Posted on June 2nd, 2013

Bushwick, the uber-cool artists neighborhood a few stops past Williamsburg on the ‘L’ train, sweltered in the heat this weekend with an Artist’s open studio event. Hundreds of artists opened their studio doors to visitors……and while it was hot outside, it was even hotter inside. There certainly was some wonderful art, but I felt the majority of it was dissappointing: how could so many young artists gathered together in such a thriving, cohesive neighborhood, be so out of tune with our culture? I found very few works that were inventive or innovative or even referenced the year 2013. Naturally amongst the sea of mediocrity was some solid work. What stood out mostly were the exceptional loft spaces, the kind that simply does not exist in Manhattan anymore. Some of the vistas to the Manhattan skyline were truly awesome, providing a perspective of the City that I have never witnessed.

The characteristics of a fast-evolving neighborhood were everywhere: cool young people on the streets, a few hip restaurants and bars, the signs of some tree planting, and lots of ambitious ‘for lease’ signs on the prime retail spaces. The graffiti walls were incredible. And a sign that this neighborhood was really improving was the opening of a new coffee shop/cafe, AP Cafe on Troutman Avenue. The super-cool space served amazing coffee, iced teas, watermelon mint juice, pastries, etc all in a crisp, industrial, concrete-floored, light setting (with skylights)  T:(516)365 6300. It was a huge relief that an inventive place like this had opened instead of the expected, more generic Starbucks-style mass brand-name. Is AP Cafe a sign of a strong future for Bushwick?