community history & info links

community resource links

  · eateries / cafés / bars / lounges

  · retail goods

  · retail services

  · creatives

  · educational institutions

  · community programs / organizations

  · media / communications outlets

  · arts organiztions & venues

  · community events

testimonials

community pix

new york daily news article (excerpts)

new york times article

time out new york article (excerpts)

new york magazine article (excerpts)

baltimore sun article (excerpts)

community history & info links

as i’m sure you’ve been reading in recent articles, such as in time out new york, the new york times, new york daily news, and new york magazine (among many others) the historic community of bedford~stuyvesant (aka “do~or~die,” “bed~stuy,” or “bed~stizzy”) ~ known worldwide for its magnificent architecture, tree~lined blocks and flourishing community gardens, and as home to such greats as jazz legends Eubie Blake (who brought jazz dancing to broadway, and whose composition, “fizzwater,” u heard on the splash page) & Max Roach, singer and activist Lena Horne, woodstock legend Richie Havens, actor / rapper Mos Def, comedian / actor Chris Rock, color~line breaker Jackie Robinson, golden glove champ and gold medal olympian Floyd Patterson, the first black american woman physician and suffragist Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Steward, environmental activist Hattie Carthan, publishing magnate Earl Graves, the most~published black author in history June Jordan, presidential candidate and first black female congressperson Shirley Chisholm & countless other significant black cultural figures ~ is in the flowering of a new black cultural and commercial renaissance.

the millions of dollars that are pouring in to revitalise downtown brooklyn, combined with an unprecedented demand for real estate in new york city, have caused housing prices to skyrocket ~ yet bed~stizzy is still drawing large numbers of young black families, individuals, professionals, entrepreneurs and artists, due in large part to the relatively affordable and beautiful housing stock and long history of its black cultural presence and strong sense of community. a new generation of energetic and visionary young black people are now coming home to bed~stizzy, paying homage to its past, and proudly transforming it in their own image to create a glorious future.

bed~stizzy offers a unique and powerful opportunity for the conscious black person: a chance to help reshape a historic world~class community into the model black urban middle~class neighborhood of the 21st century.

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there is a growing number of upscale retail product & service establishments throughout the community ~ many are proudly black~owned & operated ~ as well as a good number of supporting institutions. here are a few favorites:

(note to web designers: if the shops below have no website, that probably means they are in need of your services!)

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eateries / cafés / bars / lounges   

  · Bread Stuy bakery (which hosts free art classes for kids, free chess lessons, and a free jazz lounge), acts as the de facto town hall, where many neighbors catch up with one another over coffee & a croissant

  · the up~and~coming poetry spot Café iimani (which has been compared to the renowned Nuyorican)

  · Doctor’s Cave Café ~ 718. 398. 4776

  · Food 4 Thought Café ~ 718. 443. 4160

  · Juke Joint Juice Jaffe ~ 718. 778. 0777

  · Lewis & Ruby’s Soul Food Cookery, a restaurant / bar just opened in the former Akwaaba Café space, by the folks that own Langston Bar & Lounge, Liquors, and Bodegas Restaurant

  · Shakoor’s Sweet Tooth (home of the “best” sweet potato cheesecake)

  · perennial favorite Sista’s Place (one of the hosts of the Central Brooklyn Jazz Fest)

  · Scoopees! ice cream, coffee & donuts ~ 718. 919. 7347

  · Solomon’s Porch Café, which features live events ~ 718. 919. 8001

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retail goods

  · AfroArt Designs: home furnishings boutique

  · Backyard Green: plant & flower nursery

  · our beloved Brownstone Books

  · Celeste Glascoe~Njoku, specialty gifts

  · Design Schemes @ Home: interior & home design studio ~ 718. 399. 2819

  · Freestyle Kids: funky kids clothing boutique

  · Heads 4 Dreads: headwear, clothing, culture, makers of “dread sty” gear

  · Heavenly Blossoms: florist

  · the House of Brown: gift shop

  · the House of Nyi(ella): custom~made fashions

  · Huneypot: quality adult toys & sensual sundries

  · the amazing home furnishings store Ibo Landing

  · Jefferson Antiques ~ 718. 919. 2878

  · the Lewis Avenue Flea Market: every saturday 9 am ~ 6 pm from may til october, across from Bread Stuy, Brownstone Books and Marlene’s Hair Salon

  · Little Red Boutique: female~centric gifts ~ 718. 443. 1170

  · Mind Body & Soul Fragrance

  · the funky women’s clothing boutique Misu

  · Nubian Heritage: book store and gift shop

  · the Parlor Floor: antiques and fine home furnishings ~ 718. 452. 7098

  · Victorian Antiques ~ 718. 919. 6808

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retail services

  · A. Lorenzo Bryan, Esq.: personal injury, surrogates, wills, real estate, litigation ~ 212. 227. 7877

  · AIB Interior Arch, LLC: home renovation and restoration, specializing in brownstones

