Overdevelopment and the African American Community
From The Peopling of New York City
Contents |
From an Interview with Community Stakeholders
The African-American community has been a fixture of the Flushing community since the days of the Underground Railroad before the Civil War. But as developments have started to infiltrate their area, they are being pushed out of what was once their home. African-Americans in Flushing are concentrated in two areas, the Pomonok houses and Bland Projects, and spread out throughout Flushing in residential areas where they may also be homeowners. As homeowners, they create the same upheaval because these developments cause the same problems for them, as they do for other homeowners.
African-Americans often inhabited areas closer to Downtown Flushing and now areas that are starting to develop more and more. African-Americans have traditionally been exploited, and overdevelopments could be a new form taking advantage of not only African-Americans, but also anyone, because of the money involved. Overdevelopments in residential Flushing are often multiple lot buildings that could hold multiple families. For a developer to build one, they would have to buy up multiple houses and tear them down. The only way to get people, who have lived there for a long time, to move would be through money. Considering African-American’s ties to the community and their areas of concentration, they are prime targets for having their houses bought at high prices and demolished in favor of multiple-lot dwellings. Another concern of African-Americans in Flushing and any resident could be the rising rents that are caused by overdevelopment. As Flushing becomes more and more like Manhattan in terms of real estate, the prices of these spaces will become similar also. That is when many longtime residents will be unable to afford their own neighborhood and be forced to retreat to a more reasonably priced area. Money is a critical issue in this struggle for land and housing in Flushing.
Media
Developments within the African-American Community
There are two Projects in Flushing that house a large percentage of the African-American population in Flushing; the Pomonok Projects and the Bland Projects. A major concern of the residents of these projects is that the new developments will eventually overtake their residence or the rising prices may contribute to them searching for more affordable housing.
Conclusion
The African-American community of Flushing will remain as long as the Housing Projects still stand and offer affordable housing in the rising market of Flushing. It is more likely owners of property will leave first when they cannot afford the area they live in or are offered enough money by developers to be bought out. African-Americans in Flushing seem to be dwindling in comparison to the Asian population that is exploding. As Flushing continues to develop, African-Americans will slowly disappear from Flushing unless affordability and development is carefully maintained and planned. It would be a shame to lose a fixture of the community because of poor planning, but only through combating development can this be stopped.