Friday, October 31, 2008

Bushwick's spooky mansion

In the early decades of the 20th century it was the home of Frederick Cook, a doctor who claimed to be the first explorer to make it to the North Pole.

Unfortunately his claim was pretty much disregarded; he eventually went to prison for stock fraud and died in 1940.


A spooky old house in Bushwick

But his home is still in Bushwick, between a Kentucky Fried Chicken and the elevated tracks of the M train. Reportedly Black Panthers stayed in the house in the 1970s. In 2008, graffiti mars the brick facade and the turreted roof gives it a haunted house vibe.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yep, Black Panthers perhaps as far back as 1969
I lived in Bushwick around till around 1972 when we moved to Ridgewood.

I remember the cat sighn and asking my mom "Oooh look Cats can we go and adopt one ?"
She said ...No that not what that house AND STOP POINTING AND LOOKING now lets walk faster !!

I remember a big Statue and a Bargain Town store on Broadway as well.
There was also some building or bank down there (Under the J Broadway stop platform).
Some hostage situation that was the basis for the movie "Dog Day Afternoon"
Note at the end of the movie the Ambulance says "Ridgewood"

It real life the hostages busted through a wall and escaped.


The neighborhood went to total crap overnight soon after Kennedys Immigration reform act of 1965

-Joe

Anonymous said...

BELIEVE IT OR NOT.
Jake LaCrapa, that stuttering dumbass attorney for Councilfat Anthony Como & Granny Molester Dennis Pee Gallagher lived in the basement of the "Bushwick's spooky mansion"

Anonymous said...

One time we walked down Bushwick Avenue. It was about 10 degrees outside in January.

Four white guys all bundeled up walking fast. Looked like cops.

Its worth it.

The only time I saw big sidewalks like that was on Fifth and Lennox Aves in Manhattan. There was serious money there once.

Went by the Panther place - did they not have a restaurant?

Someone joked we should stop in. Another said (remembering an real experience) 'they probibaly don't serve white people'

anther reponded 'thats ok, we just wanted chicken or somethin.'

ah, the 70s ....

Anonymous said...

now we know where your hateful racial prejudice started -joe

Anonymous said...

now we know where your hateful racial prejudice started -joe

Must be one of those anonymous trolls from lily-white Vermont posting again.

Anonymous said...

Big sidewalks.

Yea man, as kids we could ride our bicyles and milk box racers up and down them with plenty of room !!
That neighborhood Bushwick, and Evergreen ave's were just beautyful with lots of tree's and nice individuals.

People would sleep in there front and back yards during heatwaves.
You could not run air conditioners in those old houses.
They used screw in fuses and the outlets could only hold 10 amps.

There was this German Rabbi with a Cane on Dekalb who dressed as Santa Claus during Christmas ...and a Jewish junkman Mr.& Mrs.Barryman on Evergreen ave who babysat me when my mother taught grade school.

...There were some really refined people (and many were immigrants) in those days.

The immigration act of 65 hit the place like a nuclear bomb.
It was complete slum by 1970, like a scene from "Dirty Harry"

Fighting, bongo music & gun shots blasting , stealing cars all all night long.

Anonymous said...

Lily-white Vermont ?

No Bushwick, born in Wycoff Heights Hospital.

Ever been to Vermont or places like Bellows Falls ?
I have and would rather DROP DEAD AND DIE then live there and freeze to death 300 days a year

They actually use and eat frozen bread, butter reeking of freezer burn. Its a 1/2 hour gas guzzling drive up and down hills to do anything !

-Joe

Anonymous said...

This is e'splains Vermont
www.uniquepeek.com/viewpage.php?page_id=2432

Anonymous said...

No, I don't mean you're from Vermont, Joe.

I meant the troll who said this to you:

now we know where your hateful racial prejudice started -joe

Anonymous said...

Looking for NY property Wade? Ever been in Bushwick?

Anonymous said...

Bushwick was a great neighborhood til the puerto ricans moved in .. true animals

Anonymous said...

Joe is not only a racist, but a moron.

The immigration act of 1965 applies to, duh, IMMIGRANTS. The newcomers to Bushwick in the 1960's and 1970's were 100% NON-IMMIGRANTS.

African Americans and Puerto Ricans aren't immigrants!!

The only immigrants in late 1960's Bushwick were from Italy.

Immigrants only entered Bushwick a few years ago, when the neighborhood started improving.

Anonymous said...

Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Colombians are immigrants. And they came to Bushwick in droves during those years.

Anonymous said...

Uh, no, anonymous, Puerto Ricans are obviously NOT immigrants, they are American citizens. Are you really a New Yorker, and think that Puerto Ricans are immigrants?? It's no different than moving from Jersey!

Colombians are obviously immigrants, but there are almost none in Bushwick. Colombians live in Queens.

Dominicans are also obviously immigrants, and they DO live in Bushwick, but there were no Dominicans in Bushwick in the 1960's. They began to arrive in the late 70's, 80's and 90's.

Anonymous said...

Puerto ricans are the scum of the earth

Anonymous said...

"Puerto ricans are the scum of the earth"

So petition your government to decolonize the island

Anonymous said...

The "bottom of the Barrel" Puerto Ricans were the NEW immigrants of Bushwick post 1965.
John Lindsay actually begged them to come so he could get $$ from the goverment. It was actually called "Come and get it"

Right after the Immigration act of 1965
the Legislative Assembly passing a plebiscite Act of 1967 that provided for a vote on the status of Puerto Rico.
This constituted the first plebiscite by the Legislature for a choice on three status options.

This allowed Puerto Rico to send there shit and garbage direct to JFK and Newark airport. All that PLUS getting to keep there Commonwealth, statehood, and independence

Bushwick, Williamsburg and the lower east side got it right up the Yin Yang.
Property values dropped to 6-8 thousand dollars by 1970.

Anonymous said...

....Yeah immigrants, not from this land the way I see it.

First off Im not a Racist, I have PR friends (even a PR Girlfriend). I have Black friends even a flaiming fag friend (Ritchie da Fag) school teacher who tells his own fag jokes.
Im just AntitweederParasiteAsshole !

The "bottom of the Barrel" Puerto Ricans were the NEW immigrants of Bushwick post 1965.
The refined New Yorker PR's we knew called them "mountain scum" and things worse the we did !!

John Lindsay actually begged the "scum people" to come to NYC so he could get more $$ from the goverment.
It was actually called Lindsays "Come and get it"

Right after the Immigration act of 1965
the Legislative Assembly passing a plebiscite Act of 1967 that provided for a vote on the status of Puerto Rico.
This constituted the first plebiscite by the Legislature for a choice on three status of Commonwealth, statehood, and independence !
Once Puerto Rico got there way in the new "Boing 707-727 Age" they started tossing all there shit and garbage 24-7direct to John Lindsay direct to JFK and Newark airports.

Bushwick, Williamsburg and the lower east side got it right up the Yin Yang.
Property values dropped to 8 thousand dollars by 1970.
That all we could get for our out well kept old house (1289 Dekalb @ Evergreen) sold for.
It and 1291 still stands BTW around a huge crator and this NYPD garage in the old tomato & vinyard yard.

I lived there, there were some refined PR's before I was born HOWEVER...

The PR's post 1965 were right "off the boat" low class, good for nothings welfare brats.