Norman Street Introduction

The updated introduction of Norman Street talks about the new constructions of public spaces and the restructuring of New York City.  Then, the introduction discusses the impact of globalization and increasing discrepancy between the social classes on New Yorkers.  This introduction also focuses on the gentrification and changes that have occurred to the Williamsburg and Green Point neighborhood.  In this new edition, the author takes a look at these communities, three decades later and compares it to the state it was in, when she first studied them in her first book.  The author then continues to talk about the effects of new housing policies and economic status on the residents.  For example, the new housing policies and deregulated rents have caused prices of housing to increase so quickly that it has caused countless families to become homeless.  Not only does losing a home effect families physically, it also burdens them emotionally.  The author goes on to include quotes of locals who describe their experience through this time period and the emotional distress that these changes have caused them.  Then it goes on to talk about the plans that Bloomberg made to “rezone” after Sept. 11, 2001 in the Williamsburg- Greenpoint community and how the 2008 economic crises has effected these plans and the neighborhood.