Cool Streets

The Bushwick Collective Murals

Every June, Bushwick is hosts The Bushwick Collective Block Party where local artists come together on Troutman Street to paint, enjoy live music, and hang out. Although the event itself is only once a year, the murals lining Troutman Street can be seen at any time, and they cover more or less the entire block between Wyckoff and St. Nicholas Avenue, and the non-profit Bushwick Collective is active all year round. The block on Troutman Street also features a number of great bars, cafes and restaurants where you can sit outside and enjoy the artwork.

Central Avenue

Bushwick is home to a number of great places to relax and spend an afternoon, and Central Avenue in the area around where it crosses Myrtle Avenue is a good place to start. At the intersection is OMG Pizza, notable for the street art all over its building and because it occupies an entire triangular block adjacent to the intersection. Up Myrtle Avenue under the Central Ave Subway stop is Gotham City Lounge, a comic themed bar, and diagonally across Myrtle from OMG Pizza is the bar, Bushwick Public House (more detail on that spot later).

Central Avenue, south of Myrtle, is home to Brooklyn’s first Kava bar, a traditional South Pacific tea drink said to have medicinal properties. Kava has a calming and euphoric effect in addition to its health benefits, which include reduced anxiety and stress. The goal of the House of Kava is to create a nurturing environment for people to unwind, be creative and productive, and learn more about Kava tea.

Across from the Kava bar is the FirstLive Studio and Coffeehouse, which opened recently as an expansion of the Knitting Factory in Williamsburg. The business offers studio recordings, as well as both video and audio production services in the same space as a regular coffeehouse serving Slayer Espresso. There is ample space both inside and outside for seating along Central Avenue, which is an important residential and more quiet part of the neighborhood.