"History, With Hipper Retailing in Bed-Stuy,"

By JEFF VANDAM - New York Times

“BED-STUY” — as in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the sprawling brownstone neighborhood and hub of African-American life in Central Brooklyn — once upon a time evoked apprehension.

In Spike Lee’s 1989 film, “Do the Right Thing,” the area was depicted as a simmering pot of racial tension; in the stories, told through rap, of artists like Jay-Z and the Notorious B.I.G., it seemed there were few tougher places. Even Billy Joel described walking through the neighborhood alone as evidence he may be crazy in his 1980 song “You May Be Right.”