Mohammed Arafa- Community Board 1

The majority of people living in Green-point and Williamsburg are upper middle class whites while the rest of the population living there is comprised of many races and many different cultures with many different financial situations. One of the main issues faced is the increasing demand for housing. While people of lower economic standing might want more affordable housing people of middle class and developers don’t want to build affordable housing and want to demolish the existing structures and build higher buildings with inflated rents force long time residents to move to less desirable areas. These new construction projects are infusing too many people into the area for the community  and city to be able to support that. I believe that there will be future conflicts in the area especially between the “powers from above”, the city government and developers, and the “powers from below”, the community residents. The developers who put pressure on the city government to rezone areas and allow construction of oversized buildings with inflated rents that dislocate local residents. The long time residents who want the building of affordable housing and the ability to live in the neighborhood they have always lived in without going bankrupt. Two different groups with conflicting interests both with a vision for what they see the community can be and both believing the other is wrong. Together the two groups can improve the community and create housing developments that satisfy the need of the community as well as outside interests.