Brooklyn is characteristically a place where many immigrants from multiple ethnicities and races first live when they come to New York. Manhattan is wildly commercial and is arguably one of the world’s biggest centers of commerce, making it a hefty burden on the poor immigrants to live there due to its insanely high rent. So, the next best place for these immigrants tends to be Brooklyn, namely the Kensington neighborhood. Part of a network of other neighborhoods, Kensington has its benefits as well as setbacks when it comes to education, employment, transportation and quality of life. In some places, the upper middle class of Kensington is able to live comfortable lives with stable jobs and decent housing. In other places, the poor, especially the newly arrived immigrants, have a harder time getting by, living in squalid conditions, and working minimum wage jobs, while hoping that their children will one day lead better lives than they were able to provide them with. Yet, Kensington is home to a multitude of peoples from all over the globe. What starts out as poor, working class immigrants ends up as upper middle class moving out to more affluent places with each successive generation.
Kensington is a mid-sized neighborhood bordered by Windsor Terrace in the north, Flatbush to the East, Ocean Parkway in the south and Borough Park in the west. Dutch farmers first settled Kensington and its development started in 1851. Housing picked up significantly in the 1920s and consisted of people mainly from Irish and Italian backgrounds. It’s boundaries consist of “Greenwood cemetery and Caton avenue to the north; Prospect Park, the Parade grounds and Kensington stables to the northeast; Coney Island Avenue to the east; Foster Avenue and 47th Street to the south; and Dahill Road and 36th Street to the west” (Department of Housing Preservation & Development). It’s located off-center west in Brooklyn and makes up a little less than 1.5% of Brooklyn’s population, according to the NYC Census Fact Finder. With a population of 36,891, Kensington has a slew of ethnicities and races that live and work in harmony. According to the NYC Census, 47.9% of the total population of Kensington is White non-Hispanic, 24.1% is Asian non-Hispanic, 17.6% is of Hispanic origin, while the rest is either Black/African American non-Hispanic, non-Hispanic of two or more races, or some other race non-Hispanic, in decreasing order, respectively.
As noted earlier, there consists of a variety of wage-earning people that live in Kensington, from those who make well over $200,000 within a year to those who make less than $10,000. According to the American Community Survey, Census Bureau as well as the US Commerce Department, the biggest group falls under the category of an average yearly household income of less than $10,000 (11.9% of the total population). However, the next biggest group falls under the category of an average yearly household income between $75,000 and $99,999 (11.4% of the total population). There is clearly a discrepancy if the two biggest population groups have an annual household income difference of $65,000 to $89,999. This shows, realistically, how Kensington harbors so many different types of people. On one hand, it has people (mostly immigrants) making significantly less than what is considered to be the poverty line in New York. On the other hand, it has people (second and third generation Americans, as well as long-time residents of the neighborhood) making well above the poverty line. Clearly, those who come to Kensington as immigrants have a hard time getting decent paying jobs. Many of the immigrants come uneducated and start out with minimum wage jobs and for the most part, only one person in a family household will be the provider for the family, significantly decreasing the income potential of the family as a whole. While the father goes to work, the mother will look after the kids. This puts a portion of the population that could potentially work out of work due to children (later to become second or 1.5 generation Americans).
This brings our attention to employment in Kensington. Over an average taken from the period of 2006 to 2010, there were 7,580 families where only one person was working, 4,262 families where no one was working, 4,180 families where there were two workers and 1,210 families where there were 3 or more workers. Clearly, this shows that while many of the people in the family may be able to work, they choose not to, perhaps because of school, taking care of kids or age/work permit limitations. It was found that males of other races not including Whites, Blacks, Native Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, or Hispanics over the age of 16 earned the largest median earnings, topped at $46,774. The lowest median earnings were from Native American females above the age of 16, working part time. Considering only males, 11,696 were employed while only 1,085 males were unemployed. Considering the females, 9,456 were employed while only 606 were unemployed. In general, trends show that there is a significant gap between how many people are employed and how many are not. Comparing ratios of employment to unemployment, for males, it is 10.78 while for females it is 15.60. This claims that for every unemployed male, there will be about 11 employed males while for every unemployed female, there will be about 16 employed females. It seems that the people value their work for what ever reason, be it to support a family or to gain savings for the future, perhaps for their children’s college education.
In terms of occupation, one would be surprised to learn that workers in management, business, science, and arts occupations make up the biggest group, at 7,385 workers. The next biggest group is in the sales and office occupations, at 4,866 workers, followed by service occupations at 4,173 workers, followed by natural resources, construction and maintenance occupation at 2,169 workers, followed by production, transport and material moving occupations at 1,958 workers and finally workers in the armed forces at 55 workers. This includes males as well as females. One would expect that with such a big population of immigrant groups that the biggest group would be the minimum wage service occupations and yet the biggest group is within the science, business, management and arts occupations. This indicates that over the years as the generations become more affluent, they attain jobs within these specifications. The numbers would have been a lot different looking at when immigration was just booming in 1996 (a peak of 1,350 immigrants).