  · the world~class bed & breakfast Akwaaba Mansion (owned & operated by author and former editor~in~chief of essence magazine, Monique Greenwood, who was named as one of “100 women who shape our city”)

  · United Environmental Corp.: asbestos & lead removal

  · Bed~Stuy Animal Spa

  · Brooklyn Bodyworks P.C.: physical therapy and athletic enhancement

  · Carl Johnson, certified educational & vocational consultant; real estate investor ~ 718. 773. 2508

  · Clara’s Heart Natural Nail Spa ~ 718. 421. 2696

  · Custom Metal Products

  · Documents Direct: document preparation

  · Harmony Hetep ©: doula / natural childbirth, sacred bellydance, cloth menstrual pads, body adornment, natural hair artistry, woman~centered intuitive readings

  · Hibiscus Day Spa

  · the House of Brown: massage & holistic health services

  · Janie L. Bradley, CPA ~ 718. 221. 2909

  · JDG Real Estate Co.

  · Kiddie Limousine ~ 718. 644. 7589

  · Kweku Technology Solutions: consulting, web, design & networking

  · Madison One~On~One Child Care

  · Michael Ivanhoe McCaw Architects, P. C.

  · NY PC Pro: for all your personal computing needs

  · RenKen Realty of NY Ltd.

  · Sabrina Smith: real estate; creative & management consultant

  · Sankofa Center For Health and Healing

  · Thompson’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Inc. ~ 718. 399. 3400

  · Walston Bobb~Semple: real estate agent

  · Zensuous B.T.M.™: wholistic body~temple maintenance, seasonally~krafted products & services

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creatives

  · Aisha Cousins: muralist ~ 347. 837. 0804

  · Amaka Jewelry

  · Aminata Thiam: model, actress, voiceover talent

  · ArtForm Recordings: producers

  · Bernice McFadden: novelist

  · Black Sky Media: new media design

  · Craig Anthony Bannister: storysmith for any occasion

  · Doug Brown: dj

  · Drunia Duvivier: documentary filmmaker

  · Halima Cassells: muralist ~ 718. 443. 4215

  · Isalee Stephens: artist / painter & portraits ~ 718. 773. 3745

  · Jared Hassan: chief engineer / producer

  · the Jeff King Band: jazz combo

  · Jennifer Cruté: fine art & illustration

  · KLAD Creative: graphic design

  · mo’ betta blues: musical artist

  · Olu Gittens: filmmaker

  · Pela: fashion design

  · Prescott McDonald Photography: portrait and editioral photography

  · Rhonda Passion Hansome: director

  · Ron Hughes: author

  · russell K frederick: photographer

  · Sabine: dj

  · Sabre Mochachino: fashion design

  · ”SEHU?!.” the Divine Symbolist ©: artist, lecturer, poet, spiritual teacher / advisor

  · Shawn Banks: percussionist

  · Sun Singleton: soulful singer

  · Suncadm Bey: designer~artist

  · Tam Aura: quality handmade goods

  · Wangechi Mutu: world~renowned painter

  · William Jones Design: design and visual art management

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educational institutions

  · the soon~to~be~opened Excellence Charter School of Bedford~Stuyvesant

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community programs / organizations

  · free(!) yoga classes with Anu (who is also the proprietor of Khamit Kinks natural hair care salon)

  · the Brownstoners of Bedford~Stuyvesant (who organize a literacy program and host the annual bed~[stizzy] house tour)

  · Girls For Gender Equity, Inc.: committed to the physical, psychological, social and economic development of girls and women

  · Global Kids School Based Leadership Programs

  · the Magnolia Tree Earth Center

  · the Stuyvesant Heights Parents Association

  · the Weeksville Society, which works to preserve the history of the early african~american presence in brooklyn

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media / communications outlets

  · B*SHINE (bed~stizzy’s helpful info & news exchange): a yahoogroup community bulletin board

  · bedford~stuyvesant: another yahoogroup community bulletin board

  · bedstuy.org: a community news site

  · bedstuyonline: a great source for all things bed~stizzy!

  · the Bed~Stuy Parlor: a bcat tv show, hosted by our own local superheroine, Monique Greenwood, who has already put several lifetimes’ worth of work into bettering this community

  · heightsparents: a yahoogroup created as information exchange for parents in crown heights, prospect heights and stuyvesant heights, brooklyn. relevant topics include parenting, the community, caregivers, child-friendly businesses, schools, child safety, pediatricians, etc.

