Vacant storefronts increasing in Parkchester

[stubbs123]

Originally Posted by NooYowkur81

There's definitely been a rise in commercial and residential rents in the Bronx. It's pretty palpable at this point. I know to some in this city if you don't see white hipsters/yuppies moving in it's not gentrification but yeah it is gentrification.

In some spots maybe. But in Castle Hill and Parkchester, not really. Castle Hill is especially bad. It's somewhere people being pushed out of other areas they can't afford go to. After white flight in the late 70s, there were many middle class Puerto Ricans in CH. It was pretty stable for years.


Now, they've long left and a poorer class has come in. The area turned ghetto years ago, and remains so. There are still a few longtime holdouts around, but there's no chance of gentrification there unless there were no better spots in NY to go to for the middle classes.


Rents definitely have risen everywhere, but the people in CH have gotten more poor. The population isn't going to change anytime soon. Many of the houses have also been split into rooms/more than one family to a floor, etc, plus there's heavy government subsidies in the area. All of the stereotypes of people you don't want to live near are living in the area as well. Unless things were knocked down and $$$ luxury housing was put up and people were literally driven out, they're not budging.

[scatman]

Was very surprised to see the Mick D's close. Someone suggested the $15 minimum wage. But if that were the case: 1) The Mick D's on Westchester, at the Cross Bronx Exp and Hugh Grant Circle, which got a facelift, would fall; and 2) More Mick D's would fall, too, and 3) The $15 minimum wage hasn't come, yet!

No proof, but one wonders whether it may be rents.

[scatman]

With what I said, Jimmy's restaurant has been opened on Castle Hill and Bruckner for a few months. Pretty chic in there! And Havana Cafe is set to open. I don't know if they are moving from the Tremont Avenue/Throggs Neck location, (which is more in the boondocks), or whether Castle Hill is a second spot!

[stubbs123]

Originally Posted by scatman

With what I said, Jimmy's restaurant has been opened on Castle Hill and Bruckner for a few months. Pretty chic in there! And Havana Cafe is set to open. I don't know if they are moving from the Tremont Avenue/Throggs Neck location, (which is more in the boondocks), or whether Castle Hill is a second spot!

Sabrosura is on Castle Hill, and it's a big draw (not my kind of thing though). A knock off style place opened nearby a few years ago to cash in, and they seem to do ok too. I'd imagine that Havana might be trying to get in there for similar reasons. There's also a Mexican place near the subway that's got a bit of a name for it (saying that, I can't recall the name!) and is part of a mini chain, though the Castle Hill one is the first.


So there's a small group of Latin restaurants that do well in the area, as it's mostly Spanish nationalities around.


Is Jimmy's the sports bar one? To be honest, that looks like a dive to me. But it's the only place of it's type around Castle Hill that I'm aware of, so it has a niche.

[NooYowkur81]

Originally Posted by stubbs123

In some spots maybe. But in Castle Hill and Parkchester, not really. Castle Hill is especially bad. It's somewhere people being pushed out of other areas they can't afford go to. After white flight in the late 70s, there were many middle class Puerto Ricans in CH. It was pretty stable for years.


Now, they've long left and a poorer class has come in. The area turned ghetto years ago, and remains so. There are still a few longtime holdouts around, but there's no chance of gentrification there unless there were no better spots in NY to go to for the middle classes.


Rents definitely have risen everywhere, but the people in CH have gotten more poor. The population isn't going to change anytime soon. Many of the houses have also been split into rooms/more than one family to a floor, etc, plus there's heavy government subsidies in the area. All of the stereotypes of people you don't want to live near are living in the area as well. Unless things were knocked down and $$$ luxury housing was put up and people were literally driven out, they're not budging.

Well it's happening on main commercial drags in Castle Hill. Commercial rents at least. Maybe it won't happen with residential. Let's see. I'm not old enough to remember when Castle Hill was better supposedly. In my eyes it has gotten better or at least more stable (ie less ghetto) in the last 10 years or so.

[stubbs123]

Originally Posted by NooYowkur81

Uhh it's happening on main commercial drags in Castle Hill. Commercial rents at least. Maybe it won't happen with residential. Let's see. I'm not old enough to remember when Castle Hill was better supposedly. In my eyes it has gotten better or at least more stable in the last 10 years or so.

Rents of all sorts keep rising to crazy levels, though again, from what I heard last year, a lot of those storefronts are going to be replaced with apartments and such. I guess we'll see.


Castle Hill was once a highly desirable place to live. It was like a small town, very clean, had lots to do, and very suburban almost. If you moved there, you were moving up in the world. Parkchester was so well to do that people dreamed of living there. My family is from both areas, and I know them well from decades ago till the present.


If you ever come across people who lived there way back when, their eyes will light up at how amazing it was. The late 70s brought change, things got a bit worse, but stayed ok generally till (in my view) the 90s, when it seemed as if things started to deteriorate at breakneck speed. The last 10 years it's gotten way worse in my view. Around 2006 is when I started to notice a lot of the deterioration on streets that formerly escaped it. It's not been pretty. At the same time, I'm very lucky to remember what it was like before the rot set in. Some parts of where I live now remind me of what things used to look like back in the Bronx, and it's a horrible shame.

[Kefir King]

Originally Posted by BrooklynTurk

It's happening everywhere.. tons of empty storefronts all over the city...


Recession baby.

Absolutely...4 stars. Empty storefornts UEW, UWS, West Village.


Does anyone remember the very descriptive term: STAGFLATION? It described well a period where the economy was in the toilet but prices kept increasing, felt worst in the 1970's.