2 Bronx Communities Are Accused of Preventing Blacks From Buying Homes (Veteran: apartment complex, lease)
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Yes it is a private community, and as such, they are free to do whatever it is they like. I know little about Breezey Point, but the little I do know reminds me of the same exclusionary policies as Silver Beach/Edgewater Park.
Nevertheless, nobody would care if they wanted to exclude people if they were not financially qualified, which is what co-ops in the city at least pretend to do. But when you are dealing with places like Silver Beach and Edgewater, they are blatant, rude, angry, and like to flaunt that they exclude you..as they believe it is within their rights to exclude you and you can't do anything. And therein lies the problem I have...it has been going on for decades.
victorfox, the difference between a minority attempting to buy in edgewater park versus a white person buying in harlem is that in edgewater park, there is a board for the neighborhood, similar to buying in a co-op building, that screens potential residents. one must be approved by the neighborhood board to live in edgewater park, whereas nobody needs approval to buy in the neighborhood of harlem, unless they are seeking residence in a specific co-op building. the backlash originates from people of color meeting the financial requirements, but are still being turned away.
Nevertheless, nobody would care if they wanted to exclude people if they were not financially qualified, which is what co-ops in the city at least pretend to do.
No some don't. That is why I gave the example of not wanting a resident because they are in the entertainment business. A coop can use many excuses.
I urge everyone who is curious to visit these two communities.Just go over the Throg's Neck Bridge from Queens.One (Edgewater) is immediately on the left.The other( Silver Beach) is immediately on the Right.You can see them to the left and to the right as you descend into The Bronx.They are isolated and virtually inaccessible by public transportation.
They are just a step above(well,maybe not) a trailer park except they are on the water.Most of the houses are tiny and run down and 5 feet away from the one next door.Sort of reminds me of an overnight camp I went to as a kid.
Trust me,no one should get excited about these places because you won't want to live there anyway.
If they don't join the 21st Century soon they will collapse on their own and be bulldozed to make way for luxury condos in a few years .
If they don't join the 21st Century soon they will collapse on their own and be bulldozed to make way for luxury condos in a few years .
I agree with most of your post bluedog2, but I think I have to disagree on this one. Public transportation is not a concern for these residents. If any thing I think that they would tear down and build stronger, larger single family residences, that have more stories than the current. Like Midwood residents are doing in Brooklyn, or Flushing residents in Queens for example. They like the areas, and would rather live more exclusively.
They also may choose to keep it coop to share the upkeep of the public spaces, and prevent outsiders from moving in.
Alot of the corrosion on the outside of the homes are probably due to the salt water, they are probably perfectly fine otherwise.
I agree with most of your post bluedog2, but I think I have to disagree on this one. Public transportation is not a concern for these residents. If any thing I think that they would tear down and build stronger, larger single family residences, that have more stories than the current. Like Midwood residents are doing in Brooklyn, or Flushing residents in Queens for example. They like the areas, and would rather live more exclusively.
They also may choose to keep it coop to share the upkeep of the public spaces, and prevent outsiders from moving in.
Alot of the corrosion on the outside of the homes are probably due to the salt water, they are probably perfectly fine otherwise.
Yes,you are right but I also meant collapse in a corporate sense. Edgewater especially is showing signs of escalating financial troubles.Lots of foreclosures, with them trying to keep certain buyers out coupled with another chunