Category: Assignments

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Gentrification in an Unhip Place

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/letter-from-flushing-on-gentrification-in-an-unhip-place

Flushing is one of the neighborhoods that I consider myself to be involved in. Over the years, I saw it evolve from a place where only Asian people go to buy groceries, to a place where people would go to experience authentic Asian cuisine. Two of the most prominent changes that comes to mind in the last 10 years is the construction of Skyview shopping center and Citi Field. Skyview draws many brand names such as Uniqlo, Nikes, and Adidas, as well as countless other Asian cosmetic stores. Citi Field draws in many tourists who are baseball fans, and it is also used as a concert venue (notably Beyonce’s Formation Tour). A lot more food market has opened, providing inexpensive and delicious authentic food for all who goes there.

The negative effects of the successful commercial developments in Flushing are also alarming. This summer as part of my campaigning internship, I visited many apartments in Flushing. Although I never thought of the area as a particularly nice residential area, I was surprised to find out that the rent was much higher than what I would expect. Overcrowding is also a serious issue. Flushing High School is consistently ranked the worst high school in Queens because of overcrowding, and has experienced several principal changes over the years. The 7 train, which has its terminal stop in Flushing, is at its 99% capacity and cannot be improved with its current structure.

At the rapid pace that Flushing is developing, I would argue that it would soon become a more “hip” place.

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$9 “Unicorn Latte” from a Williamsburg Cafe

The Unicorn Latte from The End

The End, a cafe that opened up recently in Williamsburg, is the perfect example of a business meant for the “creative class” and hipsters. The article describes the Unicorn Latte, one of the drinks the cafe offers, priced at $9 for a 12oz. cup. The explanation behind the high price is because it is claimed to contain healing ingredients, such as E3 Live, a blue green algae (and probably because it has a unique look and name).

In Sharon Zukin’s “Why Harlem Is Not a Ghetto”, she says that Harlem has been penetrated by many hipster cafes, boutiques, and the like, which attract those from the creative class and those with higher income. Similar to Harlem, Williamsburg has also been dotted with cool new cafes, which is one of the reasons for its gentrification. On another note, I found it entertaining how the author captioned a picture of a different latte, “Some other bullshit” and a picture of the cafe’s menu, “RIP Williamsburg. Again”. Someone doesn’t like gentrification!

Carlson, Jen. “This Williamsburg Cafe Is Selling $9 Unicorn Lattes”. Gothamist. N.p., 2017. Web.

Article can be found here.

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Gentrification in Brooklyn

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/14/nyregion/cuomos-1-4-billion-plan-in-brooklyn-stirs-fears-of-gentrification.html

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.

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Was the Creation of Central Park a Form of Gentrification?

I was just scrolling on Facebook when I noticed a good friend of mine posted a video about how an entire village was destroyed in the making of Central Park. I remember talking in class about the idea that sometimes we live in an area long enough that we don’t really know how it used to be before we lived there, or before people occupied the space in general. Since Central Park has been around my whole life and most of the history I learned in school included the park’s existence, I never really thought about what was there before the park. Even when I was learning about how the park was built, I never was exposed to the information presented in this video, and I presume it was because this is a part of history textbook writers and education leaders do not want us to know (but that’s another story for another post).

The video and article titled, “An Entire Manhattan Village Owned by Black People Was Destroyed to Build Central Park” posted on Timeline by Heather Gilligan are about Seneca Village, which was a village that spanned from 82nd to 89th street along what is the present western edge of the park. It is sad to me that we are too familiar with the housing regulations and racism in the housing market that was present in the 1800s because we still see it in today’s market (a lot more subtly, but it’s there). In the mid-1800s, white landowners did not sell property to black people, no matter their social standing. Therefore, black people who could afford to travel and settle down went to places like Seneca Village- refuge spaces for black people to live. Gilligan mentions that Seneca Village was a stop on the Underground Railroad, which gives Seneca Village an even more important purpose that stems even further back than the 1800s. If you were able to purchase land in Seneca Village, this meant that you had the power to vote (men only, of course, but for black people this was a very important step towards climbing up the social ladder). Abolitionist Albro Lyons and Mary Joseph Lyons were residents of Seneca Village (Gilligan, NY Public Library). Black people living in the village built schools for their children. Seneca Village was home for lots of black people living in New York at the time, and it was all destroyed in 1857 to make way for Central Park, a “public place” mainly for white elitists to show off and enjoy their leisure time (This sounds a lot like the Hudson Yards project that we discussed in class!).

