Up From Flames: A Tour of Bushwick’s Nadir
The tour begins — see more photos from the tour>>
Bushwick was graced with another walking tour from the good folks at the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment, and as usual I nearly missed it. I got all confused about the dates and realized it was happening this past Sunday with some 20 minutes to spare. I made it to the Myrtle-Wyckoff station a little late, but hey, the walking tour is pretty easy to pick out of a crowd.
This tour focused on Bushwick’s most commonly-associated aspects, namely the blackout, the fires, the drugs, the mob influence, the crooked landlords, the specter of gentrification. Yet it was a lovely fall day and tour leader Adam Schwartz is great as an educator and raconteur, so he made sure it wasn’t a total bummer. Some highlights included visiting St. Barbara’s, a Spanish Baroque style Catholic church built in 1909. Regardless your feelings on religion, you gotta admit this is a kick-ass building. You can’t believe you’re in Bushwick when you’re inside it looking up at the insane level of detail on every available surface. Bushwick historian John Dereszewski was on hand and mentioned that he remembers an even stranger sight: St. Barbara’s during Bushwick’s nadir, pristine while surrounded by rubble and neglect.
We also covered the Hope Gardens housing project, which may bore some, but I find fascinating. It was the last housing project created before Reagan ended the whole “experiment,” but has proven to be the “most successful.” Instead of monstrous high-rise buildings, Hope Gardens is mostly 3-story buildings, some set up like apartment complexes and some more like townhouses, complete with garden apartments. You’ll see Hope Gardens in many locations throughout the neighborhood; its sprawling footprint was determined largely by which blocks were most decimated by fire.
The tour culminated with a stroll through Maria Hernandez Park (where people were playing volleyball, which kind of blew my mind until Adam explained its popularity in Ecuador and Mexico). We ended things at “The Well,” a block of Knickerbocker that previously contained a seemingly-bottomless supply of drugs in the 80s. Say what you will about the neighborhood now, we’re a long way from the worst.
Had a bike wreck Friday night and was laid-up all weekend with a bum shoulder, so I missed this walking tour, which I was very much looking forward to! BLURG!
The two BCUE tours I’ve done have been great, and I will continue to seek them out.
Re:Bushwick Walking Tour
Where could I gather the info on the tour?
I love to participate the tour.
Thanks,
I am sorry - I got it
BCUE website!!
Thanks again
I opened my eyes but the rest of my body refused to wake in time and I missed it. :o(
I had a prior commitment and also missed it but Adam is a great tour guide and with John D along I am sure it was excellent. I had attended the tour these gentlemen did in June for the arts festival and that was memorable.
this was actually Adam’s last bushwick tour
but John D will be taking on the mantel. fans of Adam’s tour style can check out one of his other tours, like the Navy Yard tours, which are becoming one of the most popular.
MJ, i almost missed it but guilt and a dearth of anything good on tv brought me out. i don’t know why but it’s always hard to get out to these things; i was even late for the tour that started two blocks from my house.
HAH! I had guilt and dearth but contending with the J AND M trains to get there overrode all of that…
if it was two blocks away i would have dragged myself.
MJ if you are near Halsey there’s a bus that goes right down Halsey to Wyckoff then turns and ends at the Myrtle-Wycoff station (I am close to Gates so I use the B52 up and down Gates). This is quick and eliminates that J-M hassle. I actually enjoy bus travel when time isn’t of the essence especially toward the back in the elevated section of the newer buses where I maco everything and everyone!
Oh yes… the Halsey bus… not a big fan of that. I do like riding the bus though becuase you get to see a lot of really nice homes but there always seems to be someone cursin out their no good baby’s daddy on that bus. Doesn’t even matter what direction you’re taking it in.
I’ll give the Gates bus a try though.
Moy Joy, I’m sorry you couldn’t make the tour since I was looking forward to meeting you. Hope you can make the next one.
While Adam noted that I will be leading a tour of South Bushwick next year, he certainly did not say that this was his final Bushwick event. I am sure that we will be seeing a lot more of Adam, a real Bushwick treasure, in the coming year.
You may be interested to know that I am planning a new tour, to be held next March, that will explore that portion of Bushwick, including Morgantown, that is now in Williamsburg. It will be called “Bushwick in Williamsburg; Williamsburg in Bushwick”. I have
been researching this over the last few weeks and think it will really be interesting.
And Chris, that picture inside St. Barbara’s was awesome!
I’ll be there next time. Even if I have to roll my lifeless corpse out of my grave.
I was soooo jealous when I saw the St. Barbara’s picture.
hey! Is there a site or info where I could maybe catch another tour for the next time around?. I’d love to see what bushwick has to offer, and get a feel of the area; and know where everythings at.
hah nvm i figured it out aswell
ps. do you have to call in advance for roll call. or can you just pay the fee upon the meeting destination?
yeah, you just show up and pay when you’re there, at least for the bushwick tours so far.
The group that sponsored this walking tour is the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment. Its web site is:
http://www.bcue.org
While they are holding several more tours between now and early December, none of them are in Bushwick. But some of them may perk your interest.
The 2009 season will start around March, and I will be leading a tour of the “Williamsburg” portion of Bushwick Ave. around that time. I also hope to conduct one or two other tours later next year, and I really hope that Adam will make at least another encore performance.
So, if you consult BCUE’s web page, you will get a jump start on next year’s tours.