Bushwick’s street artists paint new future amid gentrification

In the past three decades, Brooklyn – specifically Bushwick and the surrounding areas – has transformed into a popular tourist area beyond the bustling crowds found in Manhattan.  But as the southern borough has continued to reinvent itself, there are reminders that the people and rich cultural legacy remain in Bushwick—with street art playing an integral part in preserving the local culture, encouraging creative expression, and building community even as gentrification continues. The evolution Bushwick over the past 50 years Fifty years ago, this part of Brooklyn contained a diverse mix of immigrant families. “In the 50s through the 70s, Bushwick was home to Italian, German, and Polish communities,” says Celestina León, district manager with Brooklyn Community Board 4. She added that Black Americans from the south and families from the Caribbean also came to the neighborhood in search of industrial labor opportunities.  I was born in Bushwick in the 1970s – when the neighborhood was much different and it didn’t escape the effects of New York City’s financial decline in the 70s. The Bushwick of my childhood was known for gangs, crime, poverty, and vacant buildings – many of them burnt and crumbling (photographer Meryl Meisler is known for...