The Many views of Aberdeen.

First Impressions

Once you arrive at the Bushwick-Aberdeen Station, you seem to be in a different world than when you stepped on in Manhattan. It is quiet and desert-like with the warm sticky air floating about you. As you wait, you notice the stained, un-maintained walls of the building. Although, you see tinged and jaundiced looking subway tiles , you can almost picture a brand new, beautifully decorated station back when it opened on December 14, 1928. However unsanitary it is, as most stations are, it is much better than in the past and one can see that is improving. The fact that it "is" quiet- says something in itself.

Old Bushwick- The stereotype of a dangerous neighborhood that turns people away-even today.

“After World War II, African Americans and Puerto Rican immigrants, who were poorer and had a lower social class than the arostocratic whites, began to move into Bushwick. Small apartment buildings were also built to accommodate the incoming residents. The change. At the same time, locally rising energy costs, advances in transportation, and the invention of the steel can encouraged beer companies to move out of the New York City area. As the breweries all closed, the neighboorhood deteriorated along with much of Brooklyn and New York City. Discussions of urban renewal took place in the 1960s, but never materialized. In 1960 Bushwick was 70 percent white, by 1977 it was over 70 percent Black and Puerto Rican (Goodman 180). One out of every eight buildings were damaged or destroyed by fire every year fom 1969 to 1977 (Goodman 122).”

The Expected Dangers

In 1977, there was a major blackout that disabled New York City. There was Arson, looting, and vandalism that resulted in many poor neighborhoods-Bushwick was one of the most severly devastated areas. Many shops were looted and burned down. Those who profited from theft, saw this as an opportunity to get what they couldn’t afford. It is because of incidents like these that made Bushwick, even to this day, a seemingly undesireable place to live

New Bushwick

Towards the millenium, there started to be less crime citywide and there started to be a shortage in other stylish and attractive neighborhoods like Greenpoint and williamsburg. There was a surge of white people that moved into converted warehouse lofts, brownstones and other buildings. While it was slightly less safe than the other neighborhoods, Bushwick property values started to rise and people noticed gentrification starting. This is a “process in which low-cost, physically deteriorated neighborhoods experience physical renovation and an increase in property values, along with an influx of wealthier residents who displace the neighborhood's original inhabitants.” (wikipedia)
The results of gentrification are a source of academic and political controversy. It can be a great advantage for homeowners and can boost local tax property revenue, which improves services for all residents. “This, along with the related boost to the local economy, can improve crime rates, reduce unemployment, and clean up blighted regions. Resulting rent increases and reduced supply of low-cost rental housing can displace lower-income and working class residents—often including members of minority groups. The extent of this displacement is often disputed, as is the offset of benefits like new jobs and expanded public services.” (Wikipedia)