Following up on Emily’s example of how race is thought of very differently in Africa than in the US – and our conversation about the tensions between understandings of race in Dominican Republic in the US, here’s an interesting interview with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie precisely on the topic. Read her novel, Americanah (for pleasure or extra credit!).
http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2014/11/5pointzprotest_web_2014_03_14_q.html
Located at at 22-44 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City, 5 Pontz (also known as the Institute of Higher Burning) and the Graffitti Mecca was whitewashed overnight on November 19, 2013. The abandoned warehouse also considered to be a landmark among many was used by internaitonal graffitti artists to create work ranging up to 200,000-square-feet, and simultaneously featured 350 murals. Another factor that makes 5 Pointz important is the fact that it once housed Crane Street Studios: utilized by 200 artists and costing less than the average market prices for studio space. in 2009 it was estimated that a 450 square foot studio cost $600 in rent. Originally founded in 1993 by Pat DiLillo, through a program called Graffitti Terminators, with a mission of providing street artists with a formally display their art work: some important artists who have featured their work at 5 Pointz have been Stay High 149, Cope2, Part, TAT CRU, and SPE. It is interesting to note that the name of 5 Pointz is symbolic of artists from each of the 5 boroughs merging together to create art, however 5 Pointz has been fortunate to feature international artists from Japan, Brazil, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Canada. Sadly, the New York City Planning Commission took a unanimous vote to consent to building condos where 5Pointz now stands. David Walker, the developer of this project is planning to demolish the building entirely. This $400 million plan was approved in October by the New York City Council in order for a the creation of 1,000 apartments and 210 housing untis, although ground level facades will still be used by curated artists. The art communtiy has been enraged since the whitewashing of 5Pointz and in a bold statement of retaliation artists from Brooklyn known as gilf! and BAMN (By any means necessary) hung a yellow caution tape banner across the building on which reads “Gentrification in Progress”. Unfortunately the banner was removed Monday, but it has been nice to see some artists taking the initiation to retaliate. I was lucky enough to visit 5 Pointz several weeks before the whitewashing, and would like to share with you some of the amazing art wor that was on display. I hope that a stronger petition will emerge, and I hope that New York will not lose such a beloved landmark, influential both for its art work and its history and culture.
In an article titled “Brooklyn Gentrification: Spike Lee Has Right Message, But Is The Wrong Messenger“, Palash Ghosh reacts to film director Spike Lee’s profanity-ridden rant on the gentrification of his native neighborhood of Brooklyn. The basis of Lee’s argument is that he grew up at a time when the neighborhood of Fort Greene in Brooklyn was made up of mostly minority groups and lacked good facilities and services. As of late, there has been a huge growth(29.6% from 2000-2010) in the number of middle and upper – class white New Yorkers moving into these previously poor areas. Lee is angered that it took an influx of young, rich people into these places to bring about better policing, sanitation, and schooling.
In his article, Ghosh describes the 70s: “the era of near-bankruptcy, rising violent crime, white flight, a heroin epidemic and relentless danger lurking around every corner.” He remembers the “the grim, decaying neighborhoods replete with garbage-strewn lots, bodegas, liquor stores, check-cashing joints, etc.” of Brooklyn in the 90s. But he also says that it is the deprivation, desolation and violence of NYC neighborhoods that brought about great artists and movements from that time such as the Ramones and the hip-hop movement. Ghosh sees Lee as a hypocrite, saying that Lee has made contributions to these changes in by popularizing Brooklyn in the his films and cashing out on it. Now that these neighborhoods are cleaned-up and more orderly, there is no longer an “edgy” vibe to these places, but they are safer and less dangerous. Ghogh poses his ultimate question about gentrification which is whether we would prefer neighborhoods to be crime-ridden and cheap but interesting and eccentric, or neighborhoods that are rich, dull, and filled with consumerism. However, it isn’t as black-and-white as Ghosh makes it out to be. The biggest issue that I see with the latter option is that the working-class people who live in these neighborhoods are forced out of their homes by landlords, often through unlawful methods, and there is less affordable housing when these places are gentrified. Things may be better for the newcomers, but many of the people who lived there previously do not always benefit in these situations.
Erik Grimmelmann, CEO of NY Tech Council, speaks about the need for immigration reform concerning the admission of professionals in the technology industry to sustain its development in New York. In the article, entitled “Why New York’s Technology Sector Needs Immigration Reform”, Grimmelmann argues that New York’s immigration laws for giving out work visas are antiquated and will not be able to accommodate the growing need for professionals in what is now the second largest driver of New York’s economy. In just five years, the number of jobs grew 11%, which added $5.8 billion in wages to NY’s economy. While he acknowledges that further growth could be supported by better education in the native population, he claims that attracting immigrants to these jobs could spur economic growth, at least on a short-term level.
The existing immigration laws have been in place since 1990, just before this sector came to be so significant with the explosion of technological advancement. Grimmelmann claims that with a projected gap of 200,000 workers by 2018, we need to make visas more easily available to professionals with advanced degrees, students seeking professional degrees in these fields, and entrepreneurs (who are significantly more likely to start businesses than native-born residents) involved in these fields.
