More Bushwick Rumors
None of this is verified, so I can’t give any more detail, but there are several rumors floating around that I figured I’d share with you here, just all in one post.
Around the corner from me is a collapsed house, which a tipster told me was recently bought by a guy who is busily buying up neighbors’ air rights so that he can build a condo tower. This would definitely add some shadow to my yard at certain times of day in certain seasons, but would I rather have neighbors who quietly admire my garden towering over me rather than neighbors who throw, uh, “used” glue traps in my yard? You bet. Sure, we probably couldn’t use the fire pit anymore due to uppity neighbor complaints, but what price property values? All I care about is that the new building isn’t floating in a sea of parking like the monstrosity on Grove. Given the small size of the lot, that seems unlikely.
Speaking of the building jam-packed with lovely neighbors who send me gifts via air mail, it was recently sold for $1.5 million. Sounds like a lot, but it has 15 units and a storefront, and there’s a lot of Section 8 up in there. My tipster says the new owner plans condos, like I had suspected previously. How will he work that out, I asked. Tipster assures me “he’s got tricks up his sleeves. Give him a year.” Expect life for the tenants to get worse before they get better. Someone alert the Village Voice!
Over on Troutman Street is a gigantic lot, the former home of the Castle Braid Company (I don’t have any more info than that — what does a braid company make?). It’s been a work site for a long time, but nothing was going on the last time I was near it. Recently my neighbor said he spoke to someone on the site, and they told him 140 or 170 (he can’t remember which) condos were being built at the site. That’s a lot of units — does that mean another tower? Then one of my housemates was walking by and said there were foundations in, and it looked like several buildings.
Here’s a downer: across the street, where I thought they were building subsidized coops, it turns out the city may own the buildings, and just booted the old people out to renovate — and they are moving them back in! Along with the deli that was on the corner. Many questions come to mind — how did they legally determine who the “good” tenants were, since the super of the building above (that got sold for condos) says the “bad” ones are not coming back? Even if they must legally offer the apartments to the old tenants, why in the hell are they putting the same crackhead deli back in the commercial space? And why did they spend so much money making the buildings look so good just to plunk the same old tenants back in? And where have the tenants been for the last YEAR? This all makes so little sense…but who knows with this city. The housing laws are from Bizarro World. The buildings do look pretty good, though, as you can see in the photo above.
On the “stuff opening” front, that bar I mentioned a while back is definitely happening, somewhere on Starr Street. My contact says he will let me know if they want any more leaked, probably when they have the location and opening date set.
Yes No Maybe is still a big maybe. When I spoke to the owner months ago, he said he wanted to be open in three weeks. There are still piles of dirt and debris in front of the building, though the garden area is looking nice, even if it’s just because it’s summer and everything is growing in very nicely. I’m sure the holdup has something…well, everything to do with the city giving him a hard time. No good deed goes unpunished, as my mom says.
And then there’s the owner of a Thai restaurant on Grand in Williamsburg who has had it with high rent and is looking to move to Bushwick. That’s pretty much all the info I have on that.
Anyone else have any other rumors to share?
Not sure what your 3 - 5 attributes mean. Grew up on welfare? #4 I’m afraid to guess, and #5 you’re like trailer park trash?
Defend these qualities you love so much about yourself!
I’ve said too much already.. suffice to say: I loves me, and I loves Bushwick!
Anybody wanting to know about Galante…the day he was killed (7-12-79), I was supposed to be there, at Joe and Mary’s, but I cried like a baby (I was a baby at the time) and my grandparents stayed home with me…our lucky day!!!
for all you folks who have a sweet tooth;
when my son came to visit me - and he and I love walking, we discovered a Dominican Bakery (Angela’s Bakery, 717 Knickerbocker betw. Jefferson & Hancock). And, if you happen to be in that vicinity, their flan and carrot cake is recommendable for a-buck-apiece, but, p l e a s e don’t all storm there, they may raise the prices overnite.
p.s.
The Forest Pork Store (German butcher at Forest Avenue, Ridgewood) has closed its doors for good -
I asked an old man crossing the street what happened - and he told me the neighborhood’s a- changing.
I spoke to the developer of troutman st there will be a 5 story building and 144 condos
The woman searching for a space for a Thai restaurant is quite nice. I met her on the walking tour and pushed heavily for a location somewhere near me (self interest being at the root of many things LOL). The sense I got (I didn’t want to be pushy) was that she’s not committed to anything yet.
