Guest
Once-vibrant neighborhoods fell into disrepair, decay, and poverty. Manufacturing fell by one half between 1954 and 1990, and the Brooklyn dockyards were largely abandoned. Even the Brooklyn Navy Yard closed in 1966. The blackout of 1977, a decade later, became one of Brooklyn's worst moments: The power failure led to widespread rioting, looting, and arson; entire sections of now predominantly black neighborhoods went up in flames. Several blocks of the main Broadway shopping district in Bushwick were torched, with devastating effects. One-third of the remaining stores closed immediately, and more than 40% of Bushwick's commercial and retail operations went out of business within a year. Despite the turmoil of the 1970s and early 1980s, the final decade of the 20th century witnessed a revival in Brooklyn's fortunes. Crime ebbed during the 1990s, and neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene, and Clinton Hill began to spring back to life. The Brooklyn Academy of Music began to draw avant-garde crowds from Manhattan, the Navy Yard began redevelopment into a booming industrial park, and a new generation of artists, fleeing from the high rents in Manhattan, created vibrant new communities in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), Williamsburg, and Greenpoint. And, of course, new waves of immigrants continued to make the borough their home, lending new accents, flavors, and textures to old Brooklyn neighborhoods. Today, Brooklyn is called home by thriving immigrant communities from the Caribbean, Latin America, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, China, and Korea. As always, Brooklyn continues to draw its residents and spirit from across the globe. #BROOKLYN #NYC #BLOODS
