In “From Dump to Glory”: Flushing River and Downtown Transformation, Tarry Hum explains the plan Bloomberg has in store for the area around Flushing waterfront. The revitalization plan is to lessen the traffic in the area, clean up polluted lands, and generally beautify the area. Luxury condos, a soccer stadium, tennis courts, and large shopping centers are to be built in these areas and will definitely displace lower-income residences such as those in Bland Houses and small, mostly immigrant-run businesses. Yet, despite taking place near their homes and businesses, nearby residences are largely unaware of this revitalization plan and the opinions of immigrant stakeholders don’t seem be heard by the government.
The question is who exactly will benefit from this plan? Real-estate prices will go up and perhaps it will be better for New York City’s economy, but what about the residents and businesses that may be displaced because of increased rents? People would lose jobs and homes. These people are probably immigrants who flocked to ethnic neighborhoods for jobs. What will happen to them? Will they receive help in finding new jobs and homes? These people are probably working long hours for minimum (or not even) wage. They probably won’t benefit very much from this plan and won’t even be able squeeze the money out for tickets to see games in the stadiums that are to built. As Hum and Sanchez describe in their writings. These are the people who will be most effected by this plan and yet they aren’t even aware of what’s happening and their voices aren’t even heard by the government.
Will the time, money, and efforts invested in this plan really pay off in the end? The area will become extremely commercialized. This will displace many immigrants and businesses. As result of the entering of large nation-wide stores such as Target and the exiting of small immigrant-run businesses, the entire area will lose its ethnic personality and become a generic form of commercialized areas such as Times Square and Roosevelt Field Mall. What exactly can be done to prevent this generalization? Is there anything that can be done? If the area does become commercialized, Queens may tragically lose some of its uniqueness and diversity.
