Bushwick Walking Tour: The SoBu Edition
Chauncey Street balcony houses. See more from this set>>
I went on the latest BCUE walking tour of Bushwick, this time focusing on the southern tip of the neighborhood. Bushwick Specialist Adam Schwartz (of Up From Flames fame) led some 20-odd folks around, getting down to the Trinity Cemetery and up to Irving Square Park, going through the side streets along the way. I’m not sure if the route was selected for this purpose directly, but we went by some lovely homes, and not the kind of thing I would have expected.
When I walk around my neighborhood, it’s usually for some purpose like running errands or heading to the train. I don’t get a lot of time to stroll around and just look at the place. Since I spend most of my time on Broadway, my view of Bushwick is loud and garbage-strewn, with a lot of shuttered storefronts. While this may be accurate, there are also a lot of charming homes and people hidden in there somewhere. It seems odd to have such a revelation since I’ve been living here for nearly two years; I realized that my estimation of the neighborhood has been, my block is nice but not much else is around here. But like my street, there are many well-maintained blocks full of beautiful houses. Thanks to the tour I was able to pay more attention to this fact, as well as pick up some history as well.
I was a bit disappointed to see only a couple of people I recognized from BushwickBK.com, but this side of the neighborhood is not exactly a hotspot: most of the tour attendees appeared to be senior citizens, possibly residents of one of the former iterations of Bushwick. The meet-up was especially surreal because a) they were working on the street so there was almost no traffic, and b) the meeting spot at Chauncey is surrounded by new construction retail buildings, none of which appear to be rented yet. But when we plunged down the side streets, the scene changed immediately to the neighborhoody vibe that had attracted me here in the first place.
We saw several sides of the neighborhood, the beautiful churches, the Shell station that used to be Trommer’s brewery, the houses on Chauncey Street with the weird little balconies. As we were covering the Our Lady of Lourdes part of the tour, we met Izzy, a local who led us to the church’s current incarnation in a former Chevrolet warehouse off Bushwick Ave. The Most Holy Trinity Cemetery was founded on the notion that all people should be equal, at least in memoriam, so all the grave markers are made out of metal. A nice theory, but this leaves you with a field of rusty tombstones.
I had to ditch the tour a little early to go to a band rehearsal, but not before we saw an impeccably-appointed fire house, and spied a pigeon coop on top of a building on the corner of Eldert Street. Adam explained the sport of pigeon flying, in which competitors try to lure other people’s pigeons (O.P.P.) into their flock. I knew about the sport after puzzling over the “Pigeons & Pet Supplies” store at the end of my block, but I’ve never seen a coop before. I probably just haven’t been paying attention.
Ironically the tour ended up making things seem less exotic to me. Demystifying the neighborhood is a good thing since I feel like I understand a little more clearly how this spot I call home came to be. But knowing the history doesn’t change the fact that it’s still just a neighborhood — the changes that have occurred since I got here are just another drop in the bucket.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I second your point about demystifying the neighborhood, and was pleasantly surprised to see how nice some of the residential sections of South Bushwick actually are. The one block featured in the photo here sort of blew my mind, and I’m very jealous of the balconies. I think my favorite part of the whole day was hearing from the locals who decided to chime in and tell us about their experience in the area.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Thanks so much for posting this great trip report, it looks like the weather was perfect too…
May 20th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I wish I had seen your web site last week. While visiting in Manhattan, I went over to Bushwick to try to find Our Lady of Lourdes because that is where my maternal grandparents were married in 1913. I found the address but I am not sure what is still there. Is that the former rectory? Do you have any information about when the church closed and where it stood in relation to the buildings that are still there? At the time my grandmother lived at 202 Grove (no longer there) and two years later my mother was born on Putnam. So I have some background in the area.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I was there too. Adam was a great tour guide, and I also appreciated hearing from the locals. There are many two-family, turn-of-the-century houses in Bushwick south of Myrtle and East of Wyckoff on the L line, many of which have been in the family for one or two generations.
As for Our Lady of Lourdes, the original church building burned down. (I think Adam said in the ’60s or early ’70s.) It stood in what is now the empty garden next to the rectory. The church still meets in another building Izzy showed us a few blocks away.
May 21st, 2008 at 12:08 pm
When I was a kid in this neighborhood. Many people had pigeon coops atop their houses. I remember seeing huge flocks of bird flying in circles, zig zags and other patterns in the sky at all times of the year. I never realized people were trying to get other pigeons to join their flocks though. That’s interesting. A bit upsetting to the flock owner whose bird decided to change flocks I would imagine.
Maybe because I’m an adult and don’t have time to just sit out gazing into the sky any longer but, I don’t see pigeons in the sky the way I did as a kid. Does anyone know if this is a hobby that is still as popular as it once was?
May 21st, 2008 at 12:15 pm
BSN, somebody must still be flying pigeons, though i can’t imagine it’s as popular as it once was, what with the internet and all. Adam made it sound like there were several pigeon stores around (to buy supplies and leg bands) but i only know of the one near my house.
meanwhile there’s those guys who have been jumping out of vans and scooping up flocks of pigeons for god knows what. but think twice before ordering the ’squab’ at that fancy restaurant!
May 21st, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Whenever I walk up Wyckoff near the Dekalb stop on a sunny day, I see flocks of birds flying high above Dekalb in looping circles. They separate and rejoin. The birds seem to be following the line of Wyckoff, although it probably has something to do with wind patterns in the area. I have no idea if they’re pigeons, but it’s beautiful. Maybe this area of Bushwick is in a warm valley and it attracts them.
May 21st, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Those must be pigeons. I live nearby there are some people raising pigeons in a coop on a rooftop. Not sure why. There’s a bunch of them up there and they do fly all over the place.