Of all the neighborhoods in New York City, Williamsburg may be one of the most drastically changed neighborhoods. Today’s booming neighborhood is a far cry from the earlier days of the community where crime was once a constant.

When looking all the way back, the area the would become Williamsburg started out like much of New York City: an open stretch of land where the Canarsie Indian tribe called home. That began to change in 1638 when the Dutch West India Company purchased the land. Nearly 30 years later, the company would charter a town, Boswijck, that encompassed what would become Williamsburg. Shortly after, English influence would see the town’s name change to Bushwick Shore and eventually Bushwick.

Over time, the Dutch farming culture