Photo Credit: Dave Sanders of the New York Times
Mireya Navarro’s article “Tenants Living Amid Rubble in Rent-Regulated Apartment War” captures the consequences of gentrification and rising housingprices on a microcosmic, personal level. These rising prices and its resulting strain on landlord-tenant disputes can be seen in immigrant families that live in rent-stabilized units in 98 Linden Street of Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Eight months earlier, the landlord sent a notice requesting access to two rent-stabilized units on the ground floor for structural epairs. The workers that arrived demolished the kitchens and bathrooms of the apartments within a few hours. Nearly a year later, these kitchens and bathrooms remain in their dilapidated state.
Juan Calero and Gloria Corea, 67, immigrants from Nicaragua and the inhabitants of one of the units since 1990, pay $675 a month for rent, a value that is less than half the market rate. They share the apartment with their two children and two grandchildren. The family says they cannot afford anything over $1,000 , as only their daughter’s husband, Rolando Cajina, holds a job as a maintenance worker.
The landlord, Joel Israel of Linden VenturesL.L.C., claims that the building is structurally unsound and insists that all tenants move out. Datafrom the Rent Guidelines Board suggests that when the units are vacant, the landlord is allowed to bump the rent to or over the deregulation threshold of $2,500 a month on vacancy and improvement related increases. While the struggle on 98 Linden is not the norm, it is indicative of increased tensions and stakes as rising housing prices make it increasingly difficult for low and moderate income New Yorkers to afford. Gentrifying neighborhoods can even double or triple the stabilized rent, causing tenants to face illegal pressures that may even include demanding proof of citizenship.
With nowhere else to go, the family borrows the bathroom and kitchen of their second floor neighbor as they continue their standoff with their landlord. Calls to the landlord were not returned.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/nyregion/in-new-york-push-for-market-rate-housing-pits-landlords-against-tenants.html
On February 23, hundreds of foreign-born youths from across the nation rallied and protested against President Obama’s apparent inaction in resolving the crackdown on undocumented immigrants that has characterized his administration. While the President’s official position on immigration reform has generally been one of sympathy and integration, his aspirations have been largely stifled by the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Last year, the Senate passed a comprehensive reform bill that had the potential to be a momentous development for the civil rights and liberties of immigrants in the United States. The bill, entitled the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013”, sought to establish a five-year route to lawful permanent residence, followed by citizenship, for illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Unfortunately, the current speaker of the House recently announced that his caucus was not ready to settle the issue this year, a decision that many perceive as an underhanded effort to shelve the bill until it loses relevancy.
In response to this profound blow, many members of the immigrant community have chosen to shift the focus of their discontent to President Obama, placing the onus of reform exclusively on his shoulders. Their protests concentrate on coercing the president into taking executive and/or unilateral actions to provide greater protections and opportunities for the undocumented, much like he did in 2012 when he instituted the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. This program provided deferrals for over half a million illegal minors, affording them the right to obtain legal employment and driver’s licenses in specific states. While Obama maintains that he lacks the legal sanction to allow for any more of these deferrals, he remains outwardly devoted to immigration reform. http://nyti.ms/1fvaQ9C
The authors of our required text are having a free event on Wednesday, March 5. Attending this event is a good opportunity to earn extra credit.
I am posting two articles that relate to our discussion about gentrification, and provide some additional perspectives:
1. http://nymag.com/news/features/gentrification-2014-2/index1.html
2. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/02/spike-lee-amazing-rant-against-gentrification.html
To summarize: in response to the first article I posted, this guy went on a rant against gentrification. My favorite part is when he equated Whites moving into Harlem to Columbus and the Europeans settling America.
Washington State just passed a law yesterday allowing children of illegal immigrants access to state grants and financial aid for higher education. This law is extremely important for Washington’s ever growing Hispanic immigrant population.
The affected group still has to overcome some hurdles though. They have to go through three years of high school to qualify for aid as opposed to just living in the US for a year.
An interesting part of this was that this bill was created by a bipartisan coalition of policymakers. While Republicans elsewhere often are very hostile when it comes to immigration, Republicans here passed a very pro-immigration bill. It probably has to do with the fact that because of the increasing number of immigrants, Republicans know they will lose office if they hold on to their old-fashioned beliefs.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-02-26/news/sns-rt-us-usa-immigration-washingtonstate-20140226_1_financial-aid-state-grants-new-mexico
Remember our discussion of ‘hot beds’ or people living in such crowded conditions that they take turns sleeping on the same bed?
Here are two articles that illuminate this problem.
This article in The Nation profiles a Bangladeshi immigrant in Queens who lives in an illegal cellar room. Apparently half a million New Yorkers live in such illegal cellar dwellings.
This article in New York Magazine profiles a Mexican immigrant who lives with 26 roommates in Manhattan. The photo above comes from that article.
