Don’t tell me none of you were thinking it. The “Class Struggle on Avenue B” reading evoked the Wild Wild West image multiple times. I specifically liked the bit about the suburban couple moving from Houston St and comparing themselves to those who crossed the Rockies. But the implications in the imagery is powerful. The premise behind Manifest Destiny is that it was their God-given right to expand westward, that they were civilising the native populations even as they were cutting them down. To compare the phenomenon to gentrification is damning at best.

There was actually another notable comparison that was drawn: when the mayor and others called the Tompkins Square protestors communists and anarchists. More damning words, especially given the era, but definitely worth the same consideration given to the image of Manifest Destiny to define gentrification. They did, after all, label the issue one of class struggle – and that’s Marxist history.

Question: Are the two images accurate? Are they not? How would you depict the groups?