  · longtime local news organization Our Time Press

  · southbrooklyn: a yahoogroup, general neighbor’s list for posts of interest to folks living or working in or near south brooklyn: prospect heights, park slope, crown heights, pratt, bed-[stizzy], brooklyn heights, cobble hill, windsor terrace, carroll gardens, red hook

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arts organizations & venues

  · Art in the Park: fine art for young hearts

  · Bedford~Stuyvesant Artists Association (BeSAA): among other things, we do an annual “studio strut”

  · Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), which hosts the annual DanceAfrica! festival, is 10 minutes away

  · the Brooklyn Children’s Museum is a stone’s throw away, in neighboring crown heights

  · brooklyn’s first museum dedicated to artists of african descent ~ the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporian Arts (MoCADA)

  · Red Clay Arts, they work a lot with kids in black communities locally & internationally

  · the Skylight Gallery at Restoration Plaza (which also houses the popular Billie Holiday Theater and Restoration Dance Theater Junior Company)

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community events

  · the Central Brooklyn Jazz Fest

  · City Parks Foundation hosts free local concerts (Shinehead, the P~Funk All~Stars, Brothers Johnson, Zapp, Talib Kweli, Big Daddy Kane, Dana Dane, Boukman Eksperayans, Arrested Development and many others have given free concerts in one of the 4 nearby parks)

  · for the past 40+ years, bed~stizzy has been home to the Fulton Art Fair’s “Art in the Park”

  · and of course, for over 30+ years, bed~stizzy was home to the International African Arts Festival’s annual African Street Festival (that has hosted acts such as Gil Scott Heron, De La Soul, Dead Prez, Lauryn Hill, & many many others in its long history)

  · the annual K I D flix film fest of bed~[stizzy]

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 testimonials

“it feels like a ‘bed~[stizzy] renaissance.’

bed~[stizzy] is so full of energy and a sense of community and belonging that is felt from the instant that you set foot in the neighborhood. it is wonderful to live in such a thriving black community.”

~ Sherrilyn McPherson,
resident since january 2004

“i’ve never felt a warmer, richer sense of community than i do right here in bed~stizzy. where i grew up, we didn’t have the block parties, the ‘welcome to the neighborhood’ garden parties, the free film festivals...the sense of belonging and cultural awareness. bed~stizzy is where i will raise my family.”

~ David Riggins,
resident since august 1999

“i am proud to call bed~[stizzy] home, the neighborhood has so much to offer from the tree lined blocks to warm coffee shops, all this in an area rich in cultural and historical heritage. there are so few places that have managed to nurture such a strong sense of community, bed~[stizzy] is where the heart is.”

~ Aisha Fraites,
resident since january 2004

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community members help set up for, and then watch, the annual K I D flix film fest of bed~stizzy, held every friday night in august in fulton park...

bed~stizzy’s future ...

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bed~[stizzy] chic (excerpts)

hip shoppers are flocking to the brooklyn ’hood for unique goods

by Tracy E. Hopkins

october 20, 2005

bedford~stuyvesant has undergone an extreme makeover. once called the “do or die” section of brooklyn, the neighborhood now boasts a dropping crime rate and breathtaking brownstones that have become hot property.

naturally, the hipsters aren’t far behind. new stores have sprouted to attract funky shoppers from near and far.

“this is exactly what we wanted to see happen,” says Crystal Bobb~Semple, co~owner of Brownstone Books (409 lewis avenue). “these homes need new life and the businesses need customers.”

when Bobb~Semple and her husband Walston opened Brownstone Books and the Parlor Floor antiques shop [over five] years ago, their goal was to provide a gathering place for local intellectuals.

“we were the first business owners to bring high~end retail to the neighborhood,” says the bed~[stizzy] native, whose bookstore has hosted authors including Nikki Giovanni and Walter Mosley. “every neighborhood needs a bookstore.”

Debor~Rah Brown~Reid also had community improvement in mind when she transformed the brownstone she’d planned to sell into The House of Brown (370 lewis avenue). the modest day spa and gift shop specializes in reiki, massage therapy, natural hair care and one~of~a~kind clothing. but because the area is still in transition, the former correctional officer says some folks were skeptical.

the nearby restaurant owners, in particular, stuck their heads in the door. “people were like, ‘what are you doing over there?,’” says Brown~Reid. “i told them, ‘i’m making a place to de~stress. so when you finish cooking, come on over and get a massage.’”

within a year of the shop’s grand opening in september 2004, Mimi Humphrey opened Freestyle Kids (373 lewis avenue).

Humphrey previously owned a children’s clothing store in her native park slope and designed clothing for Spike Lee’s defunct Spike’s Joint shop in fort greene. the self~taught designer says there’s no place like bed~[stizzy].

“i received such a warm welcome when i came here,” says Humphrey, whose colorful kids’ shop boasts a distinctive selection of handmade crotchet sweaters, afrocentic clothing, coats, and dolls ranging in price from $5 to $60. “people still come in and praise the store. they love how the neighborhood is changing.”

the right move

harlem native Josie Almonte fell in love with bed~[stizzy] when she moved there two years ago. “i thought, ‘we need a nice little boutique,’” she says, “one where we can find candles, makeup and pantyhose, which all women need.”

in july, Almonte opened the reasonably priced and tastefully designed Little Red Boutique (374 lewis avenue), splashed the walls red and filled it with name~brand clothing, shoes and accessories in a wide selection of sizes and trendy styles priced from $20 to $70.

the lewis avenue shop owners work together as members of SoLA ~ the Shops of Lewis Avenue merchants association.

