Entrepreneurship, Gentrification, and Religion

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St. Matthew\'s Roman Catholic Church: 40.669278, -73.931575
Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church: 40.650269, -73.953466
Holy Innocents Roman Catholic Church: 40.644081, -73.962638
Church of St. Vincent de Paul: 40.743297, -73.993729
Wake Eden Community Baptist Church: 40.890591, -73.839608
Bronx Baptist Church: 40.859821, -73.895376
Yoruba Orisha Baptist Church: 40.634482, -73.947806
Flatbush Caton Market: 40.652745, -73.959338
Raduarchitects - Work in Progress: 40.661566, -73.961786
Wholesome Gourmet Market: 40.660993, -73.961419
Golden Krust Bakery: 40.659774, -73.960861
Dollar Vans: 40.628276, -73.942866
Areas of Gentrification: Crown Heights : 48.216038, 16.378984
Areas of Gentrification: Bedford-Stuyvesant: 40.684996, -73.941860
2S Mart: 40.653654, -73.959482
MoneyGram: 40.656651, -73.960289
Blackstreet Van Lines: 40.690172, -73.987107
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St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Church
St. Matthew's RC Church is located in a predominantly Caribbean neighborhood, and has a sizeable number of West Indians which attend its services.
1123 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church
The Holy Cross RC Church is located in a largely Caribbean populated area; and it offers masses in Creole as well as in Spanish and English.
2530 Church Ave, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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Holy Innocents Roman Catholic Church
A Roman Catholic parish, situated in the middle of a large Caribbean neighborhood, Holy Innocents parish serves a population of Caribbean immigrants who bring their own touches to the masses held at Holy Innocents.
279 E 17th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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Church of St. Vincent de Paul
Church of St. Vincent de Paul:

located in Manhattan, this parish serves the French-speaking congregants of NYC, which includes Afro-Caribbean immigrants from francophone islands.

123 W 23rd St, New York City, NY 10011, United States
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Wake Eden Community Baptist Church
"Wake-Eden is a Family Church where We seek to provide for each person a home away from home, to deepen family relationships and to encourage spiritual commitment."

Wake-Eden is a Baptist church with a largely homogeneous Caribbean congregation.

2074 Strang Avenue, Bronx, NY 10466, United States
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Bronx Baptist Church
"Communicating the Changeless Christ in a Changing World."

The Bronx Baptist Church serves a wide area of the Bronx, though a large contingent of its congregation is composed of Caribbean individuals.

331 East 187th Street, Bronx, NY 10458, United States
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Yoruba Orisha Baptist Church
Yoruba-Orisha Baptist Church integrates American Baptist theology with spiritualist practices from the West Indies, which draw influences from African spiritualism.
2089 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210, United States
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Flatbush Caton Market

20140308_151214

The Caton Market essentially is a miniature mall that contains over 30 stalls that are
owned by Caribbean men and women in the community. These licensed entrepreneurs
sell various products or provide essential services. For example, at the back of the Caton
Market is a whole line of Haitian men and women selling domestic goods such as
cooking ingredients imported from Haiti, pots, and beauty products (even though there’s
a supermarket across the street). During my visit, I also saw “Golden Seven Music Enterprise” that sold
many genres of Jamaican music like Soca and Raggae.

At the back of Caton Market. Cooking ingredients, such as rice, cinnamon, beans and cloves, pots and facial products are mostly imported from Haiti. Note how small the quantity of each parcel is. 

At the back of Caton Market. Cooking ingredients, such as rice, cinnamon, beans and cloves, pots and facial products are mostly imported from Haiti. Note how small the quantity of each parcel is.

814 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11226, United States
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Raduarchitects - Work in Progress
IMG_2067



Housing link to upcoming apartment building: https://streeteasy.com/building/510-flatbush-avenue-brooklyn. The funny thing is, if you look on the google maps street view: https://www.google.com/maps/place/510+Flatbush+Ave/@40.661734,-73.961463,3a,90y,235h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sMdv3L0WkJ0BAEjLwqQkWOQ!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c25b12f21f4275:0x9e31f3e9e9304073!6m1!1e1 this new apartment building will stand in stark contrast to the older, worn-out neighboring buildings.

