East Williamsburg, Brooklyn

East Williamsburg is a name for the area in the northwestern portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, which lies between Williamsburg and Bushwick. In the past, much of this area had been referred to as either Bushwick or Williamsburg, with the term East Williamsburg rarely being used until the 1990s. The region is bounded by the neighborhoods of Williamsburg to the west, Greenpoint to the north, Bushwick to the south and southeast, and both Maspeth and Ridgewood in Queens to the east. There is a major disagreement as to whether the community is a stand-alone community or if it is a part of Bushwick, Williamsburg, or both.

= Early history of the area The information in this section is taken from the books: cite book
last = Armbruster
first = Eugene L.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Eastern District of Brooklyn
publisher =
year = 1912
location = Brooklyn
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = and cite book
last = Armbruster
first = Eugene L.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Brooklyn's Eastern District
publisher =
year = 1942
location = Brooklyn
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ] =

Cripplebush

In the 1700s, Bushwick was already an established town, and the waterfront area that provided ferry service to the island of Manhattan was simply known as Bushwick Shore. The land of scrub bush that stood between Bushwick Shore and the town of Bushwick was known as Cripplebush. During the Revolutionary War occupation of the area by the British, the land was cleared, with the wood of the thickets being used for fuel. In 1800, Richard M. Woodhull purchased the waterfront property and laid out a settlement, naming it Williamsburg after his friend and surveyor Col. Jonathan Williams. Williamsburg was incorporated as a village in 1827 (as a part of the town of Bushwick), and included 26 streets running East to West and 12 streets east of the shore line running North to SouthRefer to "Map of the village of Williamsburg, Kings County; As laid out by the Commissioners, appointed by the Legislature in 1827, reduced from the Large Map in possession of the Trustees of the Village", H. McDowell, New York, 1833. ] .

The Third District of the Village of Williamsburg

On April 18, 1835, the village of Williamsburg was extended eastward to Bushwick Avenue and to Flushing Avenue on the Southeast (then known as Newtown Road). The region that is now circumscribed on the west by Union Ave, on the south by Broadway, then along Flushing Avenue to Bushwick Avenue on the east and on the north (approximately) by the Newtown Creek was designated as the Third District of the Village of Williamsburg in 1835Refer to "A Map of Williamsburgh", Isaac Vieth, Brooklyn, 1845. "The Village is divided into three districts, numbered one two and three. All west of the centre of Union Ave and south of the centre of Grand Street composes the first district; all west of Union Avenue and to the north of Grand Street composes the Second District; and all east of Union Avenue, the Third District."] . At this time, the three districts of Williamsburg were more commonly known as the North Side, South Side, and the New Village. The names "North Side" and "South Side" remain in common usage today, but the name for the Third District has changed often. The New Village became populated by Germans and for a time was known by the sobriquet of "Dutchtown". In 1844, Williamsburg separated from the Town of Bushwick and became the Town and Village of Williamsburg. Parts of the Third District were known as "Irish Town" and "The Green" during the latter half of the 19th century.

Ward 15 and Ward 16 of the City of Brooklyn

In 1854, Williamsburg was incorporated into the City of Brooklyn, which was one of the original six Dutch Townships of western Long Island. Upon consolidation with Brooklyn in 1854, Districts one (North Side) and two (South Side) became, respectively, Wards 14 and 13 of the City of Brooklyn. The third District was split and became Wards 15 and 16 of the City of Brooklyn. Ward 15 was the section north of Ten Eyck Street, between Union Avenue and Bushwick Avenue, with the addition of the portion of Ainslie, Grand, Hope, and South Second Streets between west of Union Avenue and east of Rodney Street. Ward 16 was the section south of Ten Eyck Street, bounded by Broadway, Flushing Avenue, and Bushwick Avenue.

Present Day Districting

At present, New York City is divided into 5 boroughs, 59 community districts, and hundreds of neighborhoods. The neighborhood called East Williamsburg is listed in the nyc.gov website [ [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/neighbor/neighl.shtml New York: A City of Neighborhoods] at nyc.gov] as a part of Brooklyn Community District 1, which comprises Greenpoint, North Side Williamsburg, South Side Williamsburg, and East Williamsburg. It is circumscribed (in a counterclockwise manner) by the East River, Kent Avenue, Flushing Avenue, and the Queens County border (which is for the most part, the Newtown Creek).

Bushwick is Brooklyn Community District 4.

The Case For Bushwick

The very first settlement in the town of Bushwick, "het dorp," was founded on the corner of today's Bushwick and Metropolitan Avenues. Furthermore, the area consisting of all the lofts and factories east of Bushwick and North of Flushing, was once called the Village Bushwick Crossroads. [ [http://www.panix.com/~cassidy/stilesv2/v2c9/371.html HISTORY OF BROOKLYN. CHAPTER IX. BUSHWICK AND WILLIAMSBURGH, FROM THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION, UNTIL 1854.] , accessed November 19, 2006] Anything south of Flushing Avenue is part of the former New Lots of Bushwick. New York City' District 34 [ [http://www.gothamgazette.com/community/34/map Community Gazette of District 34] , accessed November 19, 2006] shows the area above Flushing and East of Bushwick Aves as Bushwick North. East Williamsburg and Bushwick share the 11206 zip code south of Grand Street. In April 1827, when Williamsburg incorporated, Bushwick Avenue was the boundary between the town of Williamsburg and Bushwick Village. [ [http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Newspaper/BSU/Anniversary/ManyVillages.html THE MANY VILLAGES OF BROOKLYN] , accessed November 19, 2006] The 18th ward initially consisted entirely of Bushwick, [ [http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Ward/Ward.changes.html Bklyn was an ever changing place remember..] , accessed November 19, 2006] but was split into three wards as Bushwick grew southeastward.

