Bushwick Summer
Viva el barrio
It feels like summer has finally begun! While the streets of Bushwick were filled with folks celebrating the Puerto Rican Day parade this past weekend, I can’t help but notice that my block is quieter than in summers past. I’ve noticed a lot of the buildings on my block being renovated recently and there are less families and more bros hanging out on the sidewalks. I’m used to being assaulted by competing car radios and outdoor speakers playing a melange of old school hip hop, latin dance mixes, and anything in between. My block is quieter now and I suddenly find myself missing the cacophony of days past that made me buy a white noise machine so I could sleep.
The irony is not lost on me as I’m writing this newsletter from one of those renovated buildings. I moved to Bushwick five years ago and while I’m grateful to be able to afford a well-kept apartment building, I’m also hyper aware that it’s a gentrified blight on the block. I really don’t know how to reconcile these feelings because on the one hand I do need to live somewhere, but on the other hand I don’t know whose life was uprooted so that my current home could exist.
To assuage my guilt, I try to give back to the community when I can. I shop at local grocers (shoutout Mr. Lemon, please bring back $1 cotton candy grapes), use a local pharmacy, and donate to mutual aid orgs. This probably isn’t enough & if you have thoughts around how I can justify my existence, I’m all ears.
Speaking of mutual aid orgs - excellent Bushwick friend Alicia is currently running a fundraiser for Bushwick Ayuda Mutua. This org has been doing amazing work throughout the pandemic & beyond to help a lot of my neighbors and I was very happy to donate a ton of supplies to them when I closed my offices a few years ago. If you can, please donate to Alicia’s Fundraiser and consider supporting mutual aid groups in your area! And read til the end to find out about a silly little project I’m doing to preserve the sound of a Bushwick Summer.
1. Noshing 😋
I’m keeping this issue local & highlighting a couple of my favorite places in Bushwick to grab a bite!
Although Bushwick was initially settled by the Dutch, then German, then Italian immigrants, it’s now a primarily Hispanic neighborhood. Thus, the neighborhood is absolutely filled with taco joints. There are a lot of food carts that I haven’t tried because I’m too ashamed of my lack of proficiency in Spanish & it’s a hurdle I’m hoping to overcome.
While lots of bodegas in NY double as delis, bodegas in Bushwick often double as taquerias. One such bodega/taqueria combo is Nene’s. They serve everything from tacos to mulitas to a giant quesadilla pizza. I usually get their birria (though my favorite birria in the neighborhood is Peter’s Crunchy Red Tacos) and their guacamole makes an excellent dip. If you’re in the market for some fresh AF tortillas, head north to the Bushwick/Ridgewood border to Tortilleria Mexicana los Hermanos - they serve tacos on their house tortillas and my god, the tortillas are fabulous. The flavor of their fillings leave a bit to be desired, but they’re worth the trip for their wonderful tortillas.
I’ve noticed an influx of Asian eateries in the neighborhood lately and Ugly Donuts & Corn Dogs is a favorite of mine. They serve Korean corn dogs, which are hot dogs and/or cheese sticks coated in a slightly sweet mochi breading. You can get extra panko breading for more crunch or little potato cubes for a very fun texture. I also love their donuts because they’re basically just little knots of barely sweet mochi dough. I get mine plain (without cinnamon sugar) & like to dip it in their sesame whip. They’ve since expanded their menu to include bingsoo, rice bowls, and filled donuts & they’re a great snack destination.
You all know I’m a dessert girly & while Bushwick is largely lacking in good dessert options, there are a few standouts. Ollie’s Ice Cream + Stuff opened just before the pandemic & I’m so happy they stuck around. I honestly didn’t love their ice cream at first but they must have made some changes behind the scenes because it’s much better now. Their flavors are always changing & they offer a ton of different toppings. I love getting the Simon Sundae - a very loaded brownie sundae.
Maya’s Snack Bar has a few locations & serves Mexican treats including my favorite - chamoyada. It’s a delicious layered shaved ice treat with mango, chamoy sauce, tajin, and banderilla candy stick. Their small is pretty big & is great for sharing on a hot day. They also have ice cream and savory snacks like elote and chicharron.
Do you have a must try place to grab a bite in Bushwick? Please tell me where!
2. Watching 👀
A fun thing about me is that I went to Brooklyn College to study film & in my first class the professor had us all share our favorite films. Responses ran the usual gamut of Citizen Kane, 8 1/2, The Godfather, etc and each response got lots of nods and “mmhmms”. When it was my turn, I confidently stood up and declared Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade as my favorite. The silence was deafening & I made exactly zero friends during my time at school.
In anticipation for the new Indiana Jones movie coming out soon, I’ve been rewatching the preexisting four films & while they’re not all great, I would confidently stand up in any room & declare them favorites of mine. Last Crusade holds a special place in my heart because growing up we owned a limited amount of vhs tapes & this was one that I watched on repeat, not even knowing that two other movies in the series existed until I was older. I loved that the plot hinged around following cryptic historical clues (a precursor for my love of National Treasure). The balance of action & humor was simply top notch (the “no ticket” scene is one of the best in movie history, fight me). River Phoenix as young Indy in the prologue gives an amazing performance and so much backstory in such a short amount of time. This movie is simply perfect.