Finding this information really made me think about all of the neighborhoods that were destroyed under Moses’ construction projects, as well as all the communities that we still don’t know about that were destroyed in the gentrification process. A memorial sign was put up in 2001 where Seneca Village used to be in Central Park, and you can still go there to read about this village today.

Gilligan, Heather. “An Entire Manhattan Village Owned by Black People Was Destroyed to Build Central Park.” Timeline. Timeline, 23 Feb. 2017. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

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Understanding Gentrification as a Social Justice Issue

Gentrification is a term that has been used so much that it has lost true meaning. Across all major cities in the United States, gentrification has become a colloquial and normalized term. In her Ted Talk, Stacey Sutton offers a more nuanced definition of gentrification and urges the audience to think more critically about gentrification and its implications. Sutton also draws an important distinction between neighborhood revitalization and gentrification – in movements of revitalization, the neighborhood remains affordable for low-income residents and does not result in their displacement and, in reference to affordable housing, alienation. She asserts the importance of understanding gentrification as a social justice problem and as a “manifestation of inequality.” I think such a perspective is essential to understanding the spatial layout of and the evolution of neighborhoods and ethnic enclaves in New York City. Furthermore, this talk is important for understanding Freeman and Braconi’s research in their article regarding gentrification and displacement. Their research suggests that disadvantaged households would value the improvements of gentrifying neighborhoods. To echo Sutton’s point – do academic statistics really matter if it costs vulnerable communities their social networks and disregards their identities and lived experiences?

This past weekend, I met up with a friend who is studying abroad in New York City as an undergraduate student from NYU Abu Dhabi (her home institution). She told me all about her exciting city experiences – doing the typical touristy things but also the craziness of living in one of the most diverse and most populated cities in the United States. She talked about her newfound love for Brooklyn, specifically the “hipster” parts (i.e. the only part of Brooklyn she visited). When tourists visit New York City (and all of its gentrified neighborhoods), they experience a place that is aesthetically pleasing and what seems like a great community to be a part of. What they miss, however, is how those neighborhoods arrived at their current state and who was affected in the process. I thought about this a lot when I was talking to my friend and also when I watched Sutton’s Ted Talk.

Unrelated: Checkout this article in the NY Times about Governor Cuomo’s plans to demolish Robert Moses’ notorious Sheridan Expressway and replace it with a tree-lined boulevard!

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Williamsburg has the #2 Afghani food in the City?

I was aimlessly scrolling through Yelp searching for where to find the best kinds of food in New York City. I typed in “Afghani Food”, expecting to find the best Afghani food somewhere in New York City where there is a high concentration of Afghani people. I was expecting that these businesses would prefer catering to people of their own nationality, giving the locals a taste of their home cuisine.

However, what I found was that the #2 best Afghani food for cheap near Brooklyn was the Kabob Shack in Williamsburg-South Side. That was something I did not expect, knowing that Williamsburg has been the constant site of gentrification over many years. The two things in particular that shocked me was 1) why is it fairly cheap? and 2) why Afghani food in Williamsburg?. After thinking more into it, it makes sense. This business is in Williamsburg’s South Side, which I learned is considered more residential and less gentrified than the North Side. This business serves both the residents in search of ethnic food and the stragglers of the North Side of Williamsburg who are in the mood for falafel. The “exoticness” of Afghani food also seems to attract customers to this restaurant.

Furthermore, after reading about the zoning changes in Williamsburg/Greenpoint, which allows for more residential developers to come and create housing for both low income and high income families, it is apparent that the location of this business is ideal for those moving in. Because it is ethnic food, rather than something like a restaurant, which can be displaced by Applebee’s or Chipotle for example, it seems to me that the Kabob Shack is here to stay.

 

https://www.yelp.com/biz/kabob-shack-brooklyn?osq=afghan+food