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Early Addition
New York magazine's cover feature is all about crime in the Big Apple. There are a number of articles, from getting the murder rate to zero (last year it was at the lower in 40-plus years with 494 murders) to those Criminals Gone Wild videos and a look at the violence plaguing Brownsville. But most intriguing is Adam Fisher's personal account of getting mugged in Bushwick.
Fisher moved to Bushwick because it was "the New York I was searching for—a scrappy loft neighborhood full of young bohemians camping in their studios. This was the pre-gentrified New York I wanted to be a part of." Though "bleak, rubble-strewn," Fisher enjoyed the grittiness - until he was mugged and beaten at the Morgan Avenue L subway station. Hit with either a pipe, two-by-four, or butt of a gun, Fisher was robbed of $28, suffered a broken upper jaw and split lip, and decided to move to San Francisco.
I’m not quite the same person I was. Blight, graffiti, empty buildings—the signifiers of every artsy New York neighborhood for the last 40 years—have lost the romantic appeal they once held. I carry a knife now, a small utility blade that I picked up at the hardware store. And when friends of mine get nostalgic for the bad old days, when lofts were cheap and New York was edgy, I tell them that it’s all still there, if you know where to look.Well, that's a lesson, all right. But even more gentrified areas have crime - we hear that a mother with her young children was mugged 2nd Street near Prospect Park in Park Slope, concerning all the parents on the Park Slope parents' listserv!
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Like there's not muggings in San Francisco. Isn't their crime rate worse than ours?
That gritty romanticism is cool. I wouldn't change my life as a 20-something in late 70's and early 80's NY for anything. But it was dangerous.
It was dangerous on the upper west side, downtown, lower east side and everywhere. But you have to remember that when you have more than those around you the "criminal water will seek its own level."
When you gentrify you are part of an economic power imbalance that is real and causes peril. The bad neighborhoods were "improved" by people with more mettle than the author of that piece. They had a commitment to the city which was death defying. I guess we owe all of those hipsters who stick it out some props because a safer, wealthier, more commodious city is better.
been there for both versions of NY, and I must say I never had a problem in the old days (which I agree, were way better than this theme park that we inhabit now).
I was of course very, very careful in the 70's & 80''s, and didn't wander all over NY at all hours in whatever state of mind, like the yuppies and hipsters of today do (and we occasionally read about the consequenses in the paper the next day, even in the gentrified version).
As a native, I love NY but was brought up to look out for myself, even if it meant taking a cab (a luxury back then, and still is today) if the hour was late and the streets empty.
common sense prevailed, and the rents were cheaper and the entertainment and company much more interesting
and a utility knife is going to protect you how?
Adam Fisher sounds like a douchebag.
I hate the homogenization and mallification of NYC just as much as the next person, but it's funny to me that people are whistful about an era of high crime. There were something like 2400 murders in 1990 in NYC. Yowza.
There's a reason why the nickname for Brooklyn is Crooklyn. No matter how many yuppies and hipster move there - it doesn't mean it's safe. That's what that yuppie deserved. If he didn't know any better then he knows it now.
The Morgan stop on the L train, and the neighborhood that surrounds it is not Bushwick, it is East Williamsburg. This is a common and oft-stated misconception by those trying to shun the stereotypes associated with hipster Williamsburg.
Also, the East Williamsburg Industrial Park is not a 'new re-branding' of the neighborhood. It was established in 1983 set aside specifically 'to support and develop industrial activity in the area.'
Calling this part of Williamsburg Bushwick does a disservice to the real Bushwick, a vast and largely residential area south of Flushing Avenue that is home to over 100,000 Hispanic working class residents. NY Mag should get the story straight.
Umm, it's hardly as cut-and-dried as seancaroll1999 would like to make it sound.
From wiki:
"East Williamsburg is a marketing term created by real-estate speculators for the area in the northwestern portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, which is in or around Bushwick. Due to Bushwick's bad reputation, real-estate developers renamed the northern part it East Williamsburg. East Williamsburg 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."
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. Anything south of Flushing Avenue is part of the former New Lots of Bushwick. New York City' District 34 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 of 1827, when Williamsburg incorporated, Bushwick Avenue was the boundary between the town of Williamsburg and Bushwick Village. The 18th ward initially consisted entirely of Bushwick, but was split into three wards as Bushwick grew southeastward.
"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."
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. ([1]) 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." The association between either neighborhood split down the Avenue of Puerto Rico (Graham Avenue) or Bushwick Avenue, identifying with Williamsburg to the west and with Bushwick to the east. A majority of these residents 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. 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."
Of course, none of that has any bearing as to whether or not Adam Fischer sounds like a douche.
'What's the woid on da street?'
