The underlying theme of all three readings this week is most definitely the consequences that stem from greed. New York City is becoming a society that tends to the needs of the rich while neglecting the poor and middle class. The term “middle class” is being skewed since even those considered to be in the middle class may not even be able to afford “affordable housing.” Mayor de Blasio’s inclusionary zoning plan is a plan that is bound to fail, in the sense that it will fail to fulfill the needs of the majority of New York City’s population. However, the plan will succeed in becoming a driving force for gentrification.

A plan that is pleasing the rich while stealing from the poor is not a plan at all, but rather a ploy. The theoretical poetic goals of “inclusionary zoning” seem to be masking the realities that will ensue once the plan is implemented. In Stein’s article on de Blasio’s Doomed Plan, Tom Angotti’s statement speaks truths that go far beyond the present day plans for urban renewal. “In areas with high land values, the new inclusionary development will just feed the fire of gentrification.” (Stein 2014) The process of gentrification is very much like the creation of fire. First, you must have oxygen, which in this case is the vast land of New York City that is being taken up by low income earners. Second, you must have a spark to ignite the fire. The spark in this case takes shape in the form of the greedy private developers that see the land as an opportunity for their own monetary benefits. Lastly, in order to keep a fire going you have to have a situation in which people allow it to burn. Here, it is the wealthy elite of New York City that are being attracted to neighborhoods they would have never taken a second look at if the low wage earners were still living in them. To allow the fire of gentrification to burn, you must displace the poor and convince the wealthy to move into the neighborhoods that once belonged to low income New Yorkers. The fire of gentrification is only being fueled by de Blasio’s plan because it is truly allowing people to watch their once culturally rich communities vanish and transform into luxury estates for the elite.

The concerns of the the residents in the neighborhoods that will soon be gentrified are quite valid, for their voice is lost among those with fatter wallets. Private developers must be forced to allow for units to be priced below their expectations because in the world of business the greater good is ignored to achieve the highest monetary gain. In last week’s movie “Whose Barrio?” the actual ripples of gentrification were depicted by the very blunt statements of the residents in East Harlem. The crowd that is being targeted by private developers provide a stiff competition, for their wallets are much fatter than the current residents with low incomes. Thus, it is the power of fatter wallets that have succeeded in driving out the residents struggling to keep their homes from being sucked up into the fire of gentrification. Money talks, and when it does, it is heard. Despite the political and financial aspects of trying to create affordable housing, the race and class relations that come about in gentrifying neighborhoods must be considered. Even if there are affordable units in a luxury building, what are the chances that they will be filled with the residents that once lived on that land?

Discussion Question: Can housing ever become affordable in a society where the rich may not even want to mingle with the poor?