I was born and raised in Bed Stuy. My family has lived here for over forty years. It is the only place that I have ever called home. I have seen first-hand how the neighbourhood that I love has changed so much over time. Gentrification has been ravaging most of Brooklyn, but it has especially hurt the people who have lived in Bed Stuy forever. The prices have sky-rocketed to extreme highs recently. Renting and buying have become equally troublesome and not sustainable for most people’s salaries. The price for a two-bedroom apartment would be what someone who earns 40k a year brings home every month after taxes. Between rent/mortgage payments, student loans, bills, and childcare, there is no space for social mobility. Gentrification raises the cost of living so only the rich can afford to live in these kinds of spaces and then they move on to the next trendy place and leave the old places completely devoid of the personality that they once had and all of their people are displaced. This exhibit shows a brief look into how gentrification has made real changes in the community including an overabundance of very large apartment buildings.
Adia Atherley
