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 Bedford-Stuyvesant locals.
The “J” and “Z” lines of the New York subway run through the district – this is where the “King of Hip-Hop” grew up, just like the rapper Lil ‘Kim. The district in the north of Brooklyn is known less for the hip-hop legends, but more as a dangerous place. Nobody wanted to go there voluntarily. And now? Insiders speak of the “next big thing” – the next big thing.
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“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 in Bed-Stuy. Afro-Americans in particular were drawn here in the twenties and thirties, followed by people from the Caribbean. Europeans also came. Pretty multicultural. Similar to the neighboring district of Bushwick, only without tourists.
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The mainstream ends in Bed-Stuy
Because until recently Bushwick was considered a secret Mecca for artists. Anyone who was creative or simply didn’t have a million dollars for a sinfully expensive apartment moved here.
But rents are now rising rapidly. There is now everything that is “hip and trendy” in Bushwick. From vintage shops to galleries and coffee shops. Vegan and gluten-free food is almost always on the menu – at least for the restaurateurs who do their business below Broadway, which separates the two districts. Bed-Stuy begins behind it. And the mainstream stops.
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The subway cars rattle here 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. From a booth on the road bike the haze of fried food drifts onto the street. And in the midst of the crowd stands a man with barbecue tongs in his right hand and a cardboard box dripping with fat in his left hand – distributing free pizza bites to passers-by.
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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, 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.
Simply great and above all: cheap.
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 town. And now? Simply great and above all: cheap. “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’ll come here.” Namely 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. You can eat on self-made wooden benches. Agnes and John Paladino only opened their new café at the end of July 2016. 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. And also for Pietro, who is dragging chairs and tables across Broadway to the next house in the scorching heat.
“It should be a place for the community”
What still looks like a construction site should soon be a pizza restaurant. Will he expect a lot of tourists? “Not at first. It should be a place for the community,” says the Parisian with Italian roots. He himself moved here as a newcomer a few years ago, now he wants to give something back to the locals. “In my country they say: The places where pizza is eaten and coffee is drunk also have a social obligation.”
And for those who are at home there: African Americans who sit in folding chairs in front of their houses and listen to hip-hop beats. Students strolling Broadway in skinny jeans and with coffee mugs. Artists who open their galleries between barber shops and trashy clothes shops. A meeting point for those who seem unimpressed by the glamor world of Manhattan. Those who greet each other on the street, hold the door open for each other and give the change with a wink.
Anyone who gets on the subway to Bed-Stuy experiences everyday New York life. It’s 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.
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