I’ve been to Red Hook quite a few times, however I’ve only been to the side that housed Ikea and Fair Way. I expected more commercial shops and markets, however I was surprised to see how barren the area was.

I paid a visit to Red Hook on February 23 around 2:03 pm by car. It is difficult to take public transportation to Red Hook, since the nearest train station is closer to Cobble Hill, Borough Hall. The only way to get to Red Hook is by transferring from Borough Hall to the B61, however the bus will only take you to as far as IKEA and Fairway. The lack of transportation makes it troublesome and strenuous to get to the remote district, specifically the residential areas, especially for residents that lack cars.

Red Hook is heavily congested in industrialized and manufacturing buildings. The district is made up of mostly storage warehouses that take up an entire block, old and abandoned commercial properties, along with undeveloped lots. These underdeveloped lots are used to store rows and rows of cars, school buses, and tour buses. I noted the absence of public bus stops around the heavily industrialized areas. And I noticed how there were mostly eighteen-wheeler trucks around the industrial areas that had worn down warehouses. Besides that, there was also a docking port for cruise ships and cargo ships.

As for the residential areas in Red Hook, most of the homes were glued besides one another like linked-houses. However, I did not observe any brownstone homes. There was a park, and a public pool nearby with school buses parked outside. When I went around 2:03 pm, there was barely any foot traffic. This could be due to the snow that was still lying around and the extremely cutting winds; the temperature was around 16 degrees Fahrenheit. I saw a few residents baring the bitter wind, however the few people that were out were mostly the blue-collared working class people or the truck drivers. While going around the residential areas, there are some new developing homes. I was surprised to see the construction of a fancy building around Columbia and Bay Street, but even more surprised to find it was a school for grades K-12. Although the sign read opening Fall 2014 and accepting applications, the construction was still incomplete and in progress.

Fair Way was at the end of Van Brunt Street, which is the only main street where business in the form of commercial boutiques is. The only main produce store in Red Hook is Fair Way; this would imply Red Hook being a food dessert before Fair Way opened. In fact, the only active parts of Red Hook were around Van Brunt Street, Fair Way, and Ikea.

Even though Red Hook is barren, there are still some creative and resourceful residents. Some of the empty lots are used as gardening centers, like nearby Fair Way is the Chelsea Gardens and the street art on the walls of worn down buildings bring life to the community.

I took the 3 train to commute to Crown Heights. I got off on Crown Heights/Utica Avenue and as I began to find the exit to the street, it became much easier to simply follow the crowd. From that first moment I could sense the kind of neighborhood I’d be in. EXTREMELY BUSY/HECTIC. I arrived there on Monday February 23 around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. I imagined it would be the time for kids to get out of school, time for either parents to pick up their kids or yellow school buses to inundate the streets and create traffic while stopping. And that is how it all turned out to be.

What a neighborhood, diverse in every sense—the different cultures living in it, the types of stores right next to each other, the kinds of advertisements you find attached to every other tree, the varying levels of noise in different places (not too far from each other), the different kinds of schools found in almost every block…

My first stop was right in the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue for two reasons. Number one, my train station was nearby and it definitely seemed like an interesting spot to observe for a few minutes. So instead of staying in a single place—because the cold did not allow me to—I walked back and forth between the same few blocks. As I walked up and down Utica Avenue you could see the typical old corner stores that you can tell have been around for centuries. I was surprised at one block in particular; there was a fish market, a Caribbean restaurant and a clothing store right next to each other. Now that I think about it, it’s not so absurd to find those kinds of block in NYC. But I guess what I found interesting about it were the people inside each one of them. Although the workers from the fish market were Asian, there were a lot of clients of the colored race inside. For the Caribbean restaurant, there was a clear mix of cultures ranging from Hispanic, to Asian, to African Americans. The clothing store, however, was somewhat empty; it had intimate clothing for women.

As I began to head east on the Eastern Parkway for a couple of blocks, two men startled me. One of them seemed to be in a rush and in charge of a store nearby. It seemed like something had happened as if it had been a robbery, but I never heard the details about it.

Two blocks to the East I looked on the map and saw that I was actually walking away from my assigned neighborhood, so I decided to start walking in the opposite direction. During this walk I made my second “stop” to do some observations.

As I was walking passed and away from the hectic Utica Avenue and Eastern Parkway intersection, I was able to feel the quiet residential area also along the Eastern Parkway. I found a number of education-related facilities. One of them was an early child development center, then a block down I found a Jewish school, and in the next block you’d the public school kids getting out of the building. Definitely a conglomeration of mainly an Orthodox Jewish and, just as dense, an African American and Caribbean population with people of all ages walking around the streets of Crown Heights!

Disembarking at Ikea, the frigid February air hit me like a winter freight train. Being right on the water, Red Hook was colder than my residential Borough Park, a more inland part of Brooklyn. It was Saturday, so Ikea was bustling with a mélange of visitors, spanning all ages and races. Looking around, Ikea seemed to be one of the biggest attractions in an otherwise barren and, simply put, dreary neighborhood. The air smelled of brine and exhaust from the many buses and shuttles coming and going. I decided to begin walking towards Fairway, another hotspot of activity that I knew of in the area.

The very presence of a Fairway leads one to believe that the neighborhood is on the up and up; Fairway is expensive, suggesting residents that can afford to purchase organic products. This is interesting because the neighborhood itself doesn’t seem too ritzy; much of the infrastructure is dilapidated and rather unattractive, consisting largely of brick buildings and abandoned lots. And yet, it would appear to be going through the process of gentrification.

When I got there it was indeed busy, with a full parking lot and countless residents hurrying either to the warmth of the store or the heat of the car. Right by Fairway there is a little riverside promenade with a view of both the Statue of Liberty and the Freedom Tower. Because it was so cold, not many people ventured by, although a few brave souls did meander through. I saw mostly young, hip-looking white people during my time on the promenade. This seems to reinforce my initial inkling that the neighborhood is gentrifying. After a frigid fifteen minutes by the river, I strolled over to a main street where I could observe more of Red Hook’s community and culture.

Van Brunt Street seemed like a contradiction. This seemingly run-down neighborhood contained a multitude of upscale establishments: bars, cafes, bakeries, restaurants, and more. This contrasted profoundly with the graffiti and the littered lots. I couldn’t help but wonder: what’s going on in this neighborhood? How could it be simultaneously wealthy and run-down? I hope future research will shed some light on this strange situation.

On Van Brunt, I came across a bakery and cafe called “Baked.” I stopped in for a cup of coffee, not only to get out of the cold, but also to observe locals in a comfortable setting. I was immediately greeted by the aroma of cupcakes, cookies, and coffee, and the sounds of pleasant chitter chatter. I ordered a red velvet cupcake and a cup of coffee, and sat down for an hour. It seemed to be a popular place because tons of people were there, laughing and talking while savoring the (admittedly delicious) baked goods. It reminded me of the show “Cheers-“ the baristas knew some of the patrons’ names; it was a genuinely friendly and warm environment. Although still, most of the people there were young and white. There was even a Steve Buscemi look alike!

My day in Red Hook was simultaneously informative and puzzling. I left with even more questions than I came with. What is driving gentrification here? How is it affecting residents, both old and new? What is housing like, especially in light of a recent influx of richer residents? Even now as I reflect, more and more questions become apparent. Hopefully our research on Red Hook will help tease out some of these issues, to better help Red Hook navigate both these phenomena and its future.

Before visiting the Sunset Park community I drove by, a few days prior, around 3rd avenue. My initial reaction was frightening I did not see many people and the area didn’t seem safe. Therefore, I wasn’t too enthusiastic when it came to actually visiting and exploring the area.

When exiting the R train on 53rd street and 4th avenue, the area gave me the same impression. I saw older Spanish people and small older shops such as the dollar stores and delis. I wondered around for a bit orienting myself before proceeding up to 5th avenue. On my way, I noticed an old-fashioned blue taxi car parked on the street and some skillfully spray painted street art. Street art seemed to be fairly common there since I saw some on the precious day, near a schoolyard and once again later on. I also noticed a police camera which furthered my conception that the neighborhood isn’t very safe.

Once I reached 5th avenue and 51st street, I was pleasantly surprised however. The area was highly populated and commercial businesses lined the streets. I was reminded of bay ridge. The population was mainly Spanish and I felt a strong sense of community. There were a few bouquets of flowers that seemed to be for sale, yet there was nobody there selling them. It was just natural that nobody took them. Furthermore, there was catchy Spanish music playing loudly and nobody seemed to complain or find it unusual. The shops were both general such as phone stores, and older community accustomed ones along with some newly build ones. In addition, I noticed some community based drawing on the store windows, such as special tributes that were drawn in the same style probably by the same artist.

