On Bushwick’s Knickerbocker Avenue, Filthy Diamond has been steadily building something rare in Brooklyn: a true neighborhood bar that feels less like a business and more like a shared living room. Since opening almost three years ago, the Black woman-owned bar has grown organically through word of mouth, local loyalty and a clear sense of purpose rooted in community.
Owner Erin Boyd described the bar as intentionally neighborhood-driven, built to serve the people who live nearby rather than chase trends.
“We’ve been open since March 23, 2023. We’re getting ready to have our third anniversary this coming March, which is really exciting,” Boyd told Brooklyn Paper. “It really is a neighborhood community-based bar.”
The space emphasizes connection over spectacle. Without televisions dominating the room, Filthy Diamond prioritizes conversation, music and shared experiences. The bar features a community-donated vinyl record collection, all vinyl DJs and live music programming three to four nights a week, spotlighting local artists.
“We try to provide a space that is all-inclusive, safe and fun,” Boyd said. “It’s just a space where you can speak and talk to people that you know and meet people you don’t know.”
Food offerings at Filthy Diamond are also expanding. The bar is preparing to partner with Flatbush Oyster Co., a Panamanian-inspired concept led by a local chef. The collaboration will feature charcoal-jerk oysters sourced directly from family-run fisheries on Long Island.
“They literally go and get the oysters out of the water the day they serve them,” Boyd said. “We’re trying to provide sustainable, healthy, good, affordable and attainable food for people in the neighborhood.”
Boyd, who has lived in Bushwick for nearly a decade and in New York City for more than 20 years, said the bar’s mission is closely tied to the challenges facing longtime residents and small businesses.
“I think having something that isn’t something that is of someone that kind of perpetual turnover is really impacting the communities,” she said. “I want something that I would want to go to, and I think that every neighborhood deserves something that can be a beautiful, unique space that’s affordable.”
Affordability remains a focus for Filthy Diamonds, offering low-cost drink options, including a $4 Rolling Rock, as well as a rotating happy hour and “happier hour,” making the space accessible to residents navigating rising living expenses.
“If you are in a pinch one week …We got you,” Boyd said. “Come.”
The bar’s name reflects both Boyd’s personality and a deeper metaphor.
“So Filthy is for my love of filthy martinis, filthy dirty martinis,” she said. The “Diamond” element emerged from conversations among friends and Boyd’s subsequent research into the diamond industry.
“Diamonds come from rock and the earth and they evolve into something beautiful,” she continued.
B0yd added the emphasis on programming. Events range from live music to chess night, an idea she developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. All performances are free or donation-based, a decision Boyd says is critical to sustaining New York City’s creative culture.
“Music should be available for people. Music should be affordable for people,” she said. “If we keep allowing all of our music venues to die, like we’re losing all the artists that make the city, why people gravitate to it.”
Looking ahead, Boyd said her goal is longevity without losing the spirit that drew people in from the beginning. Not just as a bar, but as a resilient neighborhood space shaped by — and for — the community around it.
“My hope is that the feeling that people get now when they come to Filthy Diamond will be the same feeling they have when we’re in year 10,” she said. “This little gem, this little pocket of beautiful energy and vibrancy is here in Bushwick.”
