European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 29, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Lee Mitgang associated press when the lights went out All Over new York clip in the Bushwick Section of Brooklyn suddenly got an unaccustomed measure of attention As one of the areas worst hit by arsonists and but for the lights had gone out years before the Community of offers a study in the col lapse of an Urban neighbourhood by processes at work elsewhere in though in Bushwick they moved at an eerie in just a decade and a a largely Middle class area had become the playground of Van firebug and other the both White and have Long since some real of Lyle operator waxed fat on Bush Wicks decline and did All they could to hasten it City and Feder Al governments largely ignored a rapidly changing population without roots in the Community didst have enough Means or political clout to prevent hous ing projects reached the drawing hoards but were never school were built but we rent then on july the outside world finally took notice of during the citywide 25hour 88 Bushwick stores were 48 stores were and most of the damaged shops will never open police arrested Iso sanitation men picked up 60 tons of it was a terrible night for but this is a neigh boyhood where five or six fires a Day arc in this area where to per cent arc Black and puerto hic an and Tho rest mostly there have been fires since according to City 900 Proba Bly it sounds like a Case of civic but a look at the history of Buah Wackt rapid decline that powerful outside forces greased the sandwiched Between Broadway and Central commercial streets that now lie in is Bushwick for the first half of the Century its mansions housed German Beer Barons whose breweries Long since shut Down once provided employment far the while Labouring in Bush Wicks its vaudeville houses rivalled manhattans Palace John red Mike new York Cit mayor in the held court on Bushwick by change was creeping what was an Allwhite enclave in 1950 now had about is per cent Blacks and they did not care about every week we complained about Bushwick but mayor Beanie closed his eyes to this Page u the stars and stripes fire and abandonment have left Only a handful of families in a Block of destruction in int puerto Middle class Blacks saw Good values i the neat but aging woo Frame the newest houses in Bushwick Are so years old and 49 per cent of the housing Stock was built before once movement of minority groups change came in a it was a Beautiful recalls James who settled in Bushwick in there were one or two families living in three family when i moved there was Only one other Black family on the i moved on a by the end of the next id say two thirds of the whiles had starting in Carroll and others real estate operators began to make fortunes irom the destruction of at least six real estate broken and speculators known for such practices of blockbusting Are in opera Elliott the heal director of the cites neighbourhood preservation office says its hard to get the goods on those Active in Community affairs for says the real estate operators first scared Whites from their in lat night phone Whites were asked if their daughters were Home and we rent they afraid they might be raped this was usually enough to Send while families fleeing Block after the Speculator could then buy their Homes for Little As and resell them to Black families for More than real estate dealers looted Bushwick in other ways in the some divided three family Homes into in Farally they attracted the South Ern puerto Means and dominicans who were migrating to new York Uthe often with Large As conditions became Many Hauan were simply those became the playground Ftp Young vandals and tone paid by landlord to Torch vacant baud lip to col Lect insurance in Iii whole Bucks fell like in the late kids and Early Bushwick real estate speculators found an ally the Federal housing adm Nistra Jablons explains the process a real estate broker buys a building for usually from a White he Sells the House to a Black family for get the House appraised at the broker bribes an Cha in usually with about the Cha then guarantees the property for and a which had nothing to purchases the Mort the broker gets Bis Back from the plus or the Cha which affected Many american were exposed i the but the remain in Bushwick profits for some real estate and about 400 Cha foreclosures since ij74 As Low income owners were unable to meet mortgage and Home maintenance the result was hundreds More vacant left to and Hoy Pingel of the City planning department estimates there Are abandoned buildings in while this went the Federal and City govern Menti have done virtually nothing to help Lite says Luis the Biu Akk apr menu Uve of the new York City they did not care about every week we complained about Bushwick but mayor Beame closed his eyes to this Olmeda told Community Lead ers in the aftermath of the july 13 a few Days after the Beame made his Maiden appearance in Bushwick after three and a half Yean in office perhaps the biggest governmental blow came in Itaf when Bushwick was denied selection to the Cit Federal Model cities this effectively shut Down the fed eral Money pipeline to the one reason Bushwick lost Model cities status was that burned out building typical scene to Augu