BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN February 23, 2004 — One week from tomorrow, New York State Democrats will go to the polls to vote in the presidential primary. In the next installment in an ongoing series about voters in the Metropolitan area, WNYC's Alicia Zuckerman spoke with residents in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.

ZUCKERMAN: Lately, some people especially real estate brokers have been referring to the neighborhood as East Williamsburg. But Bushwick has little in common with its trendy neighbor. Incomes here are low, unemployment is high.

Schwartz: There are people paying $700 for apartments that are not even worth living in.

ZUCKERMAN: There is a slow trickle of artists moving here for the large loft spaces and lower rents than in Brooklyn's more gentrified neighborhoods. Ben Schwartz, a 26-year-old City College grad student in film production, moved into a newly renovated Bushwick loft in October.

ZUCKERMAN: On a recent sunny forty-degree day, he took his dog Julius to play in one of the few neighborhood parks, and lamented General Wesley Clark's decision to drop out of the race.

Schwartz: I'm definitely in the Anybody but Bush camp, but I gotta say, John Kerry strikes me as just another in a line of blow-dried, ultra-rich candidates. 5: I'm gonna vote for John Kerry with reservations. I'm holding out hopes he'll pick Clark as his vice presidential candidate.

ZUCKERMAN: Schwartz likes Clark because of his international experience. But the prevailing concerns in Bushwick are strictly local, with jobs and affordable housing at the top of the list.

Rodriguez: You know, you got three living in one bedroom apartments, so they can afford the rent.

ZUCKERMAN: Manny Rodriguez has lived in Bushwick since the 70s. As a drug counselor earning $30,000 a year, he says he makes more money than most people he knows. He's a member of the community advocacy group, Make the Road by Walking. In January, the group was invited to watch a candidate forum in South Carolina. He paid close attention to the hometown candidate Al Sharpton.

Rodriguez: Manny: I'm very impressed with everything that he had to say, except, he spoke to me, he spoke to me peers, but he's not speaking for everyone. // Unfortunately in this society, you have to be able, if you're going to be an elected leader, you have to speak for everyone.

ZUCKERMAN: After seeing the candidates in person, he settled on John Kerry. He says he was impressed with Kerry's ideas about health care and immigration a big issue in Bushwick, which has a large population of Latino immigrants.

Flores/translator: If I could vote, I would vote for John Kerry.

ZUCKERMAN: 48-year-old Luis Flores can't vote because he's not a citizen. He sells satellite TV on commission, dressed in a tie and jacket. He was a lawyer in his native Ecaudor. As a member of Make the Road By Walking, he encourages his neighbors to vote for Kerry.

Flores/translator because I feel that his policies towards undocumented workers are much better that the mockery that the Bush administration has made of it.

ZUCKERMAN: City councilmember Diana Reyna represents Bushwick, which according to the latest census, is almost seventy percent Latino.

Reyna: It's not as if there's a favorite then they are as far as being decisive that they want Bush out. If you compare it to when Clinton was running everyone, as far as Latinos are concerned would be referring to his name, and pronouncing it with such enthusiasm and interest it was Clinton this and Clinton that' I don't hear that from Latinos now.

Castillo: I don't know, I'm confused.

ZUCKERMAN: Lita Castillo pushes an overflowing shopping cart at the Food Dimensions supermarket on Myrtle Avenue. She's accompanied by two of her four daughters who range in age from five to 23.

Castillo: So many promises and they always make promises that they really don't keep. So it's kind of hard for me to decide on who would be the best candidate to vote for.

ZUCKERMAN: As a mother and grandmother, Castillo is most concerned about education and safety. After thinking about it for a few minutes, she says she hopes Bush stays in office.

Castillo: Even though I'm a democrat 9/11--that was handled really well and then with war situation he did what he had to do in order to protect us over here.

ZUCKERMAN: A few aisles away, Tito Carabello is shopping with his one-year-old daughter Lila. He says voting is something he's just not interested in.

Carabello: It won't really matter. It's not benefiting me in no type of way, shape or form.

ZUCKERMAN: Like Carabello, many Bushwick residents feel that they've been left behind. One said sometimes he feels like he's waving his hand, hoping somebody in the government will notice.

For WNYC, I'm Alicia Zuckerman.