Decoding New York

Group 1

From Decoding New York

Outline

• Bay Ridge Themes

a. Ethnic makeup: how different ethnicities have changed the area over the past centuries:

1. Historical: The social makeup and economic state of Bay Ridge during it’s first wave of immigration primarily by Scandinavian and Irish ethnic groups

2. The changes brought about, socially, religiously, and economically, by later immigration in the 20th century of Italians and Greeks

3. Current Social Makeup: The influence of the overwhelming Arab community on Bay Ridge and how this has effected the local economy

b. Contrasting Bay Ridge and East Village by showing the different sources of social change in each neighborhood: reform brought about by different ethnicities vs. reform as a result of the influx of artists

c. Role of Satellite Communities: The shifting of the Arab influence originally based in Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn to Bay Ridge, as well as the much earlier migration of Irish to Bay Ridge from Manhattan

d. Economy: The distinguished economic sectors of Bay Ridge, clearly separated by ethnic group (e.g. Italian markets, Arab stores, etc.)

e. Stereotyping: Evidence of other ethnicities in this area, such as Polish, Russian, Korean, Spanish


• East Village Themes

a. How different ethnicities and gradual class changes have shaped the culture of the East Village 

         * Asian ethnicities, Puerto Rican ethnicities. 
         
         * Cultural: RENT is based on life in East Village.
         
         * Indian restaurants and small underground Indian establishments occupy 1st and 2nd avenues, between    E4th street and St. Mark's Place. 

         * Articles regarding artistic and lifestyle changes.

         * Political and art scene changes influenced by trends brought by immigrants. 

         * Early German (at the turn of the century) influences.

         * Eastern European/ Jewish influences. (possibly Ukrainian, will be checked out).

b. The economy of this neighborhood, mainstream usually includes nightlife, restaurants, etc. while St. Marks is known for underground items like Fake ID’s, underage piercing and tattoos, etc.

c. Detecting remnants of the major immigration waves to this area despite more recent gentrification, through older citizens, churches, stores, etc.

e. Stereotyping: Role of press in shaping the popular conception of the neighborhood- e.g. "starving artists" or "trendy."


SOURCES

• Barry, Dan. "Articles of No Value, Beyond Faith." New York Times 02 Sept. 2006, Late ed., sec. B. LexisNexis. 2 Mar. 2007.

• Bayor H. Ronald, and Timothy J. Meagher, eds. The New York Irish. Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins UP, 1996.

• Benson, Kathleen, and Philip M. Kayal, eds. A Community of Many Worlds: Arab Americans in New York City. New York: Syracuse UP, 2002.

• Gardner, Paul, and Grace Glueck. Brooklyn: People and Places, Past and Present. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1970.

• Hamill, Pete. Downtown My Manhattan. New York, Boston: Back Bay Books, 2004.

• Royal, Weld. “On Avenue A Living on Tokyo Time.” New York Times 24 Aug. 1997, Late ed., sec. 1. LexisNexis. 2 Mar 2007.

• Willensky, Elliot. When Brooklyn Was the World 1920-1957. New York: Harmony Books, 1986

• Wong, Edward. “Echoes of the Left Bank, but on the East River.” New York Times 23 Dec. 2000, Late ed., sec. 1. LexisNexis. 2 Mar. 2007.

  • Simpson, Charles R. "Soho: The Artist in the City." U of Chicago P, 1981. (not technically on the East Village but has some valuable information on the process of gentrification for a close-by, similar area)
  • Abu-Lughod, Janet L. From urban village to east village : the battle for New York's Lower East Side. Cambridge, Mass. : Blackwell, c1994.
  • Movie: New York's East Village art scene. San Francisco, CA : Distributed by Visual Studies, c1985.
  • Daniela, Roger. Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life. Second edition. New York : Pernennial, c2002.
  • Smith, Michael Peter. Marginal Spaces (page 74). New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1995.
  • East Village blog. <www.East Villagepodcasts.com>



Photographs & Maps: There are many photographs and maps within the five books I’ve listed so far that can be scanned. In addition, many of the pictures we have taken of the neighborhoods would go well with these themes.

Tahra and Alena: Photos and notes available on the Walking Tour and visiting of the resurrected garden, and other small gardens and establishments in East Village available soon.

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