Category: Student Posts

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Gowanus Canal: A Future Venice?

In class, we briefly discussed about the gentrification that is occurring in the Gowanus Canal area. I found an article on CurbedNY that discusses the possibility of Gowanus Canal becoming a “Venice” in Brooklyn while maintaining housing prices low through rezoning.

I thought this article was significant because of the high hopes that this area has even though it’s one of the most contaminated bodies of water in the country. Bridging Gowanus, a nonprofit organization, has a blueprint for manufacturing and commercial areas, as well as affordable housing. After checking out Bridging Gowanus’s website, they seem to have a good plan for what is necessary to create a sustainable neighborhood in which all types of people can afford to live there, such as strengthening the manufacturing sector within the neighborhood, so the people can live and work in the same area. But as waterfront areas become more and more popular, I think it is more likely that it will become an area for tourists and young hipsters, as Williamsburg did. I have generally noticed this trend of neighborhood near a body of water being places of high interest for luxury and tourist development, such as Williamsburg and Hudson Yards.

The biggest problem with this area developing is that the slow cleanup is hindering the growth of the area. The EPA might run out of funds to clean up the area due to proposed budget cuts. Also, organizations who were responsible for polluting the area has not yet paid the requisite funds. The environment of Gowanus Canal was really neglected, and now it’s paying a price for it. This really highlights the necessity of putting environmental factors and effects into consideration when projects are being proposed.

 

Sugar, Rachel. “Gowanus Has Potential to Become the ‘Venice’ of Brooklyn, Experts Say.”Curbed NY. Curbed NY, 29 Dec. 2016. Web. 10 May 2017.

Warerkar, Tanay. “EPA’s Gowanus Canal Cleanup Will Move Forward despite Budget Cuts.” Curbed NY. Curbed NY, 31 Mar. 2017. Web. May 2017.

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Community Action in Bensonhurst

Though not directly related, the reading “From Protest to Community Plan” by Tom Angotti reminds me of the residents of Bensonhurst taking action against a garbage station that was going to be built in Southwest Brooklyn, near Shore Parkway and Bay 41st Street. Here is the petition on Change.org that calls for the NYC Department of Sanitation to “Dump the Dump” (this phrase was popularly used during community rallies).

Although residents aren’t being displaced if this garbage station was to be installed, my mind immediately went to rallies condemning the garbage station as I pored over Angotti’s work. This was an issue that affected my community (Bensonhurst), as well as other surrounding neighborhoods (Bath Beach, Gravesend, Seagate, Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Bergen Beach, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Mill Basin, Gerritsen Beach, Canarsie, Manhattan Beach). It shows the kind of issue that can bring a whole community together to stand up against. And perhaps like much of community action that voices disapproval against city planning, the rallies in Bensonhurst fell on deaf ears. Construction of the Southwest Brooklyn Marine Transfer Station began in 2014 and unsurprisingly, was stalled after asbestos were found at the transfer station. In the original petition that argued against the construction of the dump, it stated:

“If built, this garbage station will cause serious public health, environmental, and safety concerns for neighborhoods throughout southern Brooklyn and all along the waterways of New York City and adjacent states.”

How ironic that something involving environmental and safety concerns would be the thing that stalled the transfer station’s construction?

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“There’s No Place Like Home”

This Buzzfeed video features Kai, a local native of the Mission District in San Francisco, California, who speaks about the change in his neighborhood as a result of a wave of gentrification. Although this video does focus heavily on the idea of displacement and native residents being priced out, what I liked about this video was the discussion of space, and who has a right to it. The end of this video specifically references a video taken earlier that features Kai.

This video entitled “Mission Playground is Not For Sale”, shows the conflict between native residents and gentrifiers over a public, local soccer field that was “rented out” for an hour. Outraged by the idea of “booking” a field that for his whole life was always open to the public, Kai confronts the gentrifiers, standing his ground in his right (and the children’s right) to enjoy their field.

This reminded me of Filip Stabrowski’s idea of “everyday displacement”. Although residents were forced out of their neighborhood, those who did stay felt a disconnect with their community as a result of the battles over space. The conflict over who could play in the soccer field was just an example how “place is security, space is freedom”.

