Josh’s Interviews

Josh interviewing Rob

Rob has been living in Hamilton Heights for the past 9 years.  He was of Dominican decent and born in the United States.  He said that the majority of the residents in his building were Dominican, followed by a few blacks, and no whites. There are many stores in Hamilton Heights that are in Spanish, he said, that cater to those who either cannot speak/read English well or to make Spanish-speakers feel more comfortable and “at-home”.  Rob has been noticing more white people moving to the area.  “And why wouldn’t they?” He said, “Hamilton Heights is a very nice neighborhood with apartments for cheap”.  After walking around the neighborhood and seeing for myself, I couldn’t agree more.  As Rob could not have said it better, Hamilton Heights is a “diamond in the rough.”

Rob is in the majority demographic in Hamilton Heights.  For now, he is not really affected by gentrification.  He and others feel at home when they see store signs in their native language.  This is a smart business move because they will attract the majority population in Hamilton Heights.  Even though non-Spanish speakers may not understand the signs, the others are in the minority for now.

Josh interviewing Brian

Brian stays in Hamilton Heights for most of the week with his girlfriend, who has a permanent apartment there.  He and his girlfriend are prime examples of gentrification and how white people are moving to Hamilton Heights.They have only been living there for a year and a half, which shows that during this time period, more whites are migrating there.  Brian said that he feels completely safe when walking around the neighborhood at any time of the day.  There are police cars driving around all the time insuring the safety of the people living there.

Brian also mentioned that there are many delicatessens, grocery, and appliance stores that sell their products for much cheaper than southern Manhattan.  “I could buy a bacon-egg-and cheese for about half of what I would pay down by Baruch.  Food, clothes – you name it – it’s all much cheaper up here.”  The cheapness in price reflects the community living there – Hamilton Heights has a very low median income – much less than the average of all of New York City.