Next, I proceeded to sunset park itself. There, children were enjoying their time sledding in the icy snow. Everyone seemed friendly and were interacting with each other. Looking around, I was flabbergasted by the view . Since the park was on an incline I was able to see the city buildings along with a church that stuck out the most. Next, I noticed a dog poop disposal which to me seemed modern. Lastly, I noticed, before exiting the park that the sign describing the park had Chinese and Polish translations. This seemed to reflect the population that lives there even though, I did not encounter or expect polish people to reside there.

Lastly I ventured down to 50th street and 6th avenue. There the shops became less Spanish and more Chinese. I also did not see any graffiti there. It was less populated again yet there we’re still some community places such as the small barber shop.

Overall the housing was both renovated and older. There were vacant houses among the older ones along with some occasionally newer ones. There were many ways that people made use of the community. There was a Chinese laundromat, public school, library(which was closed because it was a Sunday), public park and many shopping and dinning areas.

On Sunday, February 22, 2015 at 11:45 am, I visited Red Hook, Brooklyn. I started out at the Ikea, which was on Beard Street. This area was at one side of the division point between the two areas that I visited: the commercial on (which included Ikea) and the residential one, a few blocks from the Ikea. The Ikea is probably 10 times the size of the one located near the Broadway Mall in Long Island. I think it is actually the largest Ikea in all of New York. The inside of the Ikea was like that of any other Ikea probably on the rest of this planet. There were quite a few people inside, but not so many that we were crowded. I saw some young people, probably in their mid 20s. One woman was wearing pantsuit pants, so I think she may have been a white-collar worker. Some of the other younger people, however, were just wearing casual jeans. There were also a few families with young children. I also saw some elderly people, probably in their 70s. Some cars were parked outside the shopping complex; none of them were particularly new or clean cars. In fact, most of them were older looking cars.

I say this is the commercial area because I soon as I exited the Ikea, the scenery changed dramatically. There were some trees planted in the sidewalks, but the area was not quite suburban. The sidewalks were cracked and so was the street pavement. I do not think it has been very well maintained for some time considering how large some of the cracks were. The snow had not yet been fully shoveled, but some of it seemed to have been moved. I could see only one set of large footprints. All the other snow was either pushed to the edge of the sidewalk or trampled into a translucent mush. There were a lot of fenced-in lots. Some of them had buildings that seemed to be in use, but others had windows that were boarded up with sheets of wood.

There were buildings with metal garage doors and almost all of them had some sort of graffiti on them, but not the kind with pictures. I saw a lot of haphazardly sprayed words on these garage doors. As I walked around the blocks by the intersection of Dikeman street and Van Brunt street, I saw a large, standard school bus pass by. There could not have been any public school today, so there may have been a Sunday school nearby. I did not see any schools nearby, but I did see two small churches. This area was a sort of mix between residential and semi-commercial buildings. A lot of the buildings had iron grates on their first-floor windows and most of the buildings did not exceed two stories. I did not see many functional buildings other than some housing complexes that were all adjacent to each other. However, I did see a few check cashing facilities. There were some telephone poles and wires above ground and some more old cars parked in the streets.

Overall, I would say that this area is not very affluent and the only really moneyed area is the one side of town where Ikea is. I did not see many people outside in the residential area, so the busiest part of the neighborhood should have also been the Ikea area. The rest of neighborhood feels very run-down and I think this would be a good place to start thinking about what issues Red Hook faces.

• It’s cold
• Like I don’t wanna be outside cold
• Blah

Those are the first three entries in my stream-of-conscious note I kept on Thursday as I discovered Crown Heights. I rode in on a Q train around 5:30, figuring that rush-hour was a good a time as any to see what the populace looked like; I did not figure in how long it would actually take me to walk from the 7av stop (firmly in Prospect Heights, because I wanted to see some gradient of gentrification that seemed not to actually exist) to Crown Heights—a time extended because I was a good few blocks into the neighborhood before I even realized I was there. I only realized I was there after I exited from Eastern Parkway, walking a block of gentrification (health food store, yoga, juice bar) then being hit by Caribbean-American cuisine and people who weren’t white. It was magic. One side of the block: organic mart; other side: Thank You Jesus Church, Inc. floating gospel music into the street.