“we all know each other by name,” says Almonte. “it’s a great place to be.”

bed~[stizzy]’s other burgeoning shopping strip is tompkins avenue ~ home to upscale boutique Misu (404 tompkins avenue).

“we wanted to be pioneers,” says Misu co~owner Alexandra Marra, recalling when she and boyfriend Woody Pierre set up shop four years ago. “we wanted to bring a little bit of manhattan to the ’hood.”

Marra’s efforts, however, to bring comparatively pricey merchandise to a block marred by iron gates scrawled with graffiti and typified by nearby discount stores, wasn’t initially well received.

“it was a culture shock to the neighborhood,” she says, adding that non~locals have been fearful to stop by because of bed~[stizzy]’s sketchy reputation. “since the first day we opened, people said we belonged in the city.”

but over time, Marra ~ who recently opened a second store, La Vedette, in park slope ~ says shoppers have become less intimidated by Misu (My Idea So Unique), known for its selection of designer jeans and leather handbags ranging in price from $80 to $300 and its “i love da hood” t~shirts for $30.

encouraged by her mother to start her own business, Achuziam Maha turned the abandoned laundromat next to Misu into Ibo Landing (402 tompkins avenue), a polished home décor shop with modern furniture from malaysia and japan, and exotic decorative pieces from morocco, vietnam, peru and south africa that sell for 20% less than pottery barn.

the bed~[stizzy] native, whose family has lived in the neighborhood for several generations, named the 2~year~old shop in homage to her nigerian heritage and the film “daughters of the dust,” which recounts the history of ibo captives who escaped to south carolina’s sea islands.

“i felt like we were landing here in bed~[stizzy] with this new energy and vision,” explains the bedding designer. “a lot of people in the community don’t believe that we deserve nice things. we want to bring back the time when people expected quality work from their own.”

while Ibo Landing’s esthetic is modern, AfroArt Designs (316 stuyvesant avenue) sells traditional african home accessories and paintings by local artists. Shanda King opened the gallery~like store in 2004 ~ just three blocks from her home ~ and says she wouldn’t have her business anywhere else.

“it was always my dream to have a store right here in bed~[stizzy] where you could find all of the home furnishings that reflect african people,” says the interior designer. “that’s what I did, and the reception has been overwhelming.”

to make everyone feel welcome, AfroArt meets every price point ~ from a senegalese coaster for $1 to furniture for up to $2,500.

“this is a community store,” says King. “i’m from the community and my heart is with the people who shop here.”

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a home with charm, and challenges

by Stephen P. Williams

november 20, 2005

a calculator and a home improvement workbook have permanent spots on the coffee table in Crystal and Walston Bobb~Semple’s brooklyn mansion. they keep them handy for estimating the costs of renovating their potentially lovely home.

the potential is clear: the house has three levels of perfectly proportioned second empire rooms under a slate~tiled mansard roof on one of the prettiest blocks in bedford~stuyvesant. there are four exposures from extra~wide double~hung windows, and original floors and marble mantels throughout. most of the loveliness, however, is obscured by broken heating risers, water~stained plaster and damaged floors.

all of this disrepair awaits Mr. Bobb~Semple’s home~handyman skills, which he applies part time after work and on weekends, except when the monumentality of the task so overwhelms him that he can’t set foot in the repair zone.

“i go from, ‘wow, we are fortunate to have this big house,’ to ‘wow, everything in this big house needs to be replaced,’” said Mr. Bobb~Semple, whose hyphenated surname goes back generations in his guyanese family. “but sometimes when the sun hits the front of the house at the right angle, and the light comes pouring ~ it all suddenly seems worthwhile.”

Mrs. Bobb~Semple has also been seduced by the charms of the 4,000~square~foot civil war~era house.

“roughing it is not something i like,” she said. “i don’t like being cold. i like order and peace. but i love living in this house, even in the midst of all the construction.”

the couple originally thought it would take Mr. Bobb~Semple a year per floor to subdue the mansion, but they are already months behind in their gentrification story. gentrification is a term that’s tossed freely about bedford~stuyvesant these days, as the blocks of often elegant, yet just as often decrepit, brownstones fall prey to the desires of original~crown~molding~mad new yorkers who’ve been priced out of other areas.

some people see the influx of money and contractors as a much~needed physical and even spiritual renewal for the neighborhood, which in recent decades has been known as much for its high murder rate as for the many finely dressed families who walk to church on sundays.

many others see the wave of newcomers, many of them lighter skinned than the african~americans who have lived in the neighborhood for generations, as more of an invasion.

