Category: BUSHWICK’S HOTSPOTS

Maria Hernandez Park is a public park located near Knickerbocker Avenue. Named after community organizer and local martyr Maria Hernandez, the park serves as a microcosm for the changes happening in Bushwick, both historically and currently.

The food carts are a very important part of the culture of the Ecuadorian people in Bushwick. Each cart has it’s own style, and the food is great for the people who live in less gentrified areas.

The Cobra Club Cafe is a significant example of gentrification in the Bushwick area, therefore, it is essential to the overall idea behind our project. The cafe boasts a bar area, performance space and stage, and recent additions of a morning pastry and coffee cafe, as well as a newly furnished yoga studio. These new additions are symbolic of the changing demographic and gentrification of the Bushwick area. By adding the cafe and yoga studio, the Cobra Club attempts to extend it’s horizons and appeal to a newer variety of consumers, younger residents who have recently moved to the area and prefer the cafe scene. When talking to the morning bartender/cafe barista, he acknowledged that the addition of the cafe and yoga studio had definitely brought in a new generation of customers, and considers instituting the cafe and yoga studio a move that has paid off handsomely for a club that sees more business now more than ever. The addition of these portions of the club combined with it’s location on a shopping strip full of cafe-style shops, as well as the overall increase of prices at the club and the surrounding stores make both the club and this strip prime examples of gentrification in the Bushwick area.

The Bushwick Collective is a non profit outdoor open gallery located within a several block radius, primarily from Jefferson Street and continues on Troutman Street down to St. Nicholas Avenue. The program is run by local resident, Joseph Ficalora and aims to preserve the street art culture in New York. provide artists with a space to work, and to beautify the neighborhood of Bushwick.

The recent boom in popularity of street art among the younger artist community has made Bushwick a hotspot for hipsters, causing an influx of young white millennial residents. Thus, the emergence of the art in the area is one of the main catalysts of gentrification in the area.

Here are some points that the video does not cover:

Tony’s Pizzeria plays an important role in our project because of the business’ family ownership. First, being that it is family-owned, Tony’s Pizzeria made it interesting–and, actually, very easy–to research. The owner knew a lot about the business because he is the son of the founders of Tony’s Pizzeria. Since he is so close with the founders of this restaurant, he has some knowledge of the Bushwick of the past. With his knowledge of the history of Bushwick and his insight on today’s Bushwick, the owner was extremely helpful for our project. Second, because this restaurant is a small, family-owned establishment among a fast-growing big business population, Tony’s Pizzeria has certainly felt the effects of gentrification. As mentioned in the video, Tony’s Pizzeria is struggling, for its customers are being displaced from their homes, cannot afford the new high prices of the gentrifying neighborhood, and have easy access to cheaper fast food down the street (i.e. Burger King). Lastly, since Tony’s Pizzeria has been here for such a long time, this restaurant has seen many different types of customers. As the owner of Tony’s Pizzeria mentioned, his parents used to serve Italian, German, and Jewish families, he used to deal with prostitutes and drug addicts on a daily basis, and now he serves a predominantly Black and Latino community. This diversity is extremely interesting to study and it well-represents a dynamic neighborhood.