The Mind of Bushwick

This isn't your typical article. Nor your typical spoken word.

I was born in 1995.

Born and Raised on Himrod Street, between Irving and Wycoff Avenues.

Long before there were police officers patrolling the streets.

Long before the hipsters walked in capes.

We used to have Puerto Ricans roam around Brooklyn... eating some relleno de papas, grandmothers going the Scaturro on Hart Street and Knickerbocker Ave to go food shopping, and everyone playing in Knickerbocker park.

Crime was high. There were chains on the fire escape windows and police locks on the doors.

If you heard a gunshot from a block away, you normally would just close the window and mind your business.

No one ever could walk down Evergreene, Wilson, or Central Avenues without getting robbed.

In those days, you had to know someone on almost every corner for your own safety.

In the summertime, we all used to hang out outside. We used to bust open the fire hydrant (also known as the pumps for my non-New Yorkers) to get rid of that 95-degree air. Most of us were poor. Food stamps helped us get through tough times. We didn’t have money to get on the train to go to Coney Island; so the pumps were our 'ghetto pools'. I mean, it was fun, we were young, didn't know any better and it kept us out of harm's way. The pumps were also a cheap way for cars to get their car wash, also known as `the ghetto car wash.

My favorite part about the summer is the old-timers playing dominoes and the amount people posted at the bodega. Owners like Willy and Oscar would hide all the convicts in the back whenever the 83rd used to come through. (83rd precinct). Let's not forget the 25-cent icies and the Spice Girl lollipops too. Damn, it feels like a long time ago this happened.

I remember when block parties were a time to celebrate our neighborhoods. The community used to come together and just have a good time. Everyone contributed to this, food stamps money paid for those abuelas to make some Arroz con guandules (rice and beans) and potato salads. The men took on the role to be the ones on the grill. We used Bose speakers to start the party up. Playing tunes from famous artists such as Hector Lavoe, Frankie Ruiz, Playero, Biggie, and Big Pun. The kids would play games and everyone would be outside eating, drinking, smoking, and conversing.

Those were different times, times that as much as we struggled, we lived in the moment. Before the luxury buildings, we had factories everywhere. These factories were once filled with immigrant parents trying to make a living to give us a better life. We had people of all colors, shapes, and sizes come and live with us but they appreciated the culture, most importantly, the community.

NOW, TAKING THINGS TO THE PRESENT DAY.

AROUND 2008, I SAW PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T LOOK LIKE ME COME INTO MY NEIGHBORHOOD and change everything. We were open to the change because a lot of us were tired of living in poverty, but we did not expect this change to push us out.

Most of us thought they were going to leave because at the end of the day Bushwick was still considered the ghetto. But then we saw investors come in and buy out all the factories and make them into luxury buildings and small businesses that were not marketed to us. I remember when they bought out the factory that was on Stanhope St., where the roasters used to say good morning to us. We all thought it would be another supermarket or another bodega. But no, they built tall buildings that looked like something you would see in Manhattan. They were beautiful. However, I noticed how none of our people were moving in there. A lot of us hoped and dreamed that we could be granted the same equal opportunity. But as the years passed, many people were pushed out of the neighborhoods and a new group of people came into our neighborhoods.

They were different and although at the time we did not know what gentrification was, we welcomed the new people into our neighborhoods. Within time, we started to see the rent going up. We also saw investors trying to bribe many people who lived in their apartments for 40+ years for their apartments. We saw a lot of injustices at that time. The sad part about it is that no one knew what to do, legally, and many people lost their homes.

We never blamed the new people coming into the neighborhoods, we just believed that the investors should have given an opportunity to native Bushwick knights to live in a better-looking apartment. An apartment that wasn't falling apartment and had closet space.

I was young. But even then I wondered, why push out people that call this home? Gentrification left a lot of people homeless and lost within their communities. Yes, it was a community and yes, although there were some negative aspects to the community, we all looked out for one another.

On another note, many people's biggest frustration was that the artwork that was originally on the walls wasn't graffiti. They were murals of people that died at that particular spot and we showed tribute to them. Today, those murals are gone and are replaced by talented artists that don't really know the neighborhood's history. It's the work is beautiful but it's not us, you feel me?

I've seen so many talents go down the drain because they weren't given a chance, and that's the sad part of gentrification. Neighborhood art is exactly what it is, a tribute to the neighborhood and I'm almost positive many people would support it.

A block party is not a marketing strategy for companies to sell their products, it's a union of communities and neighbors coming together and celebrating.

It’s a Brooklyn and a Brooklyn pride to be proud of where we are from. I've wanted the neighbor to build itself from the ground up. And originally the ‘Mind of Bushwick’ was the idea to embrace your culture but look beyond the hood. Today's ‘Mind of Bushwick’ is to highlight gentrification but also pays homage to Bushwick's original memory.