Mr. and Mrs. Bobb~Semple joined a curious subset of bedford~stuyvesant’s gentrification when they bought their macdonough street house for $548,000 in 2004. though they are part of the wave that’s transforming the neighborhood, the Bobb~Semples didn’t arrive from manhattan or more affluent parts of brownstone brooklyn.

instead, they were gentrifying from the inside. Mrs. Bobb~Semple was raised in brooklyn, and her husband arrived from guyana in the fifth grade. her parents were longtime bedford~stuyvesant residents. and the couple had been live~in landlords in a nearby three~unit brownstone they bought for $155,000 in 1995.

many of their 30~something african~american friends had fled the city for the green yards of new jersey. but except for a brief stint on the west coast, the Bobb~Semples were new yorkers through and through.

Mrs. Bobb~Semple, 35, is on the board of the brooklyn navy yard development corporation and is head of the Stuyvesant Heights Parents [Association], which works to introduce local parents to each other, improve playgrounds and generally make bedford~stuyvesant a better place for families.

she also owns Brownstone Books, the neighborhood’s only bookstore, just up from her husband’s store, the Parlor Floor antiques. Mr. Bobb~Semple, 36, is also a real estate broker with urban view realty. their new house, near the a~train, seemed like a good fit, if they could make it work.

they needed income from the apartment they were living in to pay the new mortgage. so they wanted to move quickly into the new place. it wasn’t an easy process.

the previous owner had lived in the house for decades, but then the house sat empty and neglected for three years before the Bobb~Semples took possession. it turned out that along with the house, they’d bought all of the man’s possessions, including three~year~old food in the refrigerator.

“i said to Walston, ‘please get that refrigerator out of there because if i look inside i’ll never be able to cook in this house again,’” Mrs. Bobb~Semple said.

the rooms were so crowded with junk that it was difficult to move around. “we had to clear everything out just to get some clarity,” Mr. Bobb~Semple said, “so that we could see, so that the house would start talking to us.”

they invited their friends to walk through and take what they wanted. still, in a mad bid for order, the couple filled two dumpsters with stuff.

once the house was empty, its grandeur shined through. on each floor, a series of rooms orbit around the graceful center~hall staircase. floor~to~ceiling windows, plaster medallions and crown moldings give the house a sense of elegance, despite serious water damage from burst pipes that still make most of the house uninhabitable.

the couple chose a modest line of four rooms on the ground floor as their first project. painted, and with a temporary kitchen, the rooms make an apartment for the Bobb~Semples and their 4~year~old daughter, Corinne, that many new york families would envy. this space is the base for the renovation effort, for which the couple has an optimistic budget of $150,000.

the renovation of the top floor, which has stunning curved walls that follow the lines of the mansard roof, has been challenging, and slow. there are always interruptions.

recently, Mr. Bobb~Semple had to climb onto the roof, from which there are views of the empire state building, to put wire over some holes that squirrels were using to enter the attic crawl space.

but the couple view the painstaking pace as a blessing. “it’s given the house time to tell us what to do,” Mr. Bobb~Semple said.

for example, they moved in with plans to put the kitchen in an existing extension on the back of the house. but they’ve come to realize that, given the flow of the rooms, it would work better closer to the staircase.

“we want to do it right,” Mr. Bobb~Semple said, heading outside to show off the carefully tended mums, sweet potato vines and shrubs that give the front porch and yard a sophisticated appearance.

to his left, a fairly long, gated driveway led up to his private two~car garage ~ well, to what used to be a two~car garage, before the roof and the front wall collapsed, leaving only a shell.

“that one’s just going to have to wait,” he said, with a smile that could almost have been a frown crossing his thoughtful face.

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the battle for bed~stuy (excerpts)

a group of black artists is fighting to keep gentrification from changing the complexion of their neighborhood

by Justin Rocket Silverman

photographs by Sarina Finkelstein

april 21~27, 2005

[some find it] hard to believe that pockets of the surrounding neighborhood, known for decades as “bed~stuy, do or die,” [is] home to a burgeoning real~estate boom, one in which three~ and four~story brownstones that sold for $250,000 five years ago now command upward of $700,000. the market is so hot that new homeowners are frequently approached with offers to sell, as new yorkers looking for affordable housing become more willing to brave this emergent community.

not only is the residential stock appreciating, but several new cafés ~ notably Bread Stuy on lewis avenue, Solomon’s Porch on stuyvesant avenue and nearby Food 4 Thought ~ and retail stores such as Brownstone Books and Ibo Landing have opened to serve the growing population of young artists and professionals…a debate is growing about what these recent shifts along the residential and commercial frontier herald for the character of one of the country’s largest black communities.

