When asked about the hippest neighborhood in the Big Apple, even true New Yorkers lose track. Astoria say some. Southbronx the others. Names that sound familiar. Now another name is involved in insider discussions: Bedford-Stuyvesant.
What does the New York subway have in common with US rapper Jay-Z? Two letters and a quarter – at least if you believe the locals from “Bedford-Stuyvesant”. The “J” and “Z” lines of the New York subway run through the district – this is where the King of Hip Hop grew up.
Rapper Lil’Kim also comes from this area. The district in the north of Brooklyn is known less for its hip-hop legends and more as a dangerous place. Nobody wanted to go there voluntarily. And now? Do insiders speak of the “next big thing” – the next big thing.
“Do or Die Bed-Stuy” was the play on words that summed it up for a long time. Do it or die – or to put it in Jay-Z’s words: “Life or death depended on how well you knew your way around.” The hookers stood on the side of the road, the dealers haggled in the side streets. Even the police avoided the corner.
Today around 134,000 people from different nations live here. Pretty multicultural everything. Similar to the neighboring district of Bushwick, only without tourists.
In Bed-Stuy, the subway cars rattle every minute over the steel line of the bridge, which seems to float like a canopy over Broadway. Police cars jostle under her again and again between honking cars, old mopeds and fat trucks. In the muggy midday heat, it smells of burnt rubber and hot metal.
Bed-Stuy is not glamorous like Manhattan and not a hipster district like Bushwick. But it doesn’t even want to be. “It’s about to change – and I wish it stayed here forever,” says Steve. Casual sweatpants, the hair shaved off the sides, headphones around the neck. The 25-year-old sits in front of his laptop and sips freshly brewed coffee. Made in Bed-Stuy, of course.
Steve grew up in the Bronx and has lived in Brooklyn for a few years. He also says that Bed-Stuy used to be the worst neighborhood in the city. And now? Simply great and above all: inexpensive. “If I want to go out to eat, I can get a menu around the corner for seven dollars that will keep me fed all week. If I want it a little fancier, I come here.” In the “Cup of Brooklyn” – a café on a side street off Broadway.
Because if you search in Bed-Stuy, you will not only find greasy pizza, but also the soy latte. Stylish glass lamps dangle from the ceiling, and veggie and avocado sandwiches are tempting on the black menu board. People eat on self-made wooden benches. Only at the end of July 2016 did Agnes and John Paladino open their new café. One that could easily be found in Berlin. But the difference: instead of tourists, almost only locals order here, the couple say.
And that’s exactly what the store should be for in the first place. “We moved here from Queens six years ago. There was nothing here,” says Agnes. So it’s high time to change that. Broadway was a magical interface for them.
Anyone who gets on the subway to “Bed-Stuy” experiences everyday New York life. It is not clean and well-kept. Not breathtakingly beautiful either. But if the air could smell of coolness, follow your nose to the east. And open your ears for real hip-hop.
Jay-Z Interview mit Oprah Winfrey
Jay-Z Interview mit Oprah Winfrey
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