Forget Times Square and the Empire State Building. For a real New York experience, tourists should hop on the J, M, Z or L train — to Bushwick!
The city yesterday unveiled a new push to get tourists to visit “outer-borough destinations,” starting with the gritty northern Brooklyn neighborhood, where warehouses far outnumber hotels and restaurants, and even residents say wide-eyed travelers better brace themselves.
And forget about hailing a cab.
Mayor Bloomberg and NYC & Company want tourists to get familiar with “restaurants and cultural institutions” in Bushwick and other far more gentrified Brooklyn ’hoods like Williamsburg and Fort Greene, saying they offer an authentic slice of New York.
“Visitors who explore the boroughs beyond the beaten path are sure to be rewarded with unforgettable, only-in-New-York experiences,” Bloomberg said.
That’s one way to put it.
The campaign was launched just hours before a machete-waving madman kept Bushwick cops at bay, at one point hurling rocks at them through the gate at Knollwood Park Cemetery, culminating in a chase through abandoned rail cars, police helicopters hovering overhead.
The 2 p.m. fracas even forced the lockdown of a nearby school.
Residents called it just another Wednesday in a neighborhood that was recently likened to Mongolia in a study comparing murder rates around the world to police precincts in New York City.
Stephanie Kosinski, a 23-year-old artist who lives near Morgan Avenue and was headed to the 3rd Ward artists’ space, said she won’t even invite family from Florida to her apartment when they’re in town because, despite a few hot spots, the area is still so rough.
“They would be like, ‘What the hell is this place?’ Everyone is not used to the industrial environment,” she said.
Others residents warned it’s easy to get lost if you’re an outsider.
“It’s still dangerous,” said Harold Coatl, 25, who grew up in Willamsburg and now lives off Morgan Avenue. “I know people who moved here, and within two months, they were mugged — you don’t have lights and restaurants.”
Bushwick also racked up the most complaints about rats, according to 311 data from 2012.
Cops agreed that Bushwick is no place for wandering out-of-towners.
“It’s f–king chaos,” a police source said. “It’s still not safe for urban pioneers . . . It hasn’t been settled yet.”
But some parts of Bushwick, including the famous pizza joint Roberta’s, have generated enough heat to host such big names as Bill and Hillary Clinton, who recently ate there — albeit surrounded by Secret Service agents.
Additional reporting by Jamie Schram and Larry Celona