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In the larger picture, it seems like Williamsburg has been more of a target than most other neighborhoods because of it's steep rise to fame the past decade or so. NY Mag wrote an article over a year or so back about a neighborhood-by-neighborhood vulnerability analysis and Williamsburg/Greenpoint didn't get flattering reviews. It was definitely leaning more towards brownstone Brooklyn.
I know most everyone here will cheer anything going bad against "The Rich". I wonder how much people will cheer when crime and fiscal disorder come roaring back too.
Problem is, Williamsburg was not undesirable, wasn't crime ridden or fiscally challenged. Williamsburg was a lower middle class, working neighborhood of mainly Polish immigrants.
It will be nice to see Williamsburg go back to what it was rather than some overpriced dream of a developer.
During the boom, the vision for Williamsburg had three legitimate reasons....
1. Location, location, location! Right across the bridge to the "Money-Makin...."
2. Needed develpment of those abandoned factories.
3. Alterative prices to Manhattan
4. Needed overall neighborhood development. Let's be real....it WAS the hood. Working class hood, but it was the hood!
Now, the artists came looking for cheap loft rents. The problem was the over-speculation. And when speculation happens, it was a matter of time before all came crashing down!
I said this on a Rockaway thread; that there was badly needed development of a depressed and deserted neighborhood. Williamsburg wasn't as "depressed", but the abandoned factories did make a lot of the neighborhood "deserted".
How do I know? I lived in the Northern end of Bed Stuy, at the Willamsburg border. I remember the then-B47 (now B43) going through Harrison avenue to and from Bridge. I remember asking myself, "much of this avenue is deserted". There may have been a bit of factory work on or near Harrison Avenue waaaay back in the day. But due to there being nothing on Harrison Avenue in recent years, I was not surprised to see the B43 rerouted. Oh, yeah, and last time I checked, that big Pfizer plant has closed or is closing.
But like I said, Williamsburg, for the above reasons, was due for badly needed development. However, the overspeculation is what did it in!
Problem is, Williamsburg was not undesirable, wasn't crime ridden or fiscally challenged. Williamsburg was a lower middle class, working neighborhood of mainly Polish immigrants.
It will be nice to see Williamsburg go back to what it was rather than some overpriced dream of a developer.
Call me morbid, but I'm happy to see this happening, it is about time the cost of living in these areas go back to a more realistic range. Too many good, hard working middle class people of all races and ethnicities have left the city not because of lack of jobs but due to cost of living. I doubt this trend will throw NY back to how it was in the 70's and 80's but I think regaining that middle class will bring back a certain flavor to these neighborhoods, an aura of authenticity if you will. I'm all for economic development but these developers have gone into overkill.
well it seemed williams burg was the shining model of how to convert a undesirable area to desirable. the influx of hipsters teamed with youth at least middle class starting turning wiliamsburg to "billysburg" as some would call it. But manys realtors layed claim to the economy forcing manys of that youth out,unable to pay, combined with this new issue in the area what do you thinks lies in the future for the burg? seems to me the obvious solution would be make the buildings lofts or something, but in this economy development has dried up, and the longer it take to develop the hobo spots the harder to get rid of them...what to do,
History always repeats itself!!!!!!! Many, many years ago, when I first came to NYC, in what is called today "East Village," in Manhattan, I had the first glimpse of the self-destruction, the physical, emotional, and intellectual devastation of Heroin. I remember clearly, how in order to get to my apartment, I had to step over the bodies of people, who had passed out, while in a drug stupor.
And I pledged, that I would never allow myself to get to that position. Years later, I would take my grandson to that neighborhood, and show him that same devastation. Not one of our family members have ever touched drugs or alcohol. Maybe the experience helped... .........
These kids need to learn that there are consequences to their actions, and that TAKING DRUGS IS NOT COOL..............BUT STUPID!!!!!!!!!
I remember reading recently about a condo that was now renting out units as a homeless shelter lol...I think the city was paying a large amount of "rent" per unit, and the owner saw it as a reasonable alternative considering he couldn't get any buyers on his investment.
