This study is focusing on the linguistic landscape of the neighborhood Bushwick. It has a diverse population that makes this neighborhood attractive. In this neighborhood are Blacks, Whites, Asian but undoubtedly Hispanic people. The percentage of Bushwick’s resident speak another language at home is 62.6% . Bushwick is known as the natural cultural district because of the community practices, such as artistic practices, diverse participation, small businesses that promote their cultures, and events created for all people. Bushwick is located in Brooklyn, but the good fact it borders Queen too. Also, some of the neighboring around Bushwick are Williamsburg, Cypress Hill, and Bedford-Stuyvesant (figure 1). According to the majority population, which is Hispanic people. The expectation is to find the linguistic landscape signs translated to Hispanic people. The main data are photographs taken from small businesses, real states, supermarkets, and restaurants on Bushwick. This study focuses on the four main patterns found in Bushwick’s signs: The bilingual signs, the sign’s information, the presence of flags in supermarkets, and the colorful signs.
Figure 1: Bushwick is located in Brooklyn but it is also one step to Queens. Photo Credit: Maps Brooklyn
Bushwick is known as a multicultural place. The last update of Bushwick’s population was 121,188 in 2018. There are Asian people with 4.2%, Black people with 16,4%, White people with 22.4%, and Hispanic people with 53.1%. It means that Bushwick is more likely to find Hispanic people because they represented the majority percentage in this neighborhood. Latinos are being in the Bushwick neighborhood since the mid-1960 and early ’70s; it happened when Puerto Ricans move from the island. Also, in the 1970s was an increase in immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Ecuador. In the 1980s, many Mexican immigrants started to spread in Bushwick, so they are considered one of the Hispanic groups that fast growth in the neighborhood. Another characteristic of Bushwick’s neighborhood is the outdoor street gallery. Joseph Ficalora, a native of Bushwick, named this street gallery as Bushwick Collective. Ficalora brought in 2012 artists around the world to paint walls in Bushwick. Those arts start on Jefferson Street towards Saint Nicholas Avenue, and many of them reflect tags, murals, political statements, and advertisements ( Figure 2) . In general, Bushwick is a neighborhood to find diverse cultures, different types of food, and other types of stores that offer services depending on their communities.
Figure 2: Street Gallery is common to see in the Bushwick neighborhood. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon.
The first pattern to find in Bushwick is the pattern of bilingual signs. Atlantic Travel (Figure 3) seems to have English words, but if we look at it more carefully in the blue color, Atlantic Travel includes Spanish. For example, they included “Pago de Cuentas llamadas, pasajes, recargas de celulares” which means they offer bill payment, call phones, travel tickets, and cell phone recharges. Atlantic Travel provides all the information to their Hispanic customers. Another example of bilingual signs is Calibella Bakery (Figure 4). The first impression of the name Calibella could be a rare name, but it has real meaning. The owner wrote together Calibella, but the truth Cali Bella is written separately; Cali refers to Colombia’s city, and Bella means Beautiful. This bakery also includes Spanish “Panaderia y piqueteadero Colombiano” in English means “bakery and Colombian’s snacks.” The only English word is “Bakery,” so there is a probability that the owner is expecting more Hispanic customers. The same pattern is shown in the Live Poultry sign (Figure 5). They include the name in English, but in the corner, there is an Asian language. However, the whole sign is in English, so people of other languages can understand. All three-example took of different places of Bushwick show signs translated. This reflects how the percentage of the Hispanic community with a 53.1% s is true in Bushwick because of the consistent signs translated. There is also the presence of Asian signs, but those are more likely to write more in English rather than their native language because of the 4.2% Asian population exists in Bushwick.
