Our group has decided to focus on the problems of gentrification facing Crown Heights: the new influx of people moving in pushing out the Caribbean populous that has been in Crown Heights for decades. We have three verbal testimonies from people related to the influx of the higher-income gentry moving in from the Western Prospect Heights. We’ve noticed while walking through the neighborhood that there is a tension that exists between the native residents and the incoming population. How this might affect the two competing populations within Crown Heights (The Caribbean and the Jewish) remains to be seen in some ways, since the movement has not extended farther than Franklin. One verbal testimony has pointed out the positive benefits of gentrification (improved services and policing), the question remains of how to maintain the integrity of the community already existing in Crown Heights with housing while accommodating the new residents encroaching on the neighborhood.

Michelle Cherian, Katherine Chiu, Allegra DePasquale, Heba Fakir

A major issue that Red Hook faces is the inadequate use of land. This is largely due to the number of unused lots that remain scattered about the town.  During our observations in Red Hook, we all took note of the abundance of empty lots throughout the town, as well as the presence of many buildings that were waiting to be rented and appeared to be generally unused.  We also identified the use of land as a problem through the community board meeting.  Most of the meeting focused on presenting plans that would find unused land that could be used to develop housing or using this land to expand manufacturing within the area.  This inefficient use of land leads to environmental problems, like litter accumulation, housing crises, as housing is in short supply, and gentrification issues. Improving land use is imperative to addressing these problems and improving overall quality of life in Red Hook.

After attending the public meetings that addressed the “crises” taking place in Sunset Park; we as a group have decided that the issue we are going to research is overcrowding which includes the topics of housing and education. By visiting the area and attending the meetings we have realized that overcrowding is the biggest issue in the neighborhood. Sunset Park is overpopulated and as a result, many people are homeless or living uncomfortably. This also resonated with us because when we visited there were some vacant houses. Therefore there should be enough space for people to reside comfortably. In addition, this brings about the issue of education. Since there are few schools and lots of children, many of them are in crowded classrooms or don’t get a chance to receive schooling at all. Therefore, using the public meetings and our personal visits as resources, we will research the crisis of overcrowding along with its effect on homelessness and education.

– Nicole Turturro, Susan Gerlovina, Katie McCallum and Nicholas Maddalena