Williamsburg vs. Greenpoint (Week of 2/9)

According to the website for Community Board 1 (Brooklyn), Community Board 1 represents Williamsburg to Greenpoint. I think that Williamsburg is home to some upper-class people. Williamsburg has condos, chains stores, and many tourist sites. However, there is also a more bohemian, indie, and working class demographic to Williamsburg. As mentioned in “How Brooklyn Became Cool,” from Naked City, Williamsburg had a “gritty” style and substance starting in the 1990s. As for Greenpoint, I think that there is a large Polish background and a large middle class demographic that live there. The main issue for the people that currently live there might be gentrification because with a growing white population, gentrification can also expand and develop. Although there might be an ethnic blending in neighborhoods, gentrification means a loss of authenticity and maybe the movement of certain ethnic groups or the original group not being able to afford their living anymore.

I would definitely anticipate conflicts between the interests and demands of different groups that live in the Community Board 1 area. This area is composed of many different demographics of people ethnically and economically, which will definitely make it difficult to appeal to everyone’s demands. The only way I can think of to reconcile the interests of different groups is compromise or willing to appeal to the majority with respect to the minority. With the up-scaling of Williamsburg, loft-condos and townhouses become more prominent which appeals to an upper-middle class population, but there needs to be a preservation of old communities and respect to those who were originally settled in Williamsburg before its new wave of authenticity. In Greenpoint, the median income for a household in the neighborhood was $33,578 compared to the Williamsburg median household income of $23,567. About 17.7% of the population lies below the poverty line compared to Williamsburg’s 41.4%. These statistics make it hard to satisfy the interests of both groups. More dramatic measures need to be taken in Williamsburg to alleviate the poverty issue and there might be a more demanding issue that needs attention in Greenpoint, even though this issue also needs light.

I think that the “pressure from above” might be those with more power or money, such as city government and private businesses. The “pressure from below” could be the people who are unhappy or dissatisfied with conditions and policies. Perhaps the “pressure from below” makes up the majority of a population. However, just because community boards only have an advisory voice on planning and zoning issues, this does not limit their potential to shape their community and influence the “pressure from above.” Community boards are the voices for people in the neighborhoods and can address problems by different groups of people that maybe city officials would otherwise not know about. They play an important role in voicing opinions and possible solutions to issues in their board area because city officials should be interested in what the people living in a certain area view as problems and how they would go about possible solutions. Community boards have so much potential to change and shape a community if their concerns and advice is heard properly. How can a city official who does not live in a certain area know the areas problems as well as community board members?

I think that Williamsburg and Greenpoint, although very close to each other and similar in some ways, are also very different. Their populations are composed of different groups of people and political officials might just group them together and not understand that each area has different concerns, groups of people, and possible solutions.