Thursday, September 19, 2013

Why No City Or Neighborhood Should Ever Be Declared "Dead"

Because, as long as there are people who want to stay, there will always be a fighting chance for life.  Bushwick, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York is an excellent case in point.

During the New York City blackout of 1977, no single neighborhood was more devastated by rioting and looting than Bushwick.  An already poor area, Bushwick lost most if not all of its merchants as a consequence of the rioting during the blackout, and the subsequent abandonment of the neighborhood by many of the few survivors.  To this day, one can find parts of Bushwick where the damage done during that terrible night is still visible, and unrepaired.

The devastation is best summed up by a letter to the editor in The New York Times, in response to an article about a plan to turn an old brewery in Bushwick into a shopping mall.  The author flatly stated that "Bushwick is dead," and urged that the money for the project be put into neighborhoods with a better chance for revival.  "Let Bushwick rest in peace," the letter concluded.

Well, artists and other urban pioneers weren't prepared to do that and, today, Bushwick is out-pacing the neighboring community of Ridgewood in Queens when it comes to rising rents.  When I lived in Queens in the late '70s and early '80s, Ridgewood was considered the more desirable of the two neighborhoods; now, on a market basis, it's the other way around.

Take a look, and take heart from Bushwick's story, especially if you live in an area that hasn't had its revival yet.  And reflect on the role the arts could play in making it happen for you.

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