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The only places in NYC where I feel anything can pop off at any given moment is East New York, Brownsville, Southside, & Bushwick. Especially at something where there's a lot of people.
It's really not a good feeling.
You are absolutely right about those places. But there are also other pockets like that around the city, not specifically around those hoods. I bet 90% of it never gets reported because it does not lead directly to murder (a hard statistic) and stays within the hood.
Moderator cut: Video contains inappropriate language for the forum
If young homies in the daylight, not even in official gangs/crews yet get this kind of treatment, there is no wonder so many people always ask about the neighborhoods they are stepping into because they don't want to get popped. smh
Last edited by bmwguydc; 10-04-2010 at 11:55 AM..
Reason: Removed video link
I dont know about Bushwick anymore... there's alot of white people moving into the neighborhood and gentrification is really hitting the neighborhood. Condos all over the place and yuppies and hipsters galore. If you take a walk down Troutman and Irving it has become Brooklyn Manhattan. It still looks gritty but the neighborhood especially around "East Williamsburg" is changing alot. The demographics are still majority Hispanic and Black but I think that the white population accounts for 8 or 9% now. Oh and which southside are you referring to Jamaica, the Bronx, or "Los Sures" in Williamsburg cause to me the last two areas have gotten alot better due to police presence and/or gentrification. Southside Jamaica though is still pretty bad. I work around there and while I was over there the other day I saw a bunch of cops and I found out later that two kids had been killed in the forty projects over there. I also still think that parts of Flatbush and Bed-stuy near Malcolm X Blvd. are trouble at any time as well. I think that Brooklyn has really taken a step back this year in terms of curbing violence...
Anon..so what you are saying in your first sentence is that gentrification is really hitting the neighborhood hard....condos all over the place and "yuppies and hipsters galore." And in the next couple of sentences, you say it is still majority Black and Hispanic, with 8%-9% whites....which begs the question....how can you believe gentrification is rampant and "hipsters and yuppies galore" when 91%-92% of the population never changed? 8%-9% = "hippies and yuppies galore?" Unless you believe people of color are the ones driving the changes and are the yuppies and hipsters? Otherwise your comment makes no sense.
Anon..so what you are saying in your first sentence is that gentrification is really hitting the neighborhood hard....condos all over the place and "yuppies and hipsters galore." And in the next couple of sentences, you say it is still majority Black and Hispanic, with 8%-9% whites....which begs the question....how can you believe gentrification is rampant and "hipsters and yuppies galore" when 91%-92% of the population never changed? 8%-9% = "hippies and yuppies galore?" Unless you believe people of color are the ones driving the changes and are the yuppies and hipsters? Otherwise your comment makes no sense.
What he is saying is that there is a noticeable change in the neighborhood in terms of architecture and the people moving into the neighborhood, which is a cause of gentrification. Bushwick has suffered a lot in the past and has see its fair share of grief from being extremely crime-plagued. The fact that young white people from upper middle class families are moving into the neighborhood represents a DRASTIC change (even though it's only around 500 white people compared to the thousands of hispanics and blacks). So, yes, it is hippies and yuppies galore for a neighborhood that has been considered one of the more dangerous areas of the city.
How do you know these white people are from upper middle class families? They can be just as poor as the current residents, which is a reason why they are living there. State your source...otherwise this is more stereotyping.
Noticeable change does not equal gentrification, just as much as a non-noticeable change of middle class people of color moving in can be gentrification...except they look like everyone else.
Furthermore, change of architecture and people moving into a neighborhood has little correlation with gentrification...unless of course you believe building housing projects and poor people of color flooding white neighborhoods is a cause of gentrification?
At the end of the day, young white people of all income brackets need somewhere to live too..oftentimes affordably because although some of their parents may have some money, these kids do not and are trying to make it on their own like everyone else. Are they supposed to not live in low-income colored areas because they are not allowed? Because they don't want to inconvenience the "locals?" They must have money..they are young and white right?
What you see occuring in Bushwick is long overdue...how long must neighborhoods be segregated? The extreme segregation hasn't helped the locals in case you haven't noticed. A smattering of new faces is not gentrification, anymore than a smattering of people of color in white neighborhoods means it is going down the tubes...it is how the market/residents react that determines the changes that may or may not occur.