T R U E, a 36~year~old artist, sees the potential for a more diverse community in less optimistic terms. according to T R U E, the cultural unity that now exists allows black artists to be encouraged and inspired in a way he never saw while living in more mixed neighborhoods. “bed~[stizzy] is unique in that it is the last chance we have for a viable, predominantly black community in new york city that is oriented toward art and culture,” he says. “harlem may already be lost because of gentrification, and we are taking steps to prevent that here.”

many lifelong residents and community leaders, along with members of the recently arrived creative community, agree that some of the latest developments make bed~[stizzy] a more livable place. still, some locals ~ whether african~american, caribbean or first~generation african immigrants ~ are protective of what they call an invaluable cultural legacy. “we know it’s on the verge,” says Russell Frederick, a photographer who has lived in the neighborhood for 15 years. “we know the british are coming. the future is going to be decided between those who think in terms of community and those who think in terms of maximum profit.”

T R U E, a brownstone owner himself, says he would have a hard time renting to tenants who wouldn’t contribute to the neighborhood’s creative energy. “getting the right tenant,” he explains, “and getting the most money are not necessarily the same thing.”

new york city councilman Albert Vann, who has lived in bed~[stizzy] for 70 years, calls the neighborhood’s upswing part of the “manhattanization of brooklyn,” and is concerned that the same residents who kept the area from completely disintegrating 20 years ago could be priced out by rising rents and property taxes.

unfortunate yet possible, acknowledges one area real~estate broker, who notes that until the 1930s, bed~[stizzy] was a wealthy community of dutch and german immigrants. black presence in the area dates to weeksville, an early~19th~century community of freed and escaped slaves. the number of black residents in bed~[stizzy] has grown steadily since, with a major influx during wwii, when migrants from the south and the caribbean, as well as new yorkers who liked the easy access to harlem on the a train, came to bed~[stizzy] in search of better jobs and housing. exclusionary housing policies that prevented people of color from buying homes in many other parts of brooklyn led to a high rate of homeownership in bed~[stizzy], and today, 75 percent of the neighborhood’s 145,000 residents are black, with almost a quarter of the homes owner~occupied.

although a sizable middle class lived in bed~[stizzy], unemployment and the lack of social services became major issues in the 1960s, prompting senator Robert F. Kennedy to start the country’s first community~development corporation. however, federal dollars couldn’t stop heroin from flooding the streets in the ’70s, and then, when the ’80s crack epidemic hit, bed~[stizzy] became a battlefield in the war on drugs. yet despite bed~[stizzy]’s problems ~ or perhaps thanks to them ~ a creative community of musicians and poets has thrived in the neighborhood for decades. old~timers speak of jazz clubs that picked up where the harlem renaissance left off, and the homegrown lyrics of local heroes Jay~Z and the late Notorious B.I.G. are now part of america’s cultural lexicon. these factors explain why parallels to nearby williamsburg and fort greene are hard to avoid. both of those areas had major crime problems in the ’70s and ’80s, and a pattern of gentrification similar to the one that transformed them seems to be at work today in bed~[stizzy]: artists and their ilk pioneer an area, businesses that cater to them open, and the cool factor amplifies ~ leading to climbing rents and property values. it’s how alphabet city [loisaida] went from a place you dare not tread to a place you can’t afford.

“bed~[stizzy] is still do or die,” says Lois Thompson, a real~estate agent from the corcoran group. “but now it doesn’t mean you’re going to get shot, it means you’re going to get priced out.”

feed your mind: Brian Ervin (right) moderates a salon at Will Deceus’ Food 4 Thought Café

drawn in: illustrator Jennifer Cruté came to bed~[stizzy] to be with other artists.

for 28~year~old illustrator Jennifer Cruté, the chance to join a community of black artists led her to leave her hometown of teaneck, new jersey, and move to bed~[stizzy] in 2001. she was planning on renting a studio in harlem, until she learned her life there would be on perpetual display for tourists gawking from red double~decker buses. now she is preparing to buy a home in the neighborhood. “hopefully we will gentrify bed~[stizzy] ourselves,” says Cruté of the black artists and professionals who have arrived in recent years.

building blocks: curator Laurie Cumbo wants more venues for black artists.

in addition to the local artists, curators such as Laurie Cumbo want to establish more venues for black artists to display their work. Cumbo founded the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art [MoCADA] on stuyvesant avenue five years ago. (the museum closed in november and will reopen in a new space in september.) she claims that out of the hundreds of pieces displayed at the opening of the new moma on 53rd street, “maybe ten are works by african~american artists, and i’m being generous.” (a moma spokesperson said the museum doesn’t keep stats on the race or gender of its featured artists.)

by making a vibrant arts community for itself, even one centered on black identity and black issues, the artists are creating something in which outsiders will want to participate. “once something becomes cool, it becomes safe,” Cumbo acknowledges. “and safe is the underpinning of gentrification.”

some locals contend that the grim, reality~based stories rapped about in songs by Jay~Z and the Notorious B.I.G. have been another factor in keeping potential white interlopers at bay. (though, as local author Kenji Jasper says: “go see the block where Notorious B.I.G. grew up. if you listen to his music you know it was a rough place, but were you to say you were from that block now it would be a joke, like saying you were from scarsdale!”)