Immigration is an issue that creates a problem in these numbers. These numbers, for the most part, account for only legal immigrants, those with papers to work and live here temporarily or permanently as well as citizens. What these numbers fail to account for is the mass of illegal immigrants that live within Kensington. As a guess, I would estimate that for every legal immigrant or citizen in Kensington, there are two illegal immigrants. This is simply an extrapolation from the people I’ve come into contact with or from people I know. Many of these immigrants do not have legal working papers and work off the books, making it difficult to procure data that aptly portrays the true numbers of employment and salaries. Many of these illegal immigrants are also afraid of the United States government, with just reason. Not too long ago, some states have begun rapid deportation and swiftly sent masses of illegal aliens back to their home countries. While New York is well known for its leniency towards illegal immigrants, these same immigrants fear giving any information to any government official. In effect, the Census Bureau has a hard time obtaining accurate information from the bulk of the population, information that may help neighborhoods and communities obtain funds to help provide goods and services that the community uses. This has spurred campaigns where the Census Bureau has started handing out fliers saying that they are not inclined to give any information to officials that have the power to deport them, namely Homeland Security. The campaign, for the most part, failed, as many immigrants were still not convinced that they were safe from deportation and they continue to avoid the Census Bureau.
If we were to look at the average class of Kensington, I would have to say it depends. For the most part, those who live along McDonald Avenue or own businesses along McDonald Avenue are generally lower middle class to upper middle class, with the business owners being upper middle class and the majority of the residents being lower middle class. However, moving outward towards Coney Island Avenue and Cortelyou Road, this shifts to an almost completely upper middle class group. This wasn’t always the case. Around five years ago, the Coney Island Ave and Cortelyou Road area was mainly a black/Hispanic part of the Kensington neighborhood. Recently, however, affluent white entrepreneurs have been coming in and buying stores. The area has become heavily gentrified. Shops that once were owned by Hispanics were sold to these white entrepreneurs. Bakeries owned by Hispanics, 99 cent stores owned by Chinese and barber shops owned by Blacks have been bought out in favor of bars that sell beer and wine and lavish restaurants with food that costs 30 dollars a platter. While it is understandable and beneficial to have these entrepreneurs come in and bring wealth to the community, many residents feel that they have changed the place to something worse than it was. Rent has, slowly but surely, been rising for the past couple of years, at a rate of about 50 dollars a year and many residents point to the entrepreneurs and gentrification as the cause. Many families have been unable to live here anymore and were forced to relocate. With these families moving out, the more affluent whites move in, further causing change. Whereas many of the prior residents worked in jobs that were close to home, these new residents commute to work every day to Manhattan, as there is easily accessible transportation (the Q train). Gentrification is still taking place today as they have recently been renovating another bakery. Three new bars and a restaurant have opened up in the past three years with more expected to arrive as time progresses. While the economic aspect of the community is looking bright, the demographic aspect is looking rather grim. Overall, looking at the average of the population, the class status should balance out to lower middle class because, as seen from before, the biggest two groups fell between the income ranges of below $10,000 and between $75,000 and $99,999.
Business activities range from clothing stores to restaurants to delis to supermarkets. However, some streets have specific types of stores associated with them. For example, most of the stores located along Coney Island Avenue are restaurants, supermarkets or delis. Stores along McDonald Avenue are, for the most part, almost all groceries with a few restaurants. Just between Avenue C and Church Avenue, a span of one block, there are eight grocery stores, all owned by Bengali owners. Chain restaurants are rare near McDonald Avenue. The only chain restaurant within the vicinity is the Subway along Church Avenue. Starting from 37th Street all the way to 56th Street along 13th Avenue, there are businesses ranging from clothing stores to grocery stores to restaurants and every kind of store imaginable. There are 19 blocks of businesses, shops, tailors and banks that are ready to serve consumers. People of Jewish ethnic backgrounds own almost all of these stores. They are to 13th Avenue as the Chinese are to 8th Avenue. All along the streets one can see Hebrew written on signs, Orthodox Jews walking along the streets shopping in stores and friendly merchants happy to provide services to any and all customers.
In terms of housing, there is a mix of private homes as well as renting apartments. I personally live in an apartment building near Cortelyou Road and my father owns an apartment building on McDonald Avenue, which he rents out to families. In general, however, residents in Kensington mostly live in renter-occupied units; 12,247 renter-occupied units as opposed to 4,985 owner-occupied units. It is no surprise that of the 4,985 owner-occupied units, white householders own 3,358 of them, as they tend to be the more affluent when compared to other races and ethnicities. That’s not to say that other races are falling behind; many are still able to move up the metaphorical social ladder but many, especially the South-East Asian population, have trouble finding good paying jobs because these jobs require skills that they lack. Even for renter-occupied units, of the 12,247, white householders are responsible for 8,180 of the renter-occupied units. This is not surprising since nearly half of the population is White non-Hispanic residents. In terms of percentages, 71.1% are renter-occupied units while 28.9% are owner-occupied units, just about a 2 to 1 ratio.
