In the heart of Bushwick is a green superblock named in honor of Maria Hernandez, a neighborhood activist who lived across from the park on Starr Street. It is a park for active recreation with a playground, dog run, basketball, volleyball, skateboarding, soccer, basketball, and handball. But the layout of its paths dates to 1896, when this park opened to the public with the landscape design of McGolrick (formerly Winthrop) Park in Greenpoint and Washington Square Park in Manhattan.
Facing the park’s north side is P.S. 123 Suydam School, designed by the great C.B.J. Snyder in 1904. As with all of his schools, its exterior has an appearance informed by history. Among its distinguished alumni are Mayor Eric Adams and actress Rosie Perez.
The center of the park has a plaza where its two diagonal paths meet. The park building dates to the 1930s. In front of it as a skateboarding circuit, too small to appear on the Parks Department’s list of skate parks.
The center of the circular plaza has a mosaic of a green parrot installed in 2007 by Camila Gelpi. The tropical bird is in recognition of Bushwick’s sizable Puerto Rican community.
The southeast corner of Maria Hernandez Park has walkup buildings on three of its four corners. Most of them still have their Italianate cornices that appear on brownstones and walkups throughout the city.
Across Knickerbocker Avenue from the park’s southeast corner is Ayat, a Palestinian restaurant that first opened in Bay Ridge and then grew with branches in East Village, Ditmas Park, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The interior is tastefully designed with fake trees for the olive orchard look and murals relating to the Palestinian movement. Ayat offers food alongside activism.
Diagonally across from Ayat is a supermarket with a faux Italian second floor installed in 2013. The interior is brightly lit with yellow paint on the walls and ceiling, and arches above the aisles to evoke the feel of a European marketplace. Like its western neighbor Williamsburg, Bushwick is home to creative professionals. The street vent here is covered in stickers and graffiti tags in the same way that many people here are covered in tattoos. Kevin documents street vents the same way that he does with lampposts, inspired by Linneaus’ categorization of flora and fauna.
On the Starr Street block where Maria Hernandez lived, organizing block parties and battling drug dealers, the walkups are detailed in their appearance. Why don’t we build homes like these anymore? Fitting into the symmetry is a fallout shelter sign, a relic of the Cold War that can be seen throughout the city.
There are certain invasive species that are prevalent throughout the five boroughs, such as the ailanthus altissima, spotted lanternfly, and lockboxes that are a telltale sign of a short-term rental, despite the citywide ban on AirBnB.
Murals and tattoos are not the only artistic outlets for Bushwick residents. On Starr Street next to the park, I found a car covered entirely in stickers and spray paint, but like the nearby lockboxes, something about this car seems fishy. There’s no license plate on the front nor a registration sticker. The plate on the back is from Pennsylvania and I’ve seen plenty of cars in the city from the Keystone State, likely for insurance reasons. I couldn’t determine the year, model, and make of this car, the comment section is open.
In 1892 when the City of Brooklyn was acquiring the site of this park, George V. Brower of the Brooklyn Parks Commission received an Olmstedian design for Bushwick Park that included winding trails, an overlook, pond, and lawn. It would have been a scenic attraction but a simpler design was approved. Hernandez was a mother of three, gunned down in 1989 at age 34, with hundreds of neighbors attending her funeral. The park renaming for Hernanez forever preserves her love for this neighborhood.
A couple of miles away across Newtown Creek, Crescent Street “begins” at a small triangle park where you will find a small sundial that no longer works, as its gnomon (the part that casts the shadow) is missing. Four names are inscribed under it and I only know two; if you know the other two, Comments are open. Brian Watkins, from Provo, Utah, was visiting NYC with his parents in September 1990 to take in the U.S. Open when he was killed while fighting off robbers in a subway station. One is Maria Hernandez.
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5/10/25
9 comments
The odd looking vehicle you referenced is a SAAB 9-2X. It was conceived when GM had absorded SAAB & partnered with Subaru & this shortlived crossover was the end result. SAAB is no more & GM & Subaru long ago twent their separate ways.
https://saabworld.net/showthread.php?t=29510
It’s actually a 2007 Impreza, which shared its underpinnings with the 9-2X. The tell tale sign is the grill.
You’re right, EP. This just illustrates everything that was wrong about the”SAAB-aru”. It failed because it had to compete with the Subaru Impreza, that had a lower price point. Ultimately potential customers had to ask themselves if it was worth paying more for the 9-2X to gain some prestige or forget about the prestige & buy the Impreza at a lower price point. Subaru seems to be the loan survivor because SAAB was abandoned by GM during its 2009 bankruptcy. BTW: an aquaintance of mine recently complained bitterly that her Outback was more trouble than it was worth, especially since the Subaru retailer was reluctant to honor her frequent warantee claims.
Memories, memories. Family members lived on Starr in the 50s and 60s and when we visited we were brought to the park to play. I remember the octagonal paver walkway thru the park and the massive trees.
The supermarket is not just merely a supermarket. It used to be the Starr Theater which built in 1926 closed in 1968. That’s still the original building although totally altered
We lived on Troutman St in the 1950’s, very early 60’s and we would walk along Starr St to, what was then called Knickerbocker Park, down Knickerbocker Ave. to Greene Ave in Bushwick to visit my grandmother and other relatives. Then, sometimes, late at night, would walk back up to the park, down Starr, and then to our apt on Troutman. And, both ways, mom would let me go on the swings for a bit. Good memory on Mother’s Day.
Is that the same fallout shelter that the birds flew off with?
Lockboxes aren’t necessarily a sure sign of AirBnB. Often left for dog walkers and cleaners.
Good point. I’ve never employed either of these.