510 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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Wholesome Gourmet Market
Wholesome Gourmet Market



This was certainly very odd to see as we walked down Flatbush Avenue. Along that whole block all I saw were small, dingy-looking bodegas and pharmacies. Wholesome Gourmet Market stood out like a sore thumb and towered above the rest of the stores. The clientele were mainly those of Caucasian decent, and of a younger generation. The rest of the West Indian residents walked right past this place.

534 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11225, United States
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Golden Krust Bakery
"In 1989, leveraging the lessons he learned from his parents, who started and ran a bakery back in Jamaica, Hawthorne and eight of his 10 siblings launched Golden Krust Bakery in the Bronx, N.Y., to sell Jamaican buns and patties.

Since then, the business has grown into a successful franchisor with locations in Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and other places, and system-wide revenues of more than $100 million. He has created more than 1,000 jobs in the process." -Anne Field ( article in Immpreneur)

Some Caribbean enterprises may be so prosperous that their owners are compelled to open more branches. Not only does Golden Krust Bakery cater to Caribbean appetites, but also sells dishes commonly found in the South. What's so unique about Golden Krust is that many of its early franchisees were Caribbean nurses, illustrating how important ethnicity and community are to Caribbean entrepreneurialism.

Golden Krust Bakery Golden Krust Bakery

568 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, New York City, NY, United States
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Dollar Vans
One vibrant entrepreneurial route for Caribbean immigrants in New York City is the “dollar van” business.
Resembling a quick and cheap alternative to the public MTA buses that run throughout the five boroughs, dollar vans are dominated by Caribbean drivers who operate in predominantly West Indian neighborhoods. Packed dollar vans run quite frequently along Flatbush Avenue. Not only are the ubiquitous dollar vans crucial for offering Caribbean immigrants transportation to places where MTA buses and subway trains don’t go, but they also prove to be profitable. The lowly priced convenience offered by such vans explains why they are a favorite in Caribbean neighborhoods.

Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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Areas of Gentrification: Crown Heights
crown_heights_map1

 

source: http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2012/12/market-snapshot-crown-heights/

 

One of the places that have experienced the overflow of places like Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene is Crown Heights. It's home sale price is around $413,500.

Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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Areas of Gentrification: Bedford-Stuyvesant
Bedford-Stuyvesant



source: http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2012/12/market-snapshot-crown-heights/


 
One of the places that have experienced the overflow of places like Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene is Bedford-Stuyvesant. It's home sale price is around $447,580.

Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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2S Mart
Located on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn and owned by a Caribbean, 2S Mart is an ethnic
grocery store that sells a variety of products. During my trip, I noticed many fruits and
vegetables, such as yams, plantains, and dasheen, that won’t be found in a conventional
supermarket. Also in 2S Mart, there was a whole aisle reserved for Caribbean condiments.
The conspicuous aisle contained curry, jerk chicken, oxtail and creole seasonings, had room
for Caribbean sauces like chutney, kuchela (blend of mangoes and spices), calypso sauce,
and Bajan pepper sauce, and also stored traditional spices like curry
powder, garam (hot) masala, turmeric powder and cumin seeds. Moreover, Caribbean
supermarkets reflect their community's affinity for ethnic goods.

A nearly identical aisle in the supermarket across. A nearly identical aisle in the supermarket across.

781 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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MoneyGram
20140308_150447

 

 

Many Caribbean entrepreneurs may also open up money-transfer businesses. Not only are such businesses

crucial for immigrants who have family or businesses in the West Indies, but also reveal how ethnicity translates

into a variety of economic opportunities for Caribbean-New Yorkers.

684 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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Blackstreet Van Lines
Winston Williams of Backstreet Lines  Winston Williams of Blackstreet  Van Lines



 

Another Dollar Van business operating in Brooklyn. (Photo by Lisa Marginelli, via The Atlantic)

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/10/the-illegal-private-bus-system-that-works/246166/

Livingston Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States