Bushwick, a multi ethnic neighborhood, boasts many notable private as well as public institutions ranging from schools and churches to community centers and charity organizations. Because Bushwick is the 7th poorest neighborhood in the city and about 32% of the population falls below the poverty line, the institutions Bushwick are aimed towards helping the ethnic poor and financially disadvantaged.
The Ridgewood Bushwick Youth center is a youth activity center run by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, located between Gates Avenue and Palmetto Street. It is administered by the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council and is a private company categorized under Halls and Auditoriums which has annual revenue of $2.5 to 5 million and employs a staff of approximately 50 to 99. The center offers childcare services, child care choice services, office child care services, child daycare services and childcare referral services.
Another notable service center is the Hope Gardens Multi Service Center, located on Wilson and Linden. It serves as an elderly bingo game building, an after school program for children from kindergarten to fifth grade, a karate class host, and a summer day camp for the neighborhood children.
Other than just service centers, Bushwick also has community centers which seek to assist certain disadvantaged groups. An example would be the Latinos Americanos Unidos Inc located on Wyckoff Avenue. It is a private community that offers a variety of goodwill charity, child charities, car charity, cancer charity and kids’ charities. There are also multiple religious social welfare institutions such as the Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services located on Wilson Ave and the Church Ave Merchants. Both offer services such as dog shelters, family social services, Jewish Social Services, Wake County Social Services and Public Social Services.
Bushwick also provides help in finding homes to those who are homeless or experiencing financial troubles. An institution such as the Providence House located on Lexington Ave, is a nonprofit organization assists homeless, abused, and formerly incarcerated women and their children. Their services and programs provide shelter and support through our network of transitional residences, individual apartments and permanent supportive housing. Outreach Project, located on Weirfeld Street, is committed to making a difference in the lives of individuals and families affected by substance abuse.
Some other non service related institutions include the Ridgewood Bushwick Citizen which is a senior center home located on Himrod Street as well as the WIC Child Health Station located on Central Ave. These various institutions help to form the Bushwick community which allows help to be accessible and readily available to their residents.
Other institutions include the Brooklyn Latin School which is a distinguished New York City specialized high school that was founded in 2006 . It offers a classical, liberal arts curriculum in which students receive a strong background in math, science, English, history, Latin, a modern world language, and art history.
The first Bushwick Branch library was located in the rented ground floor of a church at Montrose Avenue and Humboldt Street. This building burned in early 1903, and the library moved to to its present site on Bushwick Avenue near Seigel Street. The present Carnegie building, designed by Raymond F. Almirall opened to the public on December 16, 1908. During the early years, the surrounding community was characterized by overcrowded tenements occupied largely by Russian Jews (although there was also a growing Italian population), many of whom lived on Humboldt Street between Johnson and Montrose Avenues. In spite of these conditions, or perhaps because of them, the Bushwick Branch library became a refuge for thousands of people in the community. By 1916, the Bushwick Branch had the highest circulation of any branch in the system at the time. As the surrounding community changed, the circulation declined. In 1957, the branch was forced to close due to renovations but when it did reopen after four years, it was known as the Family Reading Center.
