A Day Out on Knickerbocker
Hipsters and other weenies avoid “native” destinations in Bushwick like the plague — witness the throngs of them in depressing, desolate places like Wyckoff between Jefferson and Starr-ish, their swarming of Bogart and the East Williamsburg industrial area, and their complete absense (not one!) in places like Knickerbocker Avenue by Bushwick (aka Maria Hernandez) Park.
Knickerbocker is one of my favorite places in Bushwick. It’s a real traditional main street, where everyone in the neighborhood goes to shop, eat, gossip and carry on. In two blocks of Knick this Saturday we got great pizza (Tony’s at 336), grabbed a big bag of plum tomatoes and some garlic (S & S Farm Market at 317), stocked up on assorted amaretti, biscotti, etc. (Circo’s Pastry at 312), and blew more money on stuff to fix up our crumbling money pit (Ace Hardware at 347). I didn’t really even mean for it to be Italian-themed…
I know it’s a matter of time before all the scary warehouse spaces get filled up with left-wing bookstores and coffee houses and vegan raw restaurants and the market starts pressuring the wispy-haired and pale among us to start opening shops on Knickerbocker, but even before that happens I urge my likely audience here to submerge themselves in local culture before they put it out of business. That last thing is not a value judgement, just a statement of fact.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:53 am
I used to be a rental agent and specialized in Bushwick. I never understood why I couldn’t sell people on anything near Knickerbocker. It was also one of my favorite places, but I never found the pizza place (although stopped in Circo’s too often - LOVE that sign outside).
As I used to tell my rental clients, Bushwick is not gentrified and it’s not going to be for a very long time. Why? Because of the clients who would call me (for an ad that would read PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA BEFORE CALLING FOR AN APPOINTMENT) and ask, “Are there a lot of black people in the area?”
I loved working in Bushwick and if I hadn’t found a rent-stabilized place in Greenpoint two years earlier, would have moved there in a heartbeat. I’m just sorry I didn’t move sooner.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:11 am
Finding roommates, I had the same problem. I mean, they didn’t ask about black people, but I would ask them with the same intensity if they are familiar with Bushwick, and if not, please don’t bother. No French exchange students, thanks.
May 31st, 2007 at 9:07 am
[…] inside. Other cool and kooky events are planned around the art, and yes, this weekend a small but central bit of Knickerbocker will see more hipster traffic than it has ever seen up to this […]
July 11th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Maybe it’s not always the ghetto that turns people off. It’s what this neighborhood DOES NOT have.
I get depressed looking around and seeing what this hood DOES NOT offer (ie health food stores, gyms, coffee shops, retail stores that sell anything over $.99, etc.) I welcome the Better Bushwick whenever and if ever it arrives.
ps i’m an african american twenty something in search of better alternatives for this hood.
July 11th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Shayla cross over Flushing to find a smattering of health food stores and coffee shops…..still no gym though.
July 11th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Richie’s Gym is at Jefferson St and Stanwix right next to Bushwick Av.
July 15th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Does anyone think that a Thai restaurant would be a good idea for B’wick around the dekalb L stop? I have been scouting the area for a location (already have a Thai restaurant in B’burg) but I can’t get a handle on what would be the best location for a restaurant over there. Admittedly, I have just begun to scout around so that is why I am not clear on the geography yet -
July 16th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Lori, if you even knew how many people here are whining for a Thai restaurant, you’d open 10 of em. But seriously, anywhere in Bushwick would be a good location, because your potential patrons are everywhere, not just around subway stops, and they WILL TRAVEL — witness how packed NE Kingdom and Life Cafe are almost all the time.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Thank you for your input Jeremy - that is sort of what I suspected. I think the area is lacking in restaurants. Where is Life Cafe? I have been past NE Kingdom but I would also like to know where Life Cafe is. I recently looked at a building on Grandview Ave - nice corner building with retail and rental units - just out of curiosity though, that one seemed quite out of the way (eventhough I liked the building) - are people trudging all the way up that way?
Appreciate your time - and I’m glad I found your blog.
July 17th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Okay, yes, Grandview is too far. Might as well be Bedford. Between Wyckoff and Broadway is where you’ll get the most interest.
Life is at Flushing and Central.
August 21st, 2007 at 5:26 pm
richies gym on stanwix has everything you need, and its super affordable. coffee shops? no coffee in the world is better than cuban coffee, you can get bustelo anywhere in all of the bodegas.
August 21st, 2007 at 6:23 pm
You can buy Maxwell House at the bodega, too, but nobody’s talking about brewing coffee at home. I’m not aware of any bodegas that offer the experience of hanging out at a coffee shop — unless maybe you prop yourself on the edge of the yautía table? And the bodegas do not serve Cuban coffee, which is a preparation — they make watery ass American-style coffee.
August 22nd, 2007 at 4:24 pm
For a Thai restaurant, I would say on Wyckoff, or maybe Knickerbocker, before you hit DeKalb, or along Flushing. Life Cafe, et al are on Flushing near Evergreen. Things need to start with a center before they branch out. And if you are looking to gentrify, anything near NE Kingdom or Life Cafe would do it.
Open up a Thai place in The Bronx either near the Courthouse/Stadium or on 149th Street near G Bar. You would do a ton of business.
September 6th, 2007 at 11:43 am
[…] it is right on Knickerbocker Avenue across from the old Scaturro supermarket. Everything cool on Knickerbocker is downstairs — fruit stands, pizza places, the park, cannoli. Knickerbocker and Hart/DeKalb […]