Last year started with the assurance of vaccines to come, along with confusing Covid guidelines put in place for bars and restaurants in the area. The warmer months saw a return to some sort of normalcy in the neighborhood, with the reappearance of major community events, including the Puerto Rican Day Parade and the Bushwick Collective Block Party. In November, we elected two new City Council members in the neighborhood, including Jennifer Gutiérrez and Sandy Nurse, along with a new Brooklyn borough president, Antonio Reynoso, a North Brooklyn native and former City Council member in the area. Soon after, the holiday lights returned to Bushwick for the first time since the 1980s. However, the holiday joy was quickly curtailed by the Omicron Covid variant.
Here is the story of 2021 in Bushwick, told through photos.
January 2021
Local bars turn to hibernation while struggling with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s changing Covid guidance. Image: Matt Fink.
Peter’s Crunchy Red Tacos, voted Bushwick’s favorite taco maker, pulls up to Wyckoff Avenue. Image: Matt Fink
A massive fire leaves families homeless in East Williamsburg. Image: Samy Nemir-Olivares.
February 2021
Local SafeWalks activists gather to express solidarity with the Asian community following a wave of hate attacks on elderly Asian people. Image: Vanessa Hock
March 2021
Elsewhere’s photographer, Luis Nieto Dickens, shoots the empty streets of Bushwick as he waits for the venue to reopen. Image: Vanessa Hock.
Street style: Bushwickians continue to thrift throughout the pandemic. Image: Corey Jermaine.
April 2021
Campaigns for local City Council races in full swing, including this colorful campaign led by candidate Scott Murphy. Image: Andrew Karpan.
May 2021
Around Bushwick: A neighborhood gets vaccinated, returns to a new normalcy. Image: Nereide Kluger.
Tikal Café opens in Bushwick with moral support from Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and NY State Assembly candidate Samy Nemir-Olivares. Image: Alec Meeker.
Photographer Meryl Meisler prepares for the release of her book “New York PARADISE LOST Bushwick Era Disco,” which features images of Bushwick in the 80s. Image: Meryl Meisler.
June 2021
The Puerto Rican Day Parade returns to Bushwick. Image: provided by Miguel Luciano.
July 2021
Bushwick Daily hosts its summer event at DorDor Gallery, along with Councilmember Jennifer Gutierrez (left), the chairperson of Community Board 4 Robert Camacho (center) and Nicole de Santis (right), head of the Clean Bushwick Initiative. Image: Alec Meeker.
August 2021
El Puente’s “Break for Justice” event returned for its fifth year at Maria Hernandez Park. Image: Rafael Fuchs.
The Bushwick Collective Block Party returned after a year hiatus with a headlining set by Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah. Image: Rafael Fuchs.
Locals gather to play a game of ecuavóley on the courts at Maria Hernandez Park. Image: Allie Iliana Herrera.
September 2021
Flood water covers Wilson Avenue as Hurricane Ida plows through Bushwick. Image: @papaphoto_.
Residents gather at a rally in response to a violent robbery, investigated as a hate crime, that took place at a Bushwick bodega. Image: Allie Iliana Herrera.
October 2021
Myrtle Pub, voted Bushwick Daily readers’ favorite happy hour spot, opens. Image: Allie Iliana Herrera.
November 2021
Antonio Reynoso, a North Brooklyn native and former local City Council member, wins the election to be Brooklyn’s next borough president. Image: Jackson Schroeder.
Holiday lights return to Knickerbocker Avenue for the first time since the early 1980s. Image: Salvatore Polizzi.
December 2021
A new Covid surge spreads throughout Bushwick and all of New York, causing many to spend the holidays alone. Image: Anna Conkling.
Featured image: Featured image: © Rafael Fuchs.
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