BowtieBK

As the only other poster said- very residential. I live on this block. It is very quiet and peaceful (well my part) My walk from the Utica train station to home is relatively quick and safe. A bus line runs along, I hear it go by at night but thats about it-its alot quiter than my street back in NJ. I will say it is not a beautiful a street as other streets in BedStuy: Decatur, Bainbridge, McDonough to be exact- lacking in truly majestic brownstones, and the housing could be in better shape. I am close to the commercial strip of Lewis which is a short walk to the Utica Station, Peaches, Pantry, Beso and another bar (forgot the name) And Saragia pizza. Your experience on Halsey depends on where you are located but overall I find it to be a decent street to live on, I notice alot of gentrifiers living on myvery block.

Brookyln’s most famous African American community: birthplace to Jay Z, chronicled in “Everybody hates Chris”, the list can go on. BedStuy has been fighting a bad rep for years, unfairly in my opinion. I moved from East Orange (THAT I do not recommend) to BedStuy recently and it is a very special place- there is a sense of community, people speak to you, you know your neighborhors: there are a lot of hard working people in BedStuy who care about their homes and neighborhood. But there are still issue with poverty and (decreasing) crime. Beautiful housing can be snatched up at prices that could could never get in Harlem, let alone other neighorhoods in Manhattan and other parts of BK.Thus the number of upper class families of ALL races (whites are not the only gentrifiers) has multiplied and continues to each day. Pricing is hard to detrimine since a rental can be in a large apartment building charging $1.700 for a one bedroom, or in the brownstone of a nice long term resident family who’s house is paid off and will only charge you $1,000 for a one bedroom because they like you- which happened in my case. One main concern is safety- anything can happen anywhere- especially in New York City- but Bedtuy is very "block by block"- some streets and beautiful, residential and peaceful but one block over can be rough. Only one incident happened to me before I even moved here- it was just some guy trying to intimidate me from across the street (I am '5'7 he was about 6'3- pick the easy ones huh) - nothing more than that. To me the better part is the area known as Stuyvesant Heights- Fulton to around Madison from Nostrand to Stuyvesant (I may be off a streat or two) The area’s I have felt uncomfortable are going north toward Bushwick (I avoid Marcus Garvey and Gates at ALL cost) Just don’t wander at night, esp with electronics out. But I am a bit of a “fashionable” guy and nobody has picked on me, called me names or bothered me for that. Heck I walk around with my dog in a little carrying bag on my shoulder and nobody says a word. I wanted to move to Harlem intially but I chose Bedstuy and LOVE it: less commericalized, less gentrified, less tourist-y and much more community. Check out Lewis Ave for some great resturants, I live one block from the commerical strip and can’t wait to enjoy it in the summer.