Bushwick
From Scratchpad
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the city of Brooklyn, New York.
[edit] Neighborhood
Bushwick, along with territory encompassing Greenpoint, was purchased from Indians in 1638. In 1661, Governor Peter Stuyvesant named the area "Boswijck" (Town of the Woods).
According to the Works Progress Administration Guide To New York City, "After the Battle of Long Island Hessian mercenaries were billeted here; although friction developed between the townsfolk and the troops, some of the soldiers returned at the end of the war and established homes."
The township of Bushwick, along with the township of Williamsburg, were subsequently absorbed by the city of Brooklyn in 1854. By the early 20th century, the neighborhood was predominantly occupied by Russian Jews, as well as a smaller Italian population. In 1916, according to the Brooklyn Public Library website, the Bushwick branch "enjoyed the highest circulation of any branch in the system at the time."
The WPA Guide, first published in 1939, describes Bushwick and Ridgewood as "old-fashioned and respectable... German-American communities spreading northeast of Broadway. Comfortable brownstones with neat stoops and polished brass give the district an atmosphere of calm quite unlike that of the usual strident Brooklyn neighborhood."
Many of the Germans built large breweries in the neighborhood. When the breweries began to go under, in the decades following World War II, the neighborhood entered a steep decline. During the blackout of July 1977, much of Bushwick was veritably burned to the ground during the riots. Jonathan Mahler's book, Ladies and Gentleman, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City deals with the decline of Bushwick in great detail.
Though Bushwick does not technically begin until south and east of Flushing Avenue, many have begun to refer to the neighborhood surrounding the Morgan Avenue L-train stop as "Bushwick," though it is technically part of the East Williamsburg Industrial Park.
Bushwick is served by nine elected officials.
More information about Old Bushwick can be found at Forgotten-NY.com.
[edit] Civic services
- The Bushwick Fire Department is located at 11 Scholes St.
- The Bushwick Police Department is located at 211 Union Ave.
- The Bushwick Post Office is located at 47 Debevoise St.
- The Bushwick Public Library is located at 340 Bushwick Ave.
- Sanitation is handled by Brooklyn #1, located at 50 Kent Ave.
- Woodhull Hospital is located at 750 Broadway.
