This article via The New York Times talks about Cuomo’s proposed 1.4 billion dollar plan to help revitalize poorer areas in Brooklyn. He wants to do this by providing better healthcare and providing jobs for residents.
Reading the proposal initially, I thought the residents would be thrilled because it was something that would benefit them, until I read on. Residents were scared that the new proposal would cause gentrification in their area because now there area would have better ‘resources’ and thus rents and the like would increase.
This relates to our class discussion because we oftentimes talk about increasing rent prices and that it drives residents out of the neighborhood. But, the article relates to class in another way, one I find far more interesting.
In the article, one of the people interviewed stated that they can put a glass door on an old run down building, call it a loft and people will buy it for a crazy high price. I initially thought of Jane Jacobs when this happened, and the ‘preservation’ of old buildings turning into something used for profit.