Schools and education play a pivotal role in the daily lives of residents in Kensington. Because immigrants have slim chances of attaining a decent education and getting better paying jobs, they focus their children’s attention to studies so that they may be able to go to college and follow careers head and shoulders above what their parents were capable of. The main elementary schools in Kensington are P.S. 179, called the Kensington School, and P.S. 230. Both located a mere three blocks from one another, both harbor students not only from Kensington but from other neighborhoods as well. P.S. 230, in particular, is known for its rigorous curriculum and accelerated programs making many parents want to apply there, even if they must deal with a very long commute. P.S. 179, while not as well known as P.S. 230, offers Magnet programs focused on science and mathematics for those who excel in these subjects. They provide students with the tools and skills necessary to carry out simple experiments, something many other elementary schools are not able to provide. Moving on to Middle Schools, there is Ditmas Junior High, I.S. 62. Located along Cortelyou Road, it is a mid-sized junior high school. It used to be known for being a “bad” middle school as it zoned many of the less well-to-do children of poor and lower working class families, mostly comprised of Black or Hispanic origins. Recently, however, due to a recently revamped educational system which increased the lower limits of failing, Ditmas Junior High has seen a generally increasing trend of higher grades over the past couple of years. I did what most parents chose to do in terms of P.S. 230; I made the hour commute to Dyker Heights Junior High (known for it’s rigorous curriculum and high acceptance rate to Specialized High Schools) so that I wouldn’t be zoned into Ditmas Junior High. There are no public High Schools located in Kensington but one nearby option is Midwood High School, a generally mid-ranked High School. No colleges exist in Kensington but there is a private school owned by the Jewish community that specifically tends to the needs of the Jewish population. First and foremost a religious institution, it teaches Judaism and all the subjects public schools teach with the exception of some subjects such as evolution and creationism, topics that are sensitive to religion.
This brings us to the religious aspect of Kensington. Kensington doesn’t have the most diverse religious institutions. The main religions Kensington residents are associated with comprise of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, as is evident around the world. There are three major Islamic Mosques located near each other, two on McDonald Avenue and one farther out towards Chester Avenue. The one on Chester Avenue is significantly smaller than the other two and cater to a smaller population, generally only to those within its direct vicinity. The other two, however, cater to a much wider audience, consisting of three floors, a whole apartment building dedicated to Islamic prayer and teaching. Because these are the main Islamic mosques, people from all over Brooklyn come here to pray daily, especially on Fridays when Jummah is held. The Mosques usually become so packed that they must roll carpets onto the streets so that everyone has a chance to pray. During the end of Ramadan, the Mosques get special privileges that allow them to temporarily take over most of Avenue C to hold prayer services for Eid. People from every neighborhood in every borough come to pray here on this momentous occasion. Taking up two whole street blocks, they block off the roads to any incoming traffic with the help of police officers in the nearby precinct. It is a beautiful sight to see, thousands of Muslims coming together to pray for a humble occasion.
Islam isn’t the only thing that holds the Church-McDonald community together; nationalism does too. The majority of the community is Bangladeshi and it is only natural that with such a big population of Bengalis, there ought to be an organization that acts as the governing body. That organization is called the Church-McDonald Bangladeshi Business Association or CMBBA for short. Mainly an organization dealing with the Bengali businesses in the vicinity, it also hosts events, manages the political aspects of the community and handles the money when businesses start to do badly. Each year, when the date of Bangladeshi Independence approaches, the CMBBA plans a block-wide parade to celebrate, filled with music, dance, shops as well as food. A banner stretches across the street announcing the parade a week in advance so that businesses can prepare accordingly. Profits skyrocket from the parade and people from all over the neighborhood and even Bengali communities in other boroughs come to celebrate. Many people from other ethnic and racial groups are welcomed as they learn Bengali culture and appreciate our history.
The CMBBA has been astoundingly successful in what it does. Collective funds that each business contributes are used to host events and plan future business interests. As such, the CMBBA has been able to keep Bengali solidarity for a very long time. There is very little change to the ethnic make-up of Church-McDonald; it has almost always been known as a Bengali community. This is very much contrasted to the Cortelyou community mentioned earlier. With no organization to keep the Black/Hispanic solidarity of the neighborhood, affluent entrepreneurs were able to take advantage and create their own niche in someone else’s backyard. These entrepreneurs also plan on having their own organization (which has not formally formed yet) to serve their interests and goals. It seems the changes due to gentrification are, at the time, nearly impossible to reverse.
Such a diverse neighborhood warrants recognition from any and all people from every ethnic and racial group. Kensington is relatively small and is not as well known as many other neighborhoods like Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. Yet, it has diversity that spans across its streets and avenues. An ever-changing ethnic make up, it’s no surprise that Kensington has become home to so many newly arrived immigrants from every nook and cranny of the world.
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