https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izi3O2wCdmw

(video by Dallas Athent)

Upon moving to Bushwick in 2006, Daryl-Ann Saunders heard gunshots outside her window at 4AM. She witnessed a dead body on the street (!), and understood that there were times in ’70s and ’80s Bushwick when such occurrences were the norm. While much of New York in those decades was harder up than now, Bushwick had a particular reputation for arson, crime and gang activity. In that moment, Saunders pictured the Bushwick of the ’70s and ’80s as a lawless “Wild West.” She wondered who the people were who contributed to the neighborhood through those times by sticking through it and offering a strong sense of commonwealth when so many others fled. Those citizens were ultimately responsible for making this amazing community what it is today.