As better transportation systems connected Bushwick to downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge, more immigrants joined the mix, especially English, Irish, Italians, Russians, Polish and Jews. Between the first and second world war, Bushwick was one of the best residential areas in Brooklyn. However, after World War II, the neighborhood’s demographics started to change as African Americans and Caribbean American families began to move in, followed by low-income Latin American families. Race riots began to rip the neighborhood apart, and many of the white residents moved away. The neighborhood went from being 90% white to less than 40% in a decade.
Bushwick sounds super interesting, and I love street art! It sounds like such a cool and historic part of the city.
Bushwick is very interesting to explore and the murals are just fabulous!
This is so cool, especially because I’m stuck far from home (Manhattan) and it’s nice to see, well, what it used to look like… 😮 Thanks for this beautiful walk through, I will have to get there when I return to the US some day. Beautiful photos, by the way.
The situation in New York is heartbreaking 🙁 We really hope things would go back to normal as soon as possible. We’re glad we had a chance to send you some virtual love 🙂
The street art looks amazing! I’ll definitely keep the cider tasting in mind for when I visit 🙂 Love your street photography!
Thanks so much, Faria! It was out first-time cider tasting and it was great! Can’t wait for the second time 🙂
We do love to search for street art when we travel. We will definitely want to check out Bushwick NY when we travel that way next. I love the variety of the street art that you showed. It would be fun to visit in June when the block party happens! And maybe stop in for some organic chocolate to fuel our wandering.
June’s Block Party should be very fun but what’s so great about the Bushwick Collective it’s free and open to the crowds any time of the year/day. Oh, and you have to taste these organic chocolate bars, they are amazing!
What an awesome place! We love finding street art when we travel to new locations! The map is really helpful. Thanks so much for sharing.
We also love exploring local street art while we are traveling. So glad you’ve found our Bushwick street art map helpful 🙂
So cool! I have been to NYC twice nut I haven’t visited this area yet! Thanks for the tips, I cannot wait to see all the street-art by myself!!
Our pleasure, Ophelie! In real life, it’s even more impressive and beautiful!
I just wrote a whole blog post about mural hunting in Nashville, so I’m definitely a big fan of street art! I think it’s really cool that NYC actually has walking tours for the street art. It’s really being seen as art, not just graffiti.
Thanks, Shay, so glad you like it. We are also fans of street art and it’s great that many towns around the world give this art the proper respect it deserves.
This was a very interesting post. It’s wonderful how art has uplifted their neighborhood. And yes the complexity of gentrification is problematic. But the art is beautiful and raw and real. Glad to know about this neighborhood.
Thanks so much, Karen. Gentrification is a double-edged sword but we agree, no doubt that it has helped this neighborhood to overcome some obstacles!
I live in new york and haven’t spent any time in bushwick but wow now I want to hang out there every weekend! Love the photos!
Thank you so much, Jessica. Well, you should definitely go see the Bushwick Collective when you have a chance!
Why I didn’t find your blog post sooner! I would have gone to see it as well. Looks and sounds so interesting! Thank you for writing it.
Thank you, Diana. Try and do it on your next trip to New York 🙂
Thanks for this very comprehensive guide! Street art has become a big passion of mine in the past year or so, and I’m always eager to hear about different places to see great murals. I’ve still never been to New York, but when I go I will definitely check out Bushwick!
I feel compelled to mention that I found the wording of the introduction rather disturbing. It came across to me as saying that Bushwick was a great place to live until people of color moved in, and now that it’s mostly white again the problems have been solved. I really hope that wasn’t the intention behind the writing.
Hi Wendy, We’re so glad you’ve found our Bushwick street art guide helpful, you should definitely check it out the when you’re in New York, especially if you love street art as much as we do! Regarding the introduction, I assume you refer to the section about the history of Bushwick, of course, this was not our intention at all. I tried rereading it and the only sentence that seems problematic to me was the last one so I did change it. I am so sorry if you’ve gotten the wrong impression and thank you for bringing it to our attention. When looking at Bushwick’s history, there’s no denying for a time it was a dodgy neighborhood. Obviously, the neighborhood had a lot of crime for a while and riots and gang wars tore it apart. It is something that gradually happened over time, as in other neighborhoods around the world, especially in low-income neighborhoods, but it is certainly not related to the skin color of the residents. Sorry if you got the wrong impression.
These look so amazing! I’m definitely saving it for whenever we get back to New York 🙂
Thanks so much, Jen. You’d love it!