COMMUNITY

ABOUT THE BED-STUY COMMUNITY

Bedford Stuvesant, Brooklyn is a community with large numbers of low-income, high-risk youth and one of the poorest and most socially downtrodden communities in the country with the income gap continuing to widen ascommunity residents are unable to gain access to adequate employment, training, and resources. The technology gap is also rapidly increasing due to the lack of adequate infrastructure, vocational training, and accessibility to modern technology.

More From WIKIPEDIA

Bedford-Stuyvesant (also known as Bed-Stuy or The Stuy) is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City, USA, borough of Brooklyn. Formed in 1930, the neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 3, Brooklyn Community Board 8 and Brooklyn Community Board 16.[1] The neighborhood is served by the NYPD’s 79th [2] and 81st [3] Precincts.

For decades, it has been a cultural center for Brooklyn’s African-American population. Following the construction of the A line subway between Harlem and Bedford[6] in the 1930s, African Americans left an overcrowded Harlem for more housing availability in Bedford-Stuyvesant. From Bed-Stuy, African Americans have since moved into the surrounding areas of Brooklyn, such as East New York,Crown Heights, Brownsville and Fort Greene.

The main north-south thoroughfare is Nostrand Avenue, but the main shopping street is Fulton Street, which lies above the main subway line for the area (the A and C trains). Fulton Street runs east-west the length of the neighborhood and intersects high-traffic streets incuding Bedford Avenue, Nostrand Avenue and Stuyvesant Avenue. Bedford-Stuyvesant is actually made up of four neighborhoods:Bedford, Stuyvesant Heights, Ocean Hill and Weeksville.

As a result, Bedford-Stuyvesant is becoming increasingly racially, economically and ethnically diverse, with an increase of white and foreign-born African populations. As is expected with gentrification, the influx of new residents has sometimes contributed to the displacement of poorer residents. In many other cases, newcomers have simply rehabilitated and occupied formerly vacant and abandoned properties.
About 34 percent (46,547) of the residents are younger than 19 years old. Bedford Stuyvesant’s youth face many complex problems and are seriously affected by drug dealing and the skyrocketing levels of violence and crime. The district ranks in the top 10 percent in the prevalence of violent crime and murder. Gang recruitment is a serious concern and the community’s youth are often at very high risk because of poor academic skills and precarious financial situations in their families.

There is a serious need in Bedford Stuyvesant for educational and community programs to empower our youth to remain in school and demonstrate leadership skills. 

Based on information from the New York City Office of Planning and Research, Bedford Stuyvesant is a district that encompasses families of diverse economic status, from middle- to low-income families. Many are second and third generation public assistance dependents. The chart below provides an overview of the problems facing children, youth and their families in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

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