'Hear tell the woid is: 'Schadenfreude'.'
Indeed, Adam Fisher does sound like a douche.
What a hilarious story. Transplant wants "gritty New York" that he never experienced, and after getting mugged, is on a plane within 24 hours with his tail between his legs. Way to stick it out, hipster!
Goes to show, native New Yorkers know that they can appreciate the "good old days" while not failing to remember how dangerous it was, and clearly still can be.
I'm exactly in between the jerk featured in the article, and those who spent their youth here in danger. I basically lived where I could afford, and was always aware of my surroundings. When I first lived here, I got to know the dealers in the neighborhood and would give a polite nod as I walked by because they were the ones who actually kept the area safe (the real danger was being followed home by a drunk white guy from Connecticut after the 3:30am desperation hour). For me, I had always hated sterile neighborhoods, but wasn't actively seeking grit. I think most people my age were more influenced by Sesame Street than we realized.
Gentrification? It's all about people moving where they can afford to live. The landlord is the one raising the rent, not the tenant. since building ownership is mainly a private enterprise, you either have to entice a landlord to rent a one bedroom to a family of 4, as opposed to a single person. OR, the city needs to take a bigger role in equal opportunity housing.
I can definitely understand the anger of residents who have lived in an area for a while, but I've been the victim as well (also in other cities). That's just how it is; no one is guaranteed a place is going to stay exactly the same.
I feel bad for the guy. Doesn't matter if he's douche-y, he didn't seserve it.
I also could never stand the real-estate rebranding of neighborhoods. It gives the gentrifiers the illusion that that they are part of something "new" and "upcoming," when in reality they are really the beginging of the end, so to speak. And apparently hip-sounding acronyms make semi-sketchy neighborhoods more palatable to hipsters. Gag.
I miss certain things about 'Old New York', like my cheap apartment, but I could never get away with the staggering down the street at 4:30 am crap that I get away with now. The city is just many, many times safer in general. I have been mugged quite a few times (all in the 'old days'), and basically every time it was by polite muggers.
Mugger: [brandishing gun] Gimme all your loot.
Me: [Removing said loot] Good day to you sir, enjoy!
I think gentrification has caused muggers to become less polite, that is the real problem. I'm starting a Citizen's Action Commitee 'Muggers With Manners'.
This is hilarious ... wannabe hipster moves into a "scarppy" neighborhood by his own definition and then gets beat down - and he outta there in 24 hours. I love it.
Well, you wanted scrappy and you got scrappy. Quit whining about it.
This is hilarious ... wannabe hipster moves into a "scarppy" neighborhood by his own definition and then gets beat down - and he outta there in 24 hours. I love it.
Well, you wanted scrappy and you got scrappy. Quit whining about it.
Someone tell Adam not to roam a block away from any tourist area in San Francisco. Even then expect to be beset upon by hordes of aggressive homeless people. I was in San Fran in September, and frankly, I feel safer in NYC.
This was the pre-gentrified New York I wanted to be a part of.
Hey, what a co-inky-dink. Those guys who beat the shit out of you? They were wistful for the old days too.
And they decided that your presence -- and the presence of other like yourself -- posed a threat to the neighborhood's status as one of the last holdouts of old-school crime and chaos.
They acted accordingly.
I lived in SF for a bit and believe me SF is more dangerous because they let the homeless roam freely and follow you home, whereas they get nypd beatings to keep them in check here.
Jesus, I've never heard such a wussy story in my whole life. In the 24 hour period after getting mugged, he got on a plane and flew across the country back to mommy? Pathetic excuse for a man, and I'm surprised that his girlfriend moved with him.
I was in NYC in the late 80s-90s and although pretty messed up at times, made it through in one piece. Gritty and real can equal violent mugging. It happens. SF is not so safe either my friend, and a knife isn't much protection if they have a pipe. Sounds like a pretty bad mugging - obv they wanted to mess him up because he was not from the neighborhood ...not really. Threats get money easier than a smack with a pipe. They wanted to hurt him. Sad, but that's "real". Pay the cash to live where you should. Know your limits and you'll do well. Old New York had clear boundaries that many young hipsters fresh to the big city think no longer apply...but in some areas, they do.
It's a city folks.
I was in NYC in the late 80s-90s and although pretty messed up at times, made it through in one piece. Gritty and real can equal violent mugging. It happens. SF is not so safe either my friend, and a knife isn't much protection if they have a pipe. Sounds like a pretty bad mugging - obv they wanted to mess him up because he was not from the neighborhood ...not really. Threats get money easier than a smack with a pipe. They wanted to hurt him. Sad, but that's "real". Pay the cash to live where you should. Know your limits and you'll do well. Old New York had clear boundaries that many young hipsters fresh to the big city think no longer apply...but in some areas, they do.
It's a city folks.
All this "post-crime" talk is a bunch of bullshit. I mean, sure, the crime rate isn't anything like it was thirty years ago. But the police cook the books.
Here's a thread on NYPD Rant on how dishonest those crime figures really are:
http://tinyurl.com/278yyg
Amazed, crime is down from our days in the 80's...BIG TIME...No argument...It's a fact...BUT....There is a whole lot of creative reclassifications and/or outright refusal of report takings concerning index crimes....I sit on the board for two seperate civic community groups in my Queens neighborhood and am a member of a third....We hear over and over from our friends, neighbors and merchants about how they are discouraged from filing reports...."Your insurance will go up"...."That happened three days ago, we can't take a report now"....Or a passive aggressive approach "I doubt they'll come back Mr. Jones, but we'll give your store special attention anyway" or "Are you sure your son left his bike in the yard, or is it possible his friend borrowed it? Can you ask him again when he gets home and call us back?"....Then, we we as a civic organization follow up on what we're being told, we see with our own eyes burglaries classified as trespass and assault 2's as 3's...Many retired cops sit alongside me on the various commitees, most of us former ranking members and we get BS'd by the CO and the XO...
I can't wait until I've lived in NYC long enough to be one of the arrogant, judgemental assholes who thinks my experience here is so much more valid because I lived here before X happened and because I know more than you about what the technical boundries of Bushwick are. Oh and make sure everyone knows you're not a hipster! You're so much more real than they are.
Um, excuse me, but it's not hipsters that gentrify! The hipsters arrive well after all the artists and writers who do all the death defying. Case in point -- I moved to West Harlem when there were still strung out crack addicts in my hallways, homeless men sleeping on the landing, crazy people in my vestibule. I had to call the cops a lot. But I loved my place. I loved the neighborhood, too -- the good parts: the hardworking immigrants, the music in the street, the cheap coffee, the lack of hipsters...
Yes, I put up with a certain amount of danger, and was sometimes afraid of who I'd run into in the hallways, day and night. But I didn't walk around with the sense of entitlement that this Adam Fisher did. Some people think just because they're nostalgic that they deserve to be welcomed into their 'bohemian' neighborhoods. Like the crack addicts care!
I moved up here on the logic that I've heard of people getting mugged, raped, and beaten in much better neighborhoods, and that you're only as safe as you're smart, alert, and able to look crazier and potentially more dangerous than the crazies you meet in your hallway... With a little luck, and good running shoes on.
Some people think it's mean to dislike hipsters! Ha! Silly people. Hipsters are bottom feeders who move in after all the hard work is done for them, and price out the real New Yorkers. Yes, the REAL ones!
Well said 26, well said :)
Fisher's story might indicate he's being naive but it also argues for a greater police presence in East Williamsburg.
Criminals belong nowhere.
www.forgotten-ny.com
what good is a knife if you do not know how to use it?!???!!
the hipster who escaped back to sanfucksisco is only hoping that someone will approach him unarmed with no aggression politely ask for cash and rethink his agenda when confronted with a knife carrying idiot.
the most likely scenario is he will be confronted by an aggressive punk with more street smarts and fight experience under his belt, if his assailant decides to pull out a knife or gun then what will mister utility knife do??? start a blog? watch his girlfriend get raped? cry like a sissy? prob will get a book deal or reality show about being a perpetual mugging victim...he can travel the world anthony bourdain style and thrill us with his victimization stories from all over the globe.
Sounds like this non native who believed the "old new york" was better as so many of these transplants do, got just that... "better".
I can remember a time when being mugged was a NYC right of passage (not that that was a good thing). You got mugged, and as the word spread around your office or dorm, everyone came by with their war story. And, my friends, everyone - everyone - had one.
There is no way one would advocate a return to those times, no matter how nostalgic you are. But there was a certain urban Darwinism at work. You had to be tough to live here, and that's what made it special if you could live here. Now, with the minimum prerequisite requirements lowered to live here, you see the, um, change in the demographic if you will.
It's a Faustian bargain... your city gets safer, which is a very good thing, but a little less special, which is not a good thing.
Oh, as for Adam, well, the city got a little more special with someone's moving out. Having said that, I sure do hope they catch the bastards that hit him.
Looking back at the magical city this was well into the 80s, the murder of a couple thousand people a year (out of seven or eight million) seems a small enough price to pay.
"WAAHH! My life isn't perfect! WAAHH!"
What a knucklehead, this guy.
"Looking back at the magical city this was well into the 80s, the murder of a couple thousand people a year (out of seven or eight million) seems a small enough price to pay."
Right. Who can put a price on your hipster experience? Oh wait, you just did. 2000 lives is the price.