After that, I walked around the residential streets, mostly composed (from what I saw, anyway) of tiny brownstone-like buildings with an apartment on each floor, which all looked very nice, though not filled with all the gentry like I might’ve expected. I met fellow group-mate Isobela Suster at a Connecticut Muffin (“Their coffee is terrible but I bought it so I could sit here.”) who staked out the gentrish place with me. By this point it was well past rush hour and I lamented my latency. The area outside was still abuzz, though, dominated by a West-Indian presence, with a minor presence of white and latin@ groups, though most of the people in the coffee shop were white. On the walk to the community meeting we were to attend that night (birds and stones), we passed a low-income housing block which I observed for a little while as we walked by; it seemed that this area, with its industrial buildings just across the street and a park on the corner, was absent of the gentry. True to that, I saw no more cute & kitsch little places as we walked farther into the neighborhood. The meeting itself was attended mostly by longtime minority residents of Crown Heights, though a few people that looked like me were sitting there too, awaiting their reapproval of beer & wine licenses for their storefronts. It seems like gentrification is the real issue coming to plague the neighborhood, though when I asked a community board member’s opinion on how the neighborhood was changing, she had this to say:

“It’s changed for the better. I’ve been here for four years and was recently told by my neighbors that ten years ago, two women would not have been able to own a bar and restaurant. Just three years ago a murder took place next door to me. But there’s more police presence as it improves. It’s the sad truth that once there is gentrification, services improve. Of course there are drawbacks: people get pushed out and can’t afford it. But there are trade offs with everything; that’s the reality.”

My sister and I had a running joke when I was first moving into Flatbush, because I worked at a Subway restaurant at the time and she worked at a frozen yogurt shop. As we drove into my new home, she gestured at a Subway by the college and said, “Look, you can stop complaining about being first-wave gentrification scum. It’s already here.” “Subway’s are everywhere,” I said, “It’s you froyo kids we’ve got to look out for.” That’s why, when I began walking around Crown Heights and saw that there was a frozen yogurt shop that’s opening soon, I knew I’d see economic tension further in the neighborhood.

I went today (Thursday, February 12) around 10am, and started meandering the area. Granted, it’s a holiday morning and so not many people were out and about, but this is New York and there are always passersby everywhere. Not knowing where to start, I walked down Franklin Avenue and immediately collided headfirst with yuppiedom. There’s a cute little food market on the corner of Franklin and Lincoln, in front of which I hung out for a while – there was much foot traffic there, so I figured it was as good a place to start as any. Inside, there lay assorted artisanal snacks: scandinavian treats, individually wrapped Belgian waffles, packaged crepes. The people who walked on by were of the sort you’d expect: individuals with designer glasses, talking about their new vitamix and looking for quaint cafes. These cafes I discovered as I kept walking, along with Veggies natural juice bar and a gourmet shop that sold vegan marshmallows. The closer I grew to Park Place, the more trendy and expensive the boutiques became.

I retreated, moving back toward Eastern Parkway. Along that thoroughfare, many row houses stood and many people stood on their stoops to greet the day. I hunkered down along that area, to see who I might encounter. In this area, most of the people who walked by were middle-aged and black, leaving their homes to commute to their jobs elsewhere. I said good morning to some men on their stoop, and one called back, “Mornin’ Ms. Park Place.” Looking back, it was probably a derogatory statement, but at the time I was just excited to have an interaction. I asked him what he meant, said I lived in Flatbush and not Park Place. Immediately, the demeanor of the three men changed. One, whose name was Darnell, said he had assumed I was a rich girl. I laughed and told him that, to be fair, I was originally from the suburbs. He said it didn’t matter, because here I was now. I got to talking to the men, the four of us griping about monetary issues and the like. When I mentioned I had gone to a community board meeting in their area that had been about the gentrification and possible upzoning of the neighborhood, they were pessimistic. “It doesn’t matter what we say,” Darnell said, “We don’t have the money to back it.”

My whole experience perusing Crown Heights demonstrates the muted tension in the neighborhood as Park Place presses in and those who have been living there feel financial pressure to leave.