During the New York City blackout of 1977, Broadway was the epicenter and worst hit of the looting, rioting, and violence that hit the city. Thirty-five blocks of Broadway from Williamsburg to Bedford-Stuyvesant were destroyed, 134 stores looted, 45 of them set ablaze. The riots accelerated white flight from the area, as many of the destroyed properties were never rebuilt and remained empty lots well until the 1980s. Broadway remained a high-crime, destitute area until gentrification in the 2000s which has initiated a resurgence of new businesses, construction of luxury condominiums, and a return of chain stores to the area. In 2019, the New York City Department of City Planning released a Bushwick rezoning plan, which would allow for high-density development on Broadway and Myrtle and Wyckoff Avenues.