italian love" with every one. he said the bread was so got dam good some one broke in to the store the day after christmas and stole all teh supplies and recipe ans put him out of business by next fall. 
It sucks, doesn't it? Having those puerto ricans and blacks moving in and destroying the place because they aren't as smart and loving as you italians. All your hard work. 
