Since my appetites for historical walks and physical pain are apparently insatiable, I spent Sunday on the Forgotten New York walking tour of Bushwick. I won’t go into extreme detail about the tour itself: That ground will no doubt be better covered both on Forgotten New York and on the blogs of the plethora of attendees who’ve forgotten more about New York history than I’ll ever know.

Years ago, when I was roommates with my friend Duncan, we were watching a marathon of TV shows in a series about the history of booze in the United States. There was an episode on cocktails, an episode on beer, an episode on wine, etc. In every episode, they’d eventually come to the 1920’s, and the narrator’s voice would turn ominous and say, “…and then came Prohibition!” And so the fortunes of the boozemakers would take a turn for the worse…

Well, that’s kind of what happened to Bushwick. The Germans immigrated here, built all kinds of breweries, made piles of money with which they built mansions… and then came Prohbition! If I ever make a fortune in a product that is known to cause moral panic, I’ll be sure to diversify.

My impression of the area is much the same as Bed-Stuy. Bushwick is a gorgeous renaissance of achingly beautiful brownstones, punctuated with depressing pockets of poverty and neglect. While we were walking, a gentleman of the neighborhood shouted out, “What!? They’re bringing tourists to Bushwick!?” I wanted to say, “Yes. You live in a beautiful and historic neighborhood. You should open your eyes to the breathtaking architectural artistry all around you.” But what I actually said was nothing at all.

One of the most exciting parts of the trip for me was meeting several of my internet heroes. I met Kevin Walsh, the proprietor of Forgotten New York and author of the book by the same name. I met Mitch Waxman of the Newtown Pentacle, a half-historical, half-paranoid exploration of the neglected semi-industrial cemetary area around Newtown Creek. I met Miss Heather of New York Shitty, whom I’d actually met briefly once before since, by amazing coincidence, I work with her husband. After most of the tour broke up, we had a quick dinner at a Mexican/Italian (yes, really) restaurant in Williamsburg, which was kind of a real-life version of celebrity dinner, except with New York neighborhood bloggers.

I don’t know when the next Forgotten New York tour is, or where it’s going to be. I just know I’m going to be there…