Due to Bushwick's bad reputation, real-estate developers imposed the name East Williamsburg on the area.Fact|date=December 2007

According to the New York Times, Bushwick starts at the Food Bazaar between the Lorimer St and Flushing Av BMT Jamaica Line stations, east of Leonard Street and south of Boerum Street. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/nyregion/11baggers.html Long Treated as Volunteers, Tips-Only Supermarket Baggers Take Up Fight for Hourly Wage, accessed February 18,2007]

The Case For East Williamsburg

East Williamsburg is served by Brooklyn Community Board 1, whereas Bushwick is served by Brooklyn Community Board 4, the boundary being at Flushing Avenue. Many residences north of Grand St. and east of Bushwick Ave. still share the 11211 zip code with Williamsburg. ( [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/gif/neighbor/neighl.gif] ) Each neighborhood also has separate police precincts. East Williamsburg is still an emerging term, and residents who are reluctant to use that term remain to identify themselves with Bushwick or Williamsburg.

Why the confusion?

During the 20th century, the neighborhood was home to a major industrial district in Brooklyn within the borough's northern area. Thus the relatively few residents who lived in the surrounding area were mostly concentrated on the boundaries of Williamsburg and Bushwick, and chose to identify themselves as residents of those neighborhoods and not "East Williamsburg." Fact|date=February 2007 The association between either neighborhood split down the Avenue of Puerto Rico (Graham Avenue) or Bushwick Avenue,Fact|date=February 2007 identifying with Williamsburg to the west and with Bushwick to the east. In the latter half of the 20th century, the majority of the residents to the east were of African American and Puerto Rican background.

Residents (north of Flushing Avenue) who identified with Bushwick had such a strong association that when real estate developers increasingly referred to the area as "East Williamsburg" in the late 1990s, many residents dismissed the term as a marketing ploy to encourage new residents who were unable to settle in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, or Gowanus Fact|date=February 2007. Older buildings such as the former Bushwick Savings Bank in the northwest or the towering Bushwick Houses in the southwest seem to indicate that their creators referred to the area as Bushwick. However, the Bushwick Savings Bank, which opened in 1873, was originally located in the heart of Bushwick on Broadway near Myrtle Avenue. It moved to the present location at Grand Street and Graham Avenue in 1895, retaining the name Bushwick Savings Bank [ Refer to page 188 of cite book
last = Armbruster
first = Eugene L.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Brooklyn's Eastern District
publisher =
year = 1942
location = Brooklyn
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ] .

Lofts and housing projects

Factories and warehouses were being decommissioned due to heavy and light industry leaving the area, and were converted into loft and apartment space, similar to the residential development of the DUMBO neighborhood in Brooklyn Fact|date=February 2007. An example of this can be seen in the adjacent picture which shows the two loft buildings on McKibbin St. 255 McKibbin and 248 McKibbin. A major factor for developers and potential residents was the BMT Canarsie Line (NYCS Canarsie) of the New York City Subway, with the Grand Street, Montrose Avenue and Morgan Avenue stations, which provides a quick, 15-minute travel time to Manhattan. (The neighborhood is also served by Lorimer Street and Flushing Avenue on the BMT Jamaica Line (NYCS Jamaica west local).) The location and low rents were enough to attract artists, young professionals and hipsters in due time, which in turn is slowly encouraging gentrification that continues today. Fact|date=February 2007 Those long-time minority residents who live outside of rent-regulated apartments or public housing are feeling its effects in the form of higher rents. Fact|date=February 2007 An "anti-gentrification" attitude has developed among locals and many in the community are becoming aware of the changes taking place. Most obviously due to an affordable housing shortage in the area but an increase in luxury condos and co-ops construction. Tensions have been forming between longstanding lower income residents and young professionals moving into the area.

Graham Ave (also known as Avenue of Puerto Rico to the South and Via Vespucci to the North) and Grand Street are the main shopping districts. There are several public housing projects in East Williamsburg, including the Williamsburg Houses, Borinquen Plaza, and the Bushwick/John Francis Hylan Houses.

References

External links

* [http://www2.nypl.org/smallbiz/programs/keywordresults_static.cfm?r_id=329&prog=searching East Williamsburg Industrial Park]

Sources

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DE1F39F936A15752C0A9629C8B63 "Neighborhood On the Verge?"] , "The New York Times", 25 January 2004. Accessed 26 July 2006.
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0550,lagorio,70798,15.html "Closeup on Bushwick, Brooklyn"] , "The Village Voice", 7 December 2005, references East Williamsburg as part of Bushwick. Accessed 26 July 2006.
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/nyregion/19pion.html?ei=5070&en=d6bb628d91e3c5d0&ex=1155355200&pagewanted=all "Go East, Young Man"] , "The New York Times", 19 June 2005. Accessed 10 August 2006.