Attn: East New York, Brooklyn residents (Phoenix, Hope: crime, neighborhoods, school)

[ohme_ohmy]

I am a graduate social work student doing a report for one of my classes. We were told to choose any neighborhood and research and write about it. I chose East New York, Brooklyn.

I've found vast amounts of information online, however what good is it if I don't have the voice of the people behind it? Some of you may be wondering -- why don't I just go out in the neighborhood and talk to people directly? Well, I plan on doing that as well. For those of you who currently live in the neighborhood, I would love if you could answer some questions for me to make my community assessment a more complete picture. PLEASE ONLY EAST NEW YORK RESIDENTS should respond.

You can reply directly to this thread or message me privately if you'd prefer. I assure you your responses will not be used for any other purposes other than this paper. Thank you so much in advance.

QUESTIONS

Age:
Race:
Employed?
If employed, what is your occupation?
How long have you been living in the neighborhood?
When did you move to the neighborhood?
Have you observed any changes in the neighborhood over time and if so, what are they?
What do you think is the greatest asset/strength of your community?
What do you think is the greatest area of need in the community?
What would you like to see change?
Where/how do you learn about what's happening within your community?
To what extent are you involved in your community?
Do you feel protected/safe in your neighborhood? Do you feel that you are treated fairly by police or the justice system? Please explain.
Do you have children? If so, do they go to school in your neighborhood or do they commute to another area?If they do go to school within the community, what do you think of the education they are receiving?
What are your feelings on the Gateway development project and its follow-up project Gateway II?
Please feel free to share anything else about life in your neighborhood that you believe may be useful in understanding.

[DoomDan515]

I use to live in East New York. I don't think anyone that currently posts here lives there.

[11KAP]

set up.

[Forest_Hills_Daddy]

How do you know that only ENY residents will espond to this? You have no way of checking the accuracy of your research. What academic institution will allow this kind of sloppy work?

[anon1]

Originally Posted by Forest_Hills_Daddy

How do you know that only ENY residents will espond to this? You have no way of checking the accuracy of your research. What academic institution will allow this kind of sloppy work?

He already mentioned how there is a ton of information online but he's looking to get the views of people who currently live there and what better way to do so aside from visiting that questionable area than searching on an NYC public forum... I think he's operating on the assumption that this cite isn't like worldstarhiphop or thehoodup where you have inmature children and teenagers claiming their from the hood when they really aren't... He probably believes that if he's looking for the opinion of someone who lives in the area, that someone in that area seeing the specific post will be interested in chiming in... Furthermore, there are enough people on here that have lived in East NY, that work in East NY or that know the area very well therefore if someone decides to speak false nonsense on here, it'll quickly be put to rest...

Any other problems you have with his post... I swear it's like some people on this cite just love to complain about everything...

[anon1]

Originally Posted by ohme_ohmy

How long have you been living in the neighborhood?
When did you move to the neighborhood?
Have you observed any changes in the neighborhood over time and if so, what are they?
What do you think is the greatest asset/strength of your community?
What do you think is the greatest area of need in the community?
What would you like to see change?
Where/how do you learn about what's happening within your community?
To what extent are you involved in your community?
Do you feel protected/safe in your neighborhood? Do you feel that you are treated fairly by police or the justice system? Please explain.
Do you have children? If so, do they go to school in your neighborhood or do they commute to another area?If they do go to school within the community, what do you think of the education they are receiving?
What are your feelings on the Gateway development project and its follow-up project Gateway II?
Please feel free to share anything else about life in your neighborhood that you believe may be useful in understanding.

Lived over there for about 20 years before moving out in the 90s
I was born there
Plenty of changes to the neighborhood... Less crime, arson, gangs, vacant lots, graffitti, homeless folk, racial tension, etc. there is also more diversity (mainly from Caribbean, South/Central American and to a smaller extent South Asian countries typically along the Cypress Hills/Jamaica/Woodhaven borderline...

On the negative side, there is less of a sense of community as with most neighborhoods in NYC nowadays... Back then, even though there was plenty of crime in the neighborhood, those hard working folks that just couldn't afford to live in a better area cared and looked out for eachother... Now with so many other things to occupy time, you don't see people hanging out talking with eachother and getting along with neighbors as they used to...

Greatest asset to the community... Don't know too much about what's going on now but personally I'd say it's the redevelopment of Hyland Park... That Park has gone through its ups and downs but at one point in time, most of the park was just a hangout for shady characters... They boosted security at the park a few years back and made some nice changes to the basketball and tennis courts as well as the soccer/football field and it seems to be always packed with activities now to get the kids and parents involved... It's definitely a great asset to the community currently...

Greatest area of need... As much as the area has improved especially in recent years (last 3-4 years or so), it's still one of those areas in the city that has lagged behind others in terms of improving its reputation and thats because that neighborhood along with the Brownsville still deal with more than their fair share of crime... Kings and 3nis are no longer that active in the community as they used to be 5-10 years ago but YGz, YBz, Crips and Bloods and other smaller but growing Mexican clicks still make their presence felt over there... That needs to be cleaned up.

What would I like to see change? Nothing. I think the steps the community is taking is definitely in the positive direction and my only hope is that things continue to improve as they are currently... I would also like to add that if there is anything I would like to change, it's the trend of homeowners and community members selling out once things go well to the new people moving in that are currently in the process of taking over every ethnic neighborhood in the city and turning it into one generic place to be... Take pride in the changes... Put prejudice aside and realize that the NYC 2012 is probably as safe now as it's been in some time, all races included. Hopefully, this area can buck the trend and not try to become a carbon copy of so many other North Brooklyn areas currently...

I spend a good amount of time in the area visiting family that still lives in City Line and Cypress Hills. Most of my knowledge comes from what they tell me but also observations from walking around whenever I visit...

Walking around the area now... I've never felt safer. But you're talking to someone whose dealt with far worse for many years... Level of comfort and safety is something that should not be asked to describe because it is completely subjective... Also, in terms of Police... the 75th has never been cleaner... If you knew about the reputation the 75th used to have back in the days, you'd realize how well off these kids now and if they complain about the police force, it's only the ignorant ghetto mentality that still permeates throughout that area...

The last two questions I'm not qualified to answer but hopefully this has provided some insight on the area

[bjimmy24]

You're a grad students and THIS is how you get your sample? The entirety of anything you say based on this forum response is very legitimately questionable and easily dismissed. Please quit graduate school now.

[likeminas]

This is absurd.

How are you gonna source this 'research' ? you're gonna put a link back to this thread on the footnotes ?

btw, are you getting your online degree from Devry or the unversity of Phoenix?

[DoomDan515]

Unfortunately I can't rep Anon.