How do you know these white people are from upper middle class families? They can be just as poor as the current residents, which is a reason why they are living there. State your source...otherwise this is more stereotyping.
Noticeable change does not equal gentrification, just as much as a non-noticeable change of middle class people of color moving in can be gentrification...except they look like everyone else.
Furthermore, change of architecture and people moving into a neighborhood has little correlation with gentrification...unless of course you believe building housing projects and poor people of color flooding white neighborhoods is a cause of gentrification?
At the end of the day, young white people of all income brackets need somewhere to live too..oftentimes affordably because although some of their parents may have some money, these kids do not and are trying to make it on their own like everyone else. Are they supposed to not live in low-income colored areas because they are not allowed? Because they don't want to inconvenience the "locals?" They must have money..they are young and white right?
What you see occuring in Bushwick is long overdue...how long must neighborhoods be segregated? The extreme segregation hasn't helped the locals in case you haven't noticed. A smattering of new faces is not gentrification, anymore than a smattering of people of color in white neighborhoods means it is going down the tubes...it is how the market/residents react that determines the changes that may or may not occur.
You talk about gentrification as if it is a disease when, rather it is a sociological phenomenon that attributes to young white people (yuppie/hipster) or young black people (buppie) who have come from families that are well-to-do or wealthy to help restore the housing stock in a neighborhood or city, which will, in turn, attract new businesses that are aimed at the upper-middle class to upper class. When you say, "unless of course you believe building housing projects and poor people of color flooding white neighborhoods is a cause of gentrification?" I believe you are talking about White Flight from neighborhoods because that's what that was back in the 60's and 70's. Gentrification relates to the wealthy and an economically focused way of life.
When did I say that white people can't move where they want to? This segregation you are talking about is a side-effect of the capitalist society that we live in.
Brooklyn has undergone gentrification a lot more than the Bronx. I am talking about large-scale gentrification. Pent-house condominiums, skyrocketing housing prices, and above all, a significant decrease in crime in some areas. The sub-culture of the hipster has taken over certain parts of Brooklyn. The mothership is based in Williamsburg. From there, this hipster phenomenon will expand further north to all over Greenpoint and further east towards Bushwick. Bushwick has only felt the echo of Williamsburg's gentrification.
So gentrification comes from Black or White people who are sent to improve housing stock in poor communities. Really? What about Hispanics? Asians? What if they just like saving money and want to live somewhere affordable? What is they are also poor but not quite as poor, but subsequently drive people out anyway?
What alot of people see as evil whites trying to get rid of "innocent" people of color, is more the trickle down effect of the ultra wealthy expanding..and everyone else forced to make room. Ultra wealthy buy, the regular wealthy move to another area, which displaces the almost wealthy, which then move and displace to the upper middle, which then move and displace the middle, which then move to working class nabes...etc etc. It is not about evil whites, they just have more money as a whole than other groups.
Young people need an affordable places to live like everyone else, why blame them b/c the only place to find it in NYC is low-income communities of color? And whereas you would say the subculture of Hipsters has taken over certain parts of Brooklyn, how is that any worse than the subculture of thuggery that has taken over large swaths of NYC? Which would you prefer?
I mentioned this in another thread and its just amazing to me how even intelligent people dont see the strange situation. Bushwick has been labeled up and coming. Condos were build all over the place and the drastic change in a matter of a few years (yes, it is drastic considering that the percentage was maybe 1 or 2% in 2003 and Bushwick has a population of over 130,000 people so do the math) has caused rents to go up in the neighborhood. This however, does not change the fact that the majority population still remains black and hispanic and the area is still considered one of the worst areas in the city (crime, poverty and dirty wise). Okay so let me put all of this in perspective... you're telling me that the reason why a poor caucasian person who loves life, chooses to live in a semi-expensive, gritty, dirty neighborhood thats is still rampant with crime is because its... the only affordable place to live??? somewhere along the line that statement just doesnt make sense to me.
Anon...I do not speak for anyone else, I just provide possible reasons why. You however, seem to have all the answers: rich whites moving in to poor communities to get rid of the "innocent" people of color. Why else could they possibly want to live there? Clearly they are white so by definition according to you A: They are rich, B: They hate people of color, and C: They want to have NYC all to their white selves.
I am very happy I don't live in your version of reality.
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smh