Also, the abandoned building between Irving and Knick on Starr street has me obsessing. Why is it sitting there like that? When will it be bought, renovated, torn down (I hope that never happens), etc? I’m ready for Maria Hernandez park to fly off the hook, turn the page, go to the next level. Damnit, I want to be able to tell people I live on “Maria Hernandez WEST” as Adam joked on the walking tour.
I’m going to take a walk and check out the troutman location. Sounds cool, and I’m not surprised that development would start happening in that area between hipsterville/Morgan and M.H. park.
The Troutman spot isn’t between hipsterville and the park, it’s out here with the rest of us on the industrial fringe, fancy pants Hernández Park West boy. You rich folk are clueless!
BTW, I’m going to start using the accent in Hernández, it’s quite fancy, no?
Wilson and Troutman right?
I dunno.. armchair analysis has its faults but I do feel that gentrification in our area will come from a bleedover from across Flushing/loft area and then also from Wyckoff/loft area, towards Myrtle ave “el” line on the other end–meeting in the middle…
What says you Jeremiah of “Centhráll” Ave?
Troutman between Evergreen and Central, actually.
Anyway, I think once you get a big enough saturation, paths don’t mean anything and people start sticking shit anywhere, as long as they can call it “Bushwick.” Note the condos (STILL not listed?) on Evergreen and Willoughby. I mean, what the fuck is there? Not a god damn thing.
I was sweeping my sidewalk today and fishing out the week’s trash from the thick patch of weeds I have allowed to thrive in my tree pit when a veritable mob of punky-looking white boys swarmed past — and then a completely different one swarmed in the other direction. I see newbies all the time on my street but this was so jarring that me AND the so-wrongly-spandexed dominicanas next to me stared at them.
Newbies in corporate business attire live on my block (SB) from neighbor-States MA and CT (license plates). Soon, I guess, they’ll in the market for condos. There’s some condo conversion going on around here. From here there’s easy access to Jackie Robinson Parkway.
It’s Troutman between Central and Evergreen
In ref. to going to the south side for entertainment, the only good place to go there was I.O’s cause they played spanish music.Lets face it the majority of Bushwick for now is spanish.besides that place there,there is no other place to go in Williamsburgs to enjoy a night of spanish music dancing.unless somebody knows of a special night that way i dont have to go into the city.
Spanish music? Like flamenco? That’s unexpected!
another horrible looking building was built on the corner on willoughby and evergreen.the brown and beige building was poorly built.you can see the uneven balcanies on every floor.i dont know what is happening to our bushwick but i think soon enough we are all gonna be pushed out.remember L.I is getting to expensive and the retiring generation cant afford the taxes out there.they will be selling and looking for a comfortable mortgage.
meaning salsa,merenge and bachata.
I know, I was messing with you.
hah! Nelson, if I underrstand your reference, I believe the building you are talking about is one of those Scarano ‘luxury’ buildings.
Poorly built? Never! Uglier than the normal Fedder’s buildings? I don’t think so.
Hi Armstrong
Thank you for the kind words. I thought you were quite nice yourself and quite handsome:)
I enjoyed exploring Bushwick and I wish I had done the other 2 walking tours too - it really is a fascinating area for many reasons.
hey jeremy…any word on when that bar is going to open on starr street? God we need a lounge around here!
Hey Lori - so good to see you hear again! Do keep us posted on any new developments and what you’re up to.
LORI - PS - there is a building on Knickerbocker (#248 maybe?) with a storefront that was just gutted and rehabbed. hint hint. =0)
Bushwick girl, no news yet…it is getting late int he summer now, isn’t it? I will let you all know as soon as I know. Until then, Kings County bar on Seigel off Bogart is a cool place, and of course NE Kingdom has a great bar.
there are alot of bars and restaurants everywhere in bushwick with good and cheap drinks and eats. you hipsters too afraid to mingle with the latinos? or are you too good?
Teresa, don’t even pretend that bars that cater to working class Puerto Ricans, for example, would welcome a bunch of skinny-jeans white people with open arms. They’re pretty much social clubs with liquor licenses.
As far as restaurants, yes there are tons with good cheap food. Nobody disputed this. But when tacos and pizza get old, it would be nice to have a Thai place. No? Or maybe you hate Asians?
OK, where’s a good sit-down, Puerto Rican restaurant? I love Taza de Oro in Manhattan, on 8th Ave. Anyone been to anything similar around here that they would recommend?
I have trouble finding Puerto Rican places, period. There’s a fantastic cuchifrito on Graham at Flushing/Broadway — their morcilla is out of this world and $1 each. Kick-ass mofongo with lots of crunchy chicharrones mashed in. mmmm
Sit down? At the counter, sure.