…what is clear, though, is that in recent years the arrival of young black professionals (the so~called buppies) has had an impact on the area. some residents see the buppies as evidence that gentrification will be a class shift, rather than a racial one. “this will be a wealthier neighborhood, but the complexion will be the same,” says Monique Greenwood, owner of the Akwaaba Mansion and the former editor~in~chief of essence magazine.

but artists who are in more financially precarious positions than Greenwood and Danny Simmons tend to see things in more racially explicit terms. “when i think of gentrification, i don’t think of other black people moving in to the neighborhood, i think of white people,” says Shaka King, a 25~year~old filmmaker who grew up in bed~[stizzy]. King’s parents bought their house in 1983, and have watched its value double, triple and quadruple. “when the time comes to sell my house, i would like to sell it to other black people,” says Shaka’s mother, Judy King. “i say that not because i am racist, but because i know for a fact that black people have a hard time buying in middle~class white neighborhoods.”

activists like Amadi Ajamu of Sista’s Place coffeehouse are hopeful they can convince more people to think like Judy King. “the basis of racism is economic,” says Ajamu, who leads workshops for prospective homeowners at the jefferson avenue lounge. “what we do is convince black people not to sell their homes.” organizations like the Bedford~Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation also help local residents buy and retain their homes. but as Todd Johnson, owner of Le Cafe Starving Artiste, puts it, “it’s fine if people want to come up with collective strategies for holding on to properties, but the point is that every owner has a sweet spot.”

if the working~class polish families that still reside in north williamsburg and the large puerto rican community in the lower east side are any indication, it’s unlikely that bed~[stizzy] will lose the core of its black character in the coming decades. but as the perception of the neighborhood continues to improve, more wealthy residents will consider moving in. “when you’re fighting to maintain the ethnic makeup of a place, people are very quick to jump on your efforts and label them ‘reverse racism,’” says T R U E. “but you don’t go to chinatown or little italy and call the people there reverse racists. we don’t look at ourselves as fighting gentrification per se ~ we are fighting to preserve the black cultural legacy of bedford~stuyvesant.”

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the tipping of jefferson avenue (excerpts)
 
on a single street, brownstone by brownstone, gentrification and race are colliding, making bed~[stizzy] locals wonder what kind of block will be left when it all shakes out.

by Jeff Coplon

within brooklyn community district 3, the generally accepted borders for bed~[stizzy], the 2000 census found a white population of only 1.4 percent, most of it clustered along the western fringe of the neighborhood, near clinton hill. while that figure has since climbed substantially (as morning rush hour at the utica avenue station will attest), the influx of the affluent remains to this point a largely black affair ~ and some longtime residents hope it stays that way. they are wooing the black professionals who no longer jump at some fantasy life in the suburbs or that $2 million rowhouse in cobble hill. they do not need white people to validate their neighborhood as desirable, much less rescue it.

“this neighborhood has come back,” says Brenda Fryson, the co~founder of a civic group known as the Brownstoners. “and it’s not because white people have come here but because of the tenacity of the people who have lived here all along.”

Fryson’s argument has some historical credence. unlike harlem, which was swallowed almost whole by white absentee landlords, bed~[stizzy] has been anchored by black homeowners dating back to the early~nineteenth century. attachments run particularly deep on jefferson avenue between lewis and stuyvesant…extended families put down their stakes between 60 and 70 years ago, passing houses from one generation to the next. there are people on the block today who were literally born in these brownstones, or held their wedding receptions on the sidewalks and street.

. . .

with a bit of hindsight, bed~[stizzy]’s current vogue seems predictable ~ more, inevitable. during the past decade, brooklyn became the ambitious young urbanite’s destination borough, a trend born in the dot~com bubble and secured by 9 / 11 and our shattered assumptions about “safe” neighborhoods. by the late nineties, brownstones on the better blocks in park slope and fort greene had already swept past a million dollars. first~time buyers were priced out of boerum hill and prospect heights. pressure built from just west of bed~[stizzy], in clinton hill, and from the north, where the hasidic community had outgrown williamsburg.

not least, there was [bed~stizzy]’s intrinsic value ~ its rare architecture and nigh~ideal location, less than fifteen minutes by train from wall street. in the end, all that buffered the neighborhood from real~estate mania ~ all that kept a nice townhouse as low as $200,000 into the late nineties ~ was its felonious reputation, along with a general reluctance among white home buyers to dive into an identifiably black neighborhood. but as the brownstone craze crested, crime fell throughout new york. in the 81st precinct, which contains the eastern half of bed~[stizzy] (including jefferson avenue and the landmark district of stuyvesant heights to the south), the tally of murders, robberies, rapes, and felonious assaults plunged 64 percent between 1993 and 2003. rooftop handgun practice became a rarity; dealers moved their trade indoors or went out of business.

bed~[stizzy], so long reviled, may represent the last best chance for the urban version of the american dream.

