Our Community: Bushwick, Brooklyn

Bushwick is a diverse community in north-eastern Brooklyn with a dynamic history. One of the original five towns of Brooklyn, Bushwick has been home to thriving communities of Native Americans, Dutch, German, and Italian immigrants. In the middle 1800s, Bushwick's golden age, the neighborhood was home to eleven successful breweries and many extravagant mansions.

Bushwick fell victim to many of the urban issues affecting New York City as a whole in the 20th century, including the building of highways to the suburbs, fiscal trouble, and a disastrous blackout in 1976 that left most of Bushwick a flaming, burnt-out mess. Crime, homelessness and helplessness set in, and for several years, Bushwick was a community divided.

Today, Bushwick is being revitalized by the influx of immigrants from the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the West Indies. Community organizations like Make the Road by Walking are working to improve the safety of the streets. Large, failing high schools are being closed down by the city, and smaller, more personalized schools with engaging themes (like the New York Harbor School) are opening to meet the educaitonal and social needs of the community's children.

Bushwick's vibrant, diverse community, along with its low rents, have proven attractive to artists and young people from across New York City, who are beginning to claim space in its many buildings for studios, galleries, and salons.

Youth Craft is committed to giving the young people of this exciting community the opportunity to support their community's efforts at improving the quality of life for all its members.

Bushwick Links (coming soon)

Forgotten NY
Opera House Article NYtimes