Housing
Additionally, considering that the price of renting an apartment has increased dramatically, the average income among households has also increased dramatically over the past two decades. In 1990, the average income was $25,000-50,000, if one lived on the waterfront (meaning that it was much cheaper everywhere else). Fast forward ten years and the average income was between $47,000-70,000. And within the next twelve years, in order to live on the waterfront one would have to make at least $83,000 and between $53,000-80,000 in order to live anywhere else in Williamsburg. Nowadays, just three years later, there are certain areas in Williamsburg that the average 25 to 35 years old with per capita income is $108,000 a year.
In her article, “The Difference that Citizenship Makes: Civilian Crime Prevention in the Lower East Side”, Jessica Cattelino mentions how the rich community of the Lower East Side have started their own block patrol and are policing their neighborhood. In contrast, the other, poorer side of town have attempted to build their own “police” force but find it increasingly difficult as there are neighborly disputes and a lack of attention from the police.
The movement of hipsters into Williamsburg has brought an increased police presence into Williamsburg to combat and issues that may occur between the newly arrived tenants and the displaced (near the housing projects). If we look at the 90th police precinct statistics and the housing prices/income level statistics, we can see that during 2001, when income and household prices were low, there was increased amount of crime. However, when we look at 2014, we can see that there has been a drastic decrease in crime and a drastic increase in housing prices/ income levels. Talking to the police officer, his statement of crime dropping throughout NYC can be justified as the cost of living in New York City has drastically increased,thus replacing the poorer, crime conducive environments. Additionally, due to the increased police presence and the formation of a neighborhood watch patrol to protect the area’s assets, we can say that a higher standard of living reduces crime.
