How old Bushwick disappeared
Bushwick’s Latino population began to decline in 2006 as rents began to rise.
Before Bushwick became “the new Williamsburg,” with concerts at Silent Barn and overpriced coffee shops, it was home to a large Latino population, mostly Puerto Rican and Dominican. Walking along Evergreen Avenue past rows of houses and apartments decorated with Puerto Rican flags, you’d think gentrification has yet to fully change Bushwick. But something has changed: The Latino population is declining as rents rise.
Jorge Rivera, who owns a remodeling and plumbing business on Central Avenue, says he gave up his $1,500 a month studio apartment to move to his daughter’s Long Island home, where she moved after seeing her rent rise from “$800, $900” to $2,500. “What worries me in this neighborhood is that they’re pushing people out,” he said. “They can’t afford rent.”
Latinos became a large part of the neighborhood’s population by the mid-1960s and early ’70s, when a largely Puerto Rican population moved from the island, according to the City Journal. By 1970 the white population had declined by 38 percent as landlords engaged in “blockbusting,” persuading tenants to vacate their homes in the face of rising minority populations.
The neighborhood also became more dangerous — crime increased by 50 percent during the 1970s, as it became a hub for gang violence and crack dealing. There were 77 murders in 1990 alone.
By the 1980s, Latinos comprised 56 percent of Bushwick’s population. In the Evergreen Avenue section, 1,395 out of 2,134 people—or 65 percent—were Latino, virtually the same percentage among the Myrtle Avenue neighborhood’s 4,980 residents. But even as the Latino population grew — as high as 70 percent in 2006 — the neighborhood was being “discovered.” That same year, The New York Times published “Psst…Have You Heard About Bushwick?,” in which realtor Tom Le talked about Bushwick being the next trendy neighborhood.
By 2008, as newcomers began to arrive, hip pizzeria Roberta’s opened on Moore Street, as did the DIY venue Market Hotel on Myrtle Avenue. According to census reports, the Latino population experienced a dip to 68 percent.
Rents began to rise. The median rent for one-bedroom apartments increased from $869 per month in 2000, to $1,271 in 2014. That was a 68 percent increase over 14 years. Of those affected, 47 percent were severely rent-burdened, low income households, according to Furman Center’s housing reports. According to brokerage company MNS’ real estate market report, from 2013 to 2014, Bushwick experienced the highest rent increase of any Brooklyn neighborhood: 18 percent. During the past year, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment had increased from $2,160 in August 2015 to $2,647 by August 2016.
This phenomenon is similar to the one that Jonathan Miller, a real estate appraiser and CEO of Miller Samuel Inc., pointed out. People living in Brooklyn Heights, he says as an example, may find their rents going up. They look for a more affordable neighborhood.
“Many of them go to Bushwick and they have to pay less in Bushwick than they could, let’s say, Brooklyn Heights,” he said. “But what they’re willing to pay is higher than the people that are already there.”
This is taking place across Brooklyn. Incoming residents, many with better paying jobs, can afford the rising rents, and so people living in places like Bushwick, who are earning less, are pushed out.
“The problem is that it’s a mismatch between the jobs you’re creating and the need for housing,” Miller said, adding that the problem is compounded by the high price of land. The result, is that while the housing market is “soft” for the most expensive properties, it grows ever tighter as prices drop and more people are vying to rent a limited number of units.
As of 2015, the percentage of Bushwick’s population that’s Latino has decreased to 65 percent. The signs of change are evident along Myrtle Avenue. On a Saturday afternoon, the cafe Little Skips is filled with hip millennials speaking English. Next door you’ll find Tarot Society, an expensive tarot reading place that is of little use to the people who have been living in the neighborhood for decades. It makes you wonder who and what had to leave for this to come.