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The Gentrification of Hip Hop

The image on the left is of a very common street art design/label found all over Williamsburg as well as Brooklyn’s other “creative spaces” like DUMBO and Park Slope. I see this specific form of street art all over social media, especially from people posting about their trip to “hipster” Brooklyn. These stencilled letters have a meaning much deeper than “Protect Yo Heart;” they reflect the manipulation and colonization of hip hop, specifically graffiti, and its use as a weapon for gentrification .

The rise of hip hop culture, which includes rapping, DJing, b-boying, and graffiti, provided African-American youth with an artistic avenue to express their frustrations. It created solidarity within an underserved and oppressed group and communicated their unheard voices. However, the culture that started as an innovative street art and form of resistance in the South Bronx has transformed into an instrument for corporate gain and now permeates as a one-dimensional yet moderately artistic genre of music. In his essay, “When the People Cheer: How Hip-Hop Failed Black America,” Questlove suggests that “Once hip-hop culture is ubiquitous, it is also invisible. Once it’s everywhere, it is nowhere (2014).” The culture of a marginalized and neglected community rose to prominence, but as it gained recognition it’s original purpose quickly faded and became exploited for material gain.

In the chapter “How Brooklyn Became Cool,” Zukin suggested that Black Brooklyn neighborhoods never benefitted from the rise in the cultural production and appropriation of hip hop. “Protect Yo Heart” and other forms of street art are typical and ubiquitous in gentrified communities such as Williamsburg and Bushwick. It represents the whitening of Brooklyn and the simultaneous loss of hip hop’s influence as an art form and as a medium for resistance.

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Strategic Marketing of The Hamilton at Brooklyn

Some time in 2015, an abandoned factory located in between Sunset Park and Borough Hall was demolished. The construction went on for about year, and the site is now known as The Hamilton, a five-story luxury apartment building. The Hamilton’s official website showcases the various units available, the apartment amenities, and the perks of living in such a location. Given that I live a few blocks away from The Hamilton, I had to reevaluate my surroundings because it is the first luxury apartment building in my area, and seems like it does not fit in with surrounding businesses. Since some of the readings from this week touch upon the gentrification that occurs due to the development of old factories, I wanted to share my thoughts on the impact The Hamilton could have on my neighborhood.

Continue reading “Strategic Marketing of The Hamilton at Brooklyn”

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Gentrification in Williamsburg

Since some of this week’s readings talk about Williamsburg, I decided to choose an article about that neighborhood as well.

AM New York published an article last May discussing a report from NYU’s Furman Center that shows Williamsburg leads NYC in gentrification. The report showed that Williamsburg had a 78.7 percent surge in average rents between 1990 and 2014, while citywide, average rents had only increased by 22.1 percent in the same timeframe. Ivan Pereira also points out that “this isn’t new news,” but just looking at the numbers is astounding. Similarly in sports writing, you can gauge change by consistently watching game after game, but statistics can back up your claims of how and why a certain team or player has improved or regressed.

I’m really not all too familiar with Williamsburg, aside from the fact that the neighborhood is used as a running joke for “hipster town,” or just as the most heavily gentrified neighborhood in general. For the most part, I think of Williamsburg as an odd food haven, simply because I see Facebook videos and Instagram photos all the time of delicious-looking food at restaurants in Williamsburg. Of course, the fact they’re in Williamsburg already means I won’t be going, but it makes me wonder if I’d get more of an “Eeeeats” vibe from Williamsburg (similar to Greenwich Village), or if I’d get more of a “foreign land” kind of vibe (like where am I even?).

If Williamsburg is anything like Bushwick, I’d probably get more of a “foreign land” vibe. For some reason, I pair neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Bushwick together. I suppose it’s because they’re both on the L line and I would hate if I had to go to either one, plus they’re two common neighborhoods people refer to as gentrified ones.

I have actually been to Bushwick once. Never. Again. I had the absolutely worst hipster macchiato (or cappuccino or something, I can’t recall) for $3 or $4, and it wasn’t even lukewarm. Well, I can already tell things in Williamsburg are overpriced, so on top of hipsters and commute time, these are the reasons you’ll never find me there.