Jeremy, your assumptions are not entirely true. One debaucherous evening, after meeting some locals, I was brought to a Puerto Rican after hours club and was indeed received with open arms. I am btw a white skinny jean wearing homosexual. I would appreciate a thai place mind you, and a good used bookstore wouldn’t hurt.
My assumptions are true enough that I do not attempt to insert myself into established cliques without being invited — as you seem to have been that evening. According to Teresa, these locals who may very well despise us for our very presence in their neighborhood are going to want us invading their hangout spaces? That’s one area I see eye-to-eye on with the anti-gentrification crowd. People go to neighborhood bars to hang out with their own. These bars don’t exist so the likes of Teresa can get multicultural brownie points for hanging out with the cute ethnics.
I mean, the place across the street from my house is called Lares, as in, the town where the Puerto Rican independence movement was founded. You think they want some white-ass motherfuckers shooting pool in their bar? A little cultural intelligence goes a long way here.
Armstrong we thought you were a die hard wickster, what you doing in gentrified chelsea of all places for spanish food.
true, can’t find a good spanish place either, maybe they all cook at home.
i think it is smart of lori to think about bushwick for a thai restaurant. we’ll see if she or others invest in the area. Armstrong is doing his best though, so keep kick up things over there in the park, keeping your eyes and ears open, and yes one day your self proclaimed white trash will live on MHP West, and you’ll be the toast of high society in Bushwick.
Yeah, Armstrong, everyone knows if you like a neighborhood you NEVER, EVER leave it for ANYTHING.
Also, for fuck’s sake, Puerto Rican food is not Spanish food. Puerto Ricans aren’t Spanish, they SPEAK Spanish.
I think the bar they are talking about may open up on St Nicholas & Troutman. There is a 3-story building that is being gut-renovated, including the closed old school coffeehouse on the corner, which is obviously going to be replaced by something. If its on Starr, there is no building at the corner of Wyckoff that could house it.
There is also a “cafe” of some sorts coming soon on Ridgewood side of Cypress Ave between Starr & Willoughby.
Also saw some couple renovating storefront space for a gallery next to Northeast Kingdom (which, to “Jill”, is never dead and always filled BTW!)
If you can help me find a decently priced store building or mixed use building to buy in Bushwick proper, I’d be interested in opening a music venue in Bushwick.
trulia.com, or get an agent
Matt, what kind of price range are you looking at? I sometimes come across these types of properties and would be more than happy to send them your way if they fit what you are looking for.
it love nyc; former bklynite/bushwicker after 30 yrs in texas; i visit my old block this summer. it changed, i left during the blackouts of summer of 1977, the all the burned out stores on boadway, the only place too shop with a shopping cart, all memories, the ice cream palors, juniors , corner deli when tuna or hero sandwich was only 30cent and the huge pickles for nickle? i guess we all remember riding the mytyle-el or franklin ave shuttle, those seat that bite wicker seat cover, or heater that fryed your buns? and the old conductor smoking a stogie, collecting fair while our parents pretended too be asleep. i read recall in first reading lesson;on those wooded cattle cars:it read little enough too ride for free, little enough too ride my knee? i still got bklynite blues,next coney island, bronx stadium. is robert moses reborn??????
I WAS RAISED AT 310 TROUTMAN STREET. WHAT’S THAT AREA LIKE NOW (I’M 64)? SAFE? THE PARK? MORE INFO?
I don’t know if this was answered somewhere in the thread, but: Braid companies make braiding, passementerie, tassels, frogs, etc. Leather braiding companies make whips, crops, handles, etc.
Jeremy Says:
August 22nd, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Yeah, Armstrong, everyone knows if you like a neighborhood you NEVER, EVER leave it for ANYTHING.
Also, for fuck’s sake, Puerto Rican food is not Spanish food. Puerto Ricans aren’t Spanish, they SPEAK Spanish.
Sorry to disappoint you Jeremy,
“White” Puerto Ricans can trace their “Spanish” roots to “Mother Spain”; during the yrs of 1492!!! thousands of Spaniards stayed & “gentrified” Puerto Rico!!! yes…that’s why they speak spanish! take a 101 PR history cousre.
oh…yeah, don’t be suprised to be drinking wine next to what could be local hipsters @ NE Kingdom; they could also be “White” looking “Puerto Ricans”!!! remember…not all PR’s wear “Kiss me I’m PR buttons”!!!
see you all @ NE Kingdom.
Gee, Army, I thought Puerto Ricans spoke Spanish by total coincidence, that it developed spontaneously on the island, having nothing at all to do with Spain. Thank you for this history lesson.
*rolls eyes*