Figure 3: Atlantic Travel decides to include English and Spanish, but the majority of information is directed to the Hispanic community. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
Figure 4: This Colombian Bakery used only one word in English and the other information in Spanish. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
Figure 5: There is an Asian Language and an English language that makes this sign bilingual. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
The second pattern is the information provided in the signs. Fast Track (Figure 6) provides services such as safety training. One of the characteristics to know about Fast Track is that it offers a lot of information to their customers. The main features are phone number, location, type of OSHA they provide, web page, and their name in Spanish” Centro de Entrenamiento de Seguridad” to inform the Hispanic community. Another example of information signs is Kanduit Real Estate (Figure 7). This place provides at the top all the services they offer, such as Spanish information on the left side and English information on the right side, they include a phone number and address. The same pattern shows in City Bound Realty Real Estate(Figure 8). This Real Estate provided information such as phone number, web page, address, and list of all its services. This real state also includes information in the window that shows images of the apartment or houses available. Those patterns are common to see in Bushwick. Show in common to provide a lot of information to their communities. The existence of those patters is because they want to tell they speak both languages, English and Spanish. Other places like City Bound Realty provide English only, so they are more likely to provide information to people who speak English.
Figure 6: Fast Track likes to provide a lot of information, so people know more about them. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
Figure 7: This Real State provides information in English and Spanish. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
Figure 8: City Bound Realty Real Estate also provides a lot of information about their services. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
The third pattern is the presence of flags in supermarkets. Sea Town Supermarket and Sea Town Fish & Meat market show the presence of flags in Bushwick (Figure 9). The presence of flags of different countries, such as Asian flags and Hispanic flags, shows diversity in and others in Bushwick. Those flags show the supermarket sells products from different countries that will help people guide and buy in these places if they identify their country’s flag. In the same way, Food Bazaar is another supermarket located in Bushwick that shows the same flag pattern at the top of the sign (Figure 10). Those flags mean the food diversity the customers will find there. The presence of the flags is not common to see in another Food Bazaar or Sea Town Supermarket because the presence of flags seems to show when there are multicultural places such as Bushwick. The flags also represent the linguist landscape people will find there.
Figure 9: The presence of flags shows the diversity of products and languages that exists in Bushwick. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
Figure 10: The presence of flags is also in Food Bazaar that show the same diversity of products and languages. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
The last pattern is the presence of Colorful signs. Bushwick is a multicultural place, so most of the signs are colorful because some of them represent the flag’s color or other brilliant colors that represent the bright and colorful the neighborhood is. The Ecuadorian restaurant named Sol de Quito means Quito’s sun (Figure 11). They decide to include the Ecuadorian’s color, such as yellow, blue, and red. People will identify the Ecuadorian restaurant not only for the name Quito that is the capital of Ecuador but also for the colors. The same way Mexican restaurant La Mesita means the table shows the color of the Mexican flag, such as green, white, and red (Figure 12). The presence of colorful signs shown in another culture like an Asian Kikiriki Live Poultry seems pink, but the truth is a worn red, white color with some blue that seem to represent an Asian country (Figure 5). Other restaurants do not show the flag’s color, but they decide to use a jazzy orange color such as the Nacho Maco Taco Mexican restaurant (Figure 13). The existence of those colorful signs is the presence of a diversity of cultures in Bushwick, such as Hispanic and Asian cultures. Those countries display their color flags that make Bushwick a colorful place.
Figure 11: This sign represents the color of the Ecuadorian Flag. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
Figure 12: This sign represents cultural meaning such as the color of the Mexican Flag. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
Figure 13: Another Mexican restaurant that shows the pattern of brilliant color. Photo Credit: Madelyne Calderon
In conclusion, this linguistic landscape has discussed four main patterns in Bushwick and has argued how the Bushwick’s population influences their signs. Such was the presence of bilingual signs that shows the common translation to the Hispanic community or Asian community, the pattern of how Bushwick is more likely to find a lot of information on their signs, the presence of flags that represent the diverse population that exists in Bushwick and the presence of colorful signs that show how their culture influence on the signs that makes Bushwick look colorful and bright. Bushwick has been increasing their diverse cultures through the years, so those brilliant and meaningful signs will continue in Bushwick.