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by Jean Marbella

baltimore sun national staff

march 18, 2002

brooklyn ~ it’s happened in so many neighborhoods that the signs are now familiar: on a block where some of the houses are boarded up or sagging with neglect, earnest new homeowners are sanding, painting and otherwise restoring brownstones to their past glory. where corner bodegas and nail salons have long made up the bulk of area businesses, suddenly there are also places to buy a latte, a politically correct children’s book and food that doesn’t come from behind bullet~proof plexiglas.

creeping gentrification is nothing new in new york, where the search for affordable housing has long sent the yuppie class into marginal neighborhoods — usually followed by the coffeehouses, bookstores and restaurants that they can’t live without. but what is new is the locale of this latest discovered neighborhood: bedford~stuyvesant, perhaps best known as the racially tense and grafitti~scarred ’hood of Spike Lee’s movie, do the right thing.

if all you know of bed~[stizzy] is that movie, in which a hot summer night explodes into racial violence, seeing it up close comes as a revelation. victorian brownstones, some with original stained glass and ornamented facades, line quiet tree~shaded streets. neighbors greet one another, children wave from playgrounds and there’s a satisfied buzz in the air of a community on the upswing.

"bed~[stizzy]’s always here and it’s our little treasure," Walston Bobb~Semple says a bit wistfully. "the only reason it’s booming now is this is the last stop for brownstones in new york."

Walston and his wife, Crystal, live and own two stores in stuyvesant heights, an L~shaped historic district within bed~[stizzy] that has become highly coveted real estate in recent years. while the district received its historical designation 30 years ago, the name provides today’s savvy real estate agents with a way of luring buyers who otherwise would be leery of moving into an area with such a reputation for inner~city woes.

. . .

with manhattan one of the priciest housing markets in the nation, buyers are pushing farther and farther into brooklyn. they first hit the neighborhoods just across the east river that offer the quickest commutes to jobs in the city. but as those neighborhoods became desirable, and housing prices began to approach and match those in manhattan, migrants pushed farther eastward to outlying areas still connected by subway to the city.

in other words, they took the a~train to bed~[stizzy].

. . .

yet for those who have always lived here or have recently discovered it, bed~[stizzy] represents an opportunity for that elusive commodity ~ a largely black neighborhood of mixed incomes, with the kinds of amenities that reflect such a range.

“i think it will become a black park slope,” says Stuart Joseph, referring to brooklyn’s hottest upscale neighborhood.

Joseph, who moved with his wife, Laura, to stuyvesant heights a year ago, is among the handful of new white residents drawn here for the same reason as their black neighbors ~ the stately architecture, the warm sense of community, the trees.

Joseph, a carpenter, says he feels welcome here. but there are some who view bed~[stizzy]’s sudden appeal to other races with trepidation, fearing that they could eventually become priced out of what has traditionally been a black neighborhood.

“people in the dominant classes...when they arrive, it’s not to co~exist, it’s to co~opt” says T R U E, an artist who has replaced what he calls his slave name with his current moniker. “it’s been the death of communities of color throughout history.”

T R U E realizes what he says may sound like reverse racism, but says he has seen any number of neighborhoods become so attractive that, given the economic disparities between the races, fewer blacks can afford to compete should a bidding war for property break out.

. . .

he didn’t even consider bed~[stizzy] when he first started house~hunting in brooklyn in 1996. but as his search stretched on for about three years, he found that neighborhoods initially within his price range had started climbing beyond it.

he happened to attend a show house tour in stuyvesant heights, though, and was sold on the neighborhood when he saw the brownstones and realized he had friends who lived here.

now T R U E is a real convert, spending much of his time renovating his four~story home with a full basement, and helping boost the neighborhood by organizing a summer film series in nearby fulton park.

previous owners of their home had laid beige~flecked vinyl tile over beautiful hardwood floors, put in a dropped ceiling in the living room that hid an ornate medallion and nailed and painted shut the built~in window shutters so they could install mini~blinds.

T R U E has since freed the floors, ceiling and shutters and exposed the brick on some walls. but T R U E’s first and proudest project is his back yard. the native californian was so desperate for outdoor living space after nearly 10 years of new york apartment living that he went all out. he built a little pond with a waterfall, built a pergola which he is training his wild grape, pumpkin, and aromatic honeysuckle vines to grow over, and hung two cushioned porch swings.

the home is so spacious, he rents out the top floors to two tenants. but what T R U E loves most about the neighborhood is that rare new york experience of a quiet night.

. . .

“i’ve lived in this neighborhood more than 30 years and saw what happened to it in the ’60s and ’70s, and it makes you proud to see people want to have businesses here now,” says Sherri Hobson~Greene, who manages the Mirrors coffeehouse and designs a line of bridal headwear.

for her, the new bed~[stizzy] is something of a return to the bed~[stizzy] of her childhood ~ a working~class neighborhood that had the typical grocery stores, butcher shops and candy stores.

Walston Bobb~Semple in his antique shop on lewis avenue.

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