Yeah, NYC has always been in flux....and it's hard even for long time residents to "remember" how it once was, good and/or bad. Who could have thought Billyburg would come to such a fall, though I do remember used to be mainly Orthodox Jewish and I guess poorer minorities mixed?
Like other post industrial areas, if they don't experience renewal they become kinda deadsville. I do know the waterfront areas of the city are being revitalized, so maybe things will change yet again. They always do in this city, for better and/or worse.
Nice to see more rentals available, but as Shizzles? said, wouldn't relish seeing a return to rampant crime, and we seem to be heading badk that way to some extent. Such a delicate balance...
History always repeats itself!!!!!!! Many, many years ago, when I first came to NYC, in what is called today "East Village," in Manhattan, I had the first glimpse of the self-destruction, the physical, emotional, and intellectual devastation of Heroin. I remember clearly, how in order to get to my apartment, I had to step over the bodies of people, who had passed out, while in a drug stupor.
And I pledged, that I would never allow myself to get to that position. Years later, I would take my grandson to that neighborhood, and show him that same devastation. Not one of our family members have ever touched drugs or alcohol. Maybe the experience helped... .........
These kids need to learn that there are consequences to their actions, and that TAKING DRUGS IS NOT COOL..............BUT STUPID!!!!!!!!!
Funny you should mention this, since I just saw an article about a big heroin bust in the city. It mentioned that H is making a big comeback as the next step after Oxycontin and other pharmaceuticals that are very popular now. Particularly scary since the purity is very high and price is very low. Seemed like heroin was not very popular any more, but drugs, like hoods and crime etc, go thru cycles and "fads," I guess.
Problem is, Williamsburg was not undesirable, wasn't crime ridden or fiscally challenged. Williamsburg was a lower middle class, working neighborhood of mainly Polish immigrants.
It will be nice to see Williamsburg go back to what it was rather than some overpriced dream of a developer.
Rather overpriced dream than an ugly low-class dump.
It's a shame about the market conditions in Williamsburg. All the new developments like this were beginning to change for the better:
Oh well.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 07-19-2009 at 05:08 PM..
Reason: Please post only pictures that you have taken yourself.
Williamsburg was not an undesirable area before it's "conversion" and what happened there,greed fueled rampant development, was not a shining model of anything except how to destroy the fabric of a perfectly good working/ lower middle class neighborhood.
Making more housing units doesn't cause higher rents. It's more the other way around. If there was no construction in the last ten years there, rents would still be just as high if not higher than they are now. Yuppies are going to live somewhere, and if there are no condos, they'll simply outbid working class residents for existing rentals.
Call me morbid, but I'm happy to see this happening, it is about time the cost of living in these areas go back to a more realistic range. Too many good, hard working middle class people of all races and ethnicities have left the city not because of lack of jobs but due to cost of living. I doubt this trend will throw NY back to how it was in the 70's and 80's but I think regaining that middle class will bring back a certain flavor to these neighborhoods, an aura of authenticity if you will. I'm all for economic development but these developers have gone into overkill.
The Middle Class isn't coming back. What is there to come back to? Horrible schools and high costs? Outdated housing? NYC has innumerable benefits, but then again, most people can enjoy those same benefits by moving into Nassau County/New Jersey and not have to deal with the drama.
The Middle class was leaving NY long, long before the current gentrification. As long as the 1900's, when you stop and think about it. When people want to have kids and some space to themselves, they leave. Maybe places like Southern Brooklyn or Queens could become middle class havens, but what is there in Willamsburg for a middle class family? It was a slum when it was first built and that's why many left in the first place.
Too many people are living in the past. No one wants to live cramped 3 to a room like in the "Good Ole Days". The days of the Ol time Lower East Side and tight-knit areas is past (except for the current immigrants, which everyone overlooks).
Let's have some genuine honesty here and say what this is really about: class envy. This thread is rife with it.
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. But manys realtors layed claim to the economy forcing manys of that youth out,unable to pay, combined with this new issue in the area what do you thinks lies in the future for the burg? seems to me the obvious solution would be make the buildings lofts or something, but in this economy development has dried up, and the longer it take to develop the hobo spots the harder to get rid of them...what to do,