Raiders is a very close second for me though, largely because it also contains that same “follow the historical clues” plot device - it’s just a wonderful straight up adventure movie. I was never really able to get into Temple of Doom - the tone felt very different & Kate Capshaw’s Willie was just so annoying. Short Round is truly the saving grace in this one, even if a lot of his character (and basically ever single Indian character) is pretty rooted in racist or stereotypical tropes. The dinner scene in particular is pretty offensive & I cringe watching it. I was incredibly surprised that an Instagram poll spit out Temple of Doom as the majority favorite - not what I expected at all. As for Crystal Skull - I name dropped that shit in this newsletter’s very first issue! While the movie itself ultimately has some shortcomings (the CGI animals & aliens are awful), I dislike it less the more I watch it, which isn’t exactly a glowing review, but they can’t all be winners.
Last Crusade (and the Indy series as a whole) is a great example of why Steven Spielberg’s movies are generally very entertaining - he invites the audience to engage with the characters, rather than just watch them scurry around on the screen passively. Pay attention the next time you watch Indiana Jones, or any Spielberg film. There will be many moments where the camera is focused on a subject, Indy, and we don’t see what he’s looking at, but rather the expressions on his face as he processes what he’s seeing. This forces us as the audience to actively engage with the film & imagine what the character is looking at. That’s why folks have such visceral nostalgic memories of Spielberg films - they ask us to enter the story and use our imaginations to participate. I recently learned this is called the “Spielberg Stare” & if you haven’t seen his semi-autobiographical film The Fablemans I highly recommend it!
3. Exploring 🗺️
Keeping with today’s local theme, I want to highlight a super fun shop in Bushwick - Eugene J Candy Co. This silly little candy store has been around since 2016 & the owner is very much a real life Willy Wonka. He claims to specialize in the candies of Willy Wonka’s enemy, Fickelgruber, called FG Freaks. The hard candies are similar to Wonka Nerds but are much bigger due to a process called panning in which multiple layers of candy shell are added. In fact, some of this shop’s best creations involve covering candy or cereal with chocolate, peanut butter, or candy shell, creating unexpectedly delicious layered treats. Lorenzo loved the chocolate covered sour patch kids & I’m a fan of the chocolate covered cheerios. In addition to homemade treats, Eugene’s also stocks novelty candies & sodas in a space that is always decorated for Halloween. I can’t recommend this shop enough - the treats are spectacular & the owner is incredibly sweet
4. Learning 🧠
If I haven’t yet convinced you that Bushwick is wonderful I present - Bushwick: Center of NYC. I think most New Yorkers would agree that we believe NYC is the center of the world, but have you ever thought about where the center of NYC is? Well it’s a bit complicated because depending on where you look or who you ask you’ll get a different answer. Let’s explore our options:
The geographical center of NY appears to be marked by a very official looking medallion at the intersection of Queens Blvd & 58th St. Except this is wrong. No one knows who put this marker in the sidewalk. The city doesn’t know, pizza rat doesn’t know, it simply appeared & has been incorrectly marking geography ever since.
The geographical center of NY is in Bushwick. This seems the most likely, although the exact location is up for some debate. In 2013, the NYC Department of Transportation placed the center at Broadway and Dekalb In 2015, the Department of City Planning determined that the center was on Broadway between Lawton Street & Dodworth Street. However, if you Google it, the location is further north at 365 Stockholm St, as was eventually determined by the Dept of City Planning.
Sadly, there’s no marker, official or otherwise, at any of these locations in Bushwick to mark it as the center of the world…errr NYC. The fact that I managed to find myself living in the neighborhood that is likely the center of NYC is something that I will turn into my whole personality. I am New York.
4. What’s Good 😎
I am absolutely elated that mandatory curbside composting is coming to all of NY! I’m lucky to have one of the orange compost bins on my street corner that I use all the time, but bringing a wider composting program to the city is something I’ve literally been writing to the Dept of Sanitation about for years. While it seems like they haven’t quite worked out all the details (like where to actually send all of the organic waste 😬), at least it’s official so someone has to figure that out now, right? Right?? Anyways, they’ve got til April 2025, which is when the program will be rolled out across all boroughs.
Have you seen blue lights in subway stations? The MTA is trialing blue lights in 3 subway stations that have seen the most suicide, or “track intrusion”, incidents. According to an internal bulletin “Studies have shown that blue lighting provides a ‘nudge’ technique that is calming and may prevent customers from jumping and/or trespassing on the right of way.” This initiative has seen some success in Japan, resulting in a 70%+ drop in suicide attempts. There are obviously many more underlying issues that need addressing here, but even if this helps a little bit that feels like a good thing.
Don’t forget that this weekend is Juneteenth! Support your Black friends & Black businesses & make an effort to learn about our country’s history. Black Owned Brooklyn is a great resource or identifying Black owned businesses in NY & they’re partnering with Weeksville Heritage Center to organize a Juneteenth Festival this weekend.
Also, once again sharing Alicia’s link to donate to Bushwick Ayuda Mutua. Here’s a fun fact - if every one of my subscribers donated just $1, we’ll have raised almost $100!
As promised, here’s a fun lil thing I’m working on:
As I sit in my gentrified apartment listening to Ratatat (I’m so sorry I’m like this) I find myself missing the Bushwick Sounds of Summer™️ of years past. The last few weeks I’ve been Shazamming the music that I hear as I walk through the neighborhood and I created a Spotify playlist - 🎶 Bushwick Summer. Whether you live in NY & you also miss the sounds of Bushwick or you live somewhere else entirely (hi Canada, UK, Spain, Czech Republic 👋) & you just want to know what it sounds like outside my window, this playlist should do the trick!
Wishing you all a happy and fulfilling Juneteenth 💗