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City Living: Bedford-Stuy

By Patrick Verel | Special to amNewYork

November 1, 2007

"I've been stranded in the combat zone/I walked through Bedford-Stuy alone." If Billy Joel's words were prescient in his 1980 song "You May Be Right," they're downright amusing now. Because even though pockets of this vast central Brooklyn neighborhood are afflicted by the crime and poverty that ravaged it in the '80s and '90s, it also has something else that's in huge demand: historic brownstones.

"The brownstones are noted for their architecture and solid construction and woodwork, and it's a style that is not obtainable in this day and age unless you have great resources to get the wood moldings that were originally part of them," said Graham Weatherspoon, a sales associate at Broadband Realty.

Especially in the southern part of town, where the Stuyvesant Heights historic district skirts Fulton Street, it's not uncommon to hear the high-pitched "tink tink tink" of stone masons putting finishing touches on newly refurbished three- and four-story structures.

This isn't to say the area, which was the setting for Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing" and "Crooklyn" is completely crime-free.

"One of the powers behind Bed-Stuy is being rough, being hard, training people to what life is, which is a challenge," said Barnabus Shakur, a Bed-Stuy native whose Project Re-Generation group recruits local teenagers to clean the front walks and stoops of about 60 properties for $4 to $7 a day. "If you can pass the test in Bed-Stuy, you can pass it anywhere on this planet."

Although it's easy to simply say the southern half, where the brownstones, boutiques, restaurants and shops are located, is wealthy, and the northern half, where residents live in public housing, is poor, Shakur said the extra long streets in Bed-Stuy have the effect of making micro-neighborhoods.

"On Halsey, Madison and Putnam, it's beautiful; but if you go to another block, you're in the hood," he said. "Depending on your financial situation, you can live in Bed-Stuy comfortably. If you're at the poverty level, there's a place for you; if you're doing all right, there's a place for you, too."

Find it
Flushing Avenue to the north, Broadway and Saratoga Avenue to the east, Atlantic Avenue to the south and Classon Avenue to the west

The Basics
Subway: Franklin Ave., C, S, Nostrand Ave., A, C, Kingston-Throops, Ave., C, Utica Ave, A, C, Ralph Ave, C, Gates St, J, Z, Kosciusko St, J, Myrtle Ave, J, M, Z, Flushing Ave, J, M, Myrtle-Willoughby Ave, G, Flushing Ave, G
Bus: B7, 24, 25, 26, 38, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 52

Crime
Bedford-Stuyvesant is covered by the 79th and 81st precincts. The 79th precinct has had 14 murders, 20 rapes and 409 robberies this year, compared to 16 murders, 29 rapes and 385 robberies at this time last year. There were 23 murders, 35 rapes and 525 robberies last year. The 81st Precinct has had 13 murders, 16 rapes and 294 robberies this year, compared to 11 murders, 16 rapes and 298 robberies at this time last year. There were a total of 12 murders, 25 rapes and 409 robberies last year.

Schools
P.S. 21, 180 Chauncey St., P.S. 25, 787 Lafayette Ave., P.S. 256, 114 Kosciuszko St., P.S. 26, 1014 Lafayette Ave., P.S. 262, 500 Macon St., P.S. 305, 344 Monroe St., I.S. 271, 1137 Herkimer St., I.S. 33, 70 Tompkins Ave., J.H.S. 258, 141 Macon St., H.S. 575, 832 Marcy Ave.

Post Offices
1369 Broadway, 1915 Fulton St., 805 Macdonough St., 226 Knickerbocker Ave.

Banks
Citibank, 1398 Fulton St., Chase, 975 Bedford Ave., Washington Mutual, 1392 Fulton St.