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History of Bushwick
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Numerous transportation advances starting in the 1880’s created a
continuous building boom. Elevated lines went up along Myrtle Avenue
and Broadway. Then the electrified streetcars connected Bushwick to
downtown Brooklyn and to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. When the
Williamsburg Bridge began to carry trolleys in 1905 and subways in
1908, the direct connections with Manhattan were complete. Two to six
family houses were built throughout the area. Bushwick Avenue, the
street of mansions for brewers and doctors, was developed between 1880
and 1915: the Irving Avenue area between 1900 and 1913. Bushwick High
School at 400 Irving Avenue was opened in 1913 and counts among its
former students, Joseph Hirshorn and Irving Thalberg. The few large
apartment houses were a product of the 1920’s. From then on no new
housing was built in Bushwick in any quantity until the 1980’s.
Bushwick homes were designed in the Italianate, Neo Greco, Romanesque
Revival, and Queen Anne styles by well known architects. The New York
City Landmarks Commission considered two sections worthy of Historic
District Status in the 1970’s and described the corner of Bushwick
Avenue and Linden Street as “one of the finest groups of Romanesque
Revival architecture in the City.” It is worth mentioning these
facts, because people often assume that today’s slums were always that
way, and thus they fail to understand that neighborhoods decline
because of complicated outside forces.
The build-up of the neighborhood brought in many new residents in
addition to the Germans and Austrians – English, Irish, Russians,
Poles, Jews, and Italians. Bushwick was for a time the second largest
Italian American community in Brooklyn.
Between the wars was Bushwick’s period of greatest affluence. Streets
were spotlessly clean, homes beautifully maintained. It was a popular
entertainment district, and the Bushwick theatre on Broadway between
Palmetto and Woodbine was famous as the second most important
vaudeville theatre after the Palace in Manhattan. The Claridge Hotel
provided excellent accommodations to guests seeking a comfortable
weekend in a country-like setting.
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