With our white paper complete, we have been able to employ our research more fully into the pop ed products, and have a more finalized sense of what these pop ed products will be. As Mike communicated in the last project update, the East River Plaza Residential Development would be cause for an influx of new, high-income residents who will decrease the affordability of the rest of the neighborhood and increase displacement of current residents. Thus, targeting the current low-income demographic most detrimentally affected by gentrification would be one of the main goals of our pop ed products. The other goal would be to raise awareness on the development’s flaws as clearly and as accurately as possible, since some of the target demographic might not have access to quality education. At the same time, the product would have to have a lasting impact on its audience, containing a universal emotional appeal likely to incite action. This action would have to be something readily available to the audience–an accessible yet effective solution to the issues presented.

Because of these considerations, our ideas for the pop ed products have shifted over time. Initially, we had been planning on gathering information to display on posters we’d put up in East Harlem, as a sort of exposé on gentrification to the general public. As this idea was taking place, Abhishek and Amanda met to compile maps and statistics on inclusionary zoning; other specifics such as the boundaries of where AMI was taken from were researched. However, when our group attended the Interference Archive field trip, we came across a postcard addressed to Mayor De Blasio, where volunteers could submit their contact information and urge him to pass and fund a proposal which provides the right to counsel in eviction proceedings.

This postcard proved to be a valuable inspiration to us. Our goals for the pop ed product would be achieved, as distributing postcards would reach our target audience better than posters, which many could walk past and ignore. We could maintain the information already collected for the poster and simply condense it into a convenient, portable form. In contrast with the postcard we found, our product would be more visually aesthetic and contain short stats and evidence arranged throughout the card (rather than a continuous letter) along with maps and a visual representation of the East River Plaza development. There would be a different graphic on the back as well. Through this product, we would be able to convince East Harlem’s residences quickly and effectively, as we had imagined. The images and directness of the text would convey the emotional appeal while the postcard aspect would provide a ready and accessible solution.

It was also at the Interference Archive that we attempted to find past evidence on Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, which we realized would contribute greatly to the overall persuasion of the card’s message. With no info found, we resolved to conduct our own research on the Barclays Center. Meeting to discuss the revised pop ed product, Amanda, Abhishek, Andrew, Ashwini and I went over the changes, added Barclays stats to the card, and were updated on the documentary Andrew was producing. The footage was shared via Facebook messaging–still our primary means of communicating–and the entire group was able to view the interviews of Roberto Anazagasti and Anne Kadamani. We hope to use the video as a detailed explanation of the aspects of the East River Plaza development that will not be explored as fully in the postcard. The video will be unique in that a subjective or more personal account of the development would be told, complementing the objective stats of our card by presenting them through a human perspective.