twinkle twinkle blah blah blah etc.

10 years ago, you would have said that the lower east side north of houston wasn't the 'east village'. Realtors win in the end, and ten years from now, we'll all be calling bushwick E. 'Burg

Except a good chunk of what realtors call East Williamsburg really is called East Williamsburg. And is identified as such on maps, manhole covers, and signs, and such. It's not Williamsburg, either, for that matter, but the name makes it easier for realtors to justify jacked-up rents if they gloss over that point.

You're right on that, Sparky, though East Williamsburg is techically the exclusive industrial territory east of Kingsland, south of Meeker, and north of, like, Metropolitan, no? Though I've heard the Graham Ave L area referred to as E.W. too. This was a while back. Now it's considered "steps to Bedford Ave!!!!"

I'm just absolutely stunned that they're gentrifying a wasteland like Bushwick. I had a buddy who grew up there. He didn't have much nice to say about it. The old saying apparently was that if you hit the sidewalk with less than six bullets in you in Bushwick, they'd just call it "Natural Causes."

But then again, I never figured they'd turn Williamsburg into SoHo. Just stay away from Astoria, ya yuppie bastards!

You can sneer at hipsters if you live in Bushwick.

It must be said, the ads do pretty much give the game away. I mean, how can a realtor call itself ``Bushburg Properties'' without smirking? Or advertise a decrepit apartment as ``very punk rock?''

As someone who is born and raised in the heart of Williamsburg (North 7th & Havemeyer, thank you) I can say I share my disgust with all the mislabeling. Somebody please remind everyone looking to move here that WB hasn't been cool since 1998. ;)

Anyway, Williamsburg is shaped like a backwards "L", and sort of wraps around Greenpoint, pinning it against Queens and the East River. The north border goes along North 12th and North 15th (or is it 14th? i only know it ends at the numbered streets) wrapping around McCarren Park. East Williamsburg starts at Richardson Street and ENDS at Grand Street, where Bushwick begins. It goes as far north as the Newton Creek at the B-Q border. Since I've always lived in WB and East WB I'm not exactly sure where the South side ends (probably after the South numbered streets end, where Kent Ave meets the BQE). All I know is Fort Greene and Bed Stuy are NOT South WB. On the subway, the first three stops are in WB and the Grand Street stop is split in two, with the Canarsie-bound side exiting in Bushwick and the Manhattan-bound exiting in WB. I hope those of you with new Morgan Avenue lofts aren't disappointed!

As someone who is born and raised in the heart of Williamsburg (North 7th & Havemeyer, thank you)

Dude. I lived at that exact address for a couple of months back in 1991. It was my uncles father's apartment. Do they names Vincent McCormick and Nick Battista mean anything to you? they're my uncles, who were raised in the neighborhood.

My two-bit neighborhood is better than your two-bit neighborhood! :)

Seriously, who gives a rat's ass if they call it Bushwick or East Williamsburg (which, honestly, sounds a lot better than "Bushwick" which is awfully close to "Bushwhack" if you ask me) or Upper Fartass Heights, for that matter?

Is this a New York thing?

I bet an industrious sort of person could find 2 bedrooms and 1.5 baths with loft in Upper Fartass Heights for a grand a month, maybe less.

The mental images 'fervescing off the word "bushwick" are a little distracting.

Light it! LIGHT IT!

This Fes guy is obviously a confused out-of-towner.

Let's beat him up and take his wallet.

I remember when everyone called the L train (it was the LL train back then) the Latino Line. Then the New York Magazine cover story in 1991 called the 'Burg the new Village and it all CHANGED. Maybe it had something to do with them filming GHOST in E.W/Bushwick in '89--its where Whoopi's character lived. Does anyone remember the blackout of '77? Was anyone who lives in 'burg now born then?

Actually, 10 years ago, the lower east side above houston was still the east village. Try 15-20 years ago. Even I called it the east village back then, and I was in high school (in VT) or early college (in CA).

I'm just glad all the hipstertrash moved to those hell holes. I just rented a 2 bedroom with a back yard on 11th st between b and c for 1500.

oh, and I lived in a Morgan Ave Loft in 96. It sucked then and it still sucks now.

Bushwick? Gentrification? I thought that place couldn't possibly undergo such a thing. Of course, I have "fond" memories of staying with a friend who lived there a couple of years (now ensconced in the wilds of Washington Heights) and waking up to the sounds of yapping attack dogs and shifty guys stealing plywood from nearby construction sites. In broad daylight. Oh, and gingerly walking across miles and miles of broken bottles and syringe needles.

You're right. Greenpoint is not north williamsburg. P.S. neither is Bedford above N.10th St. It's greenpoint.

eat it.

How could anything that costs over a thousand bucks a MONTH be "very punk rock"???

Eat it?

I hope your arguments are more compelling in the courtroom.

When I was looking for my place, I kept seeing Harlem apartments advertised as "Central Park North." That one always cracked me up.

just wanted to comment on a few things regarding e.burg/bushwick or whatever.....i think that realtors making up hoodnames to pull a fast one on gullible types sucks but also lame is making sweeping judgements on hoods based on "how it was back in the day" or whatever....

i live in a very nice apartment on bushwick ave between the montrose and morgan stops and while the area is certainly not cosmetically nice it's relatively clean,convenient to manhattan,has a very nice health food store 3 blocks away,Life Cafe right around the corner,etc.....and I've found everyone on the hood to be courteous and nice, whether it be the people from the artists lofts on seigle,varet,mkibbon,etc or the locals working in the bodegas or on the streets. I have yet to see one syringe,bullet hole,etc.....

I could care less if its called bushwick or not, i've seen maps in books that include my block as being part of williamsburg and also Bushwick. I think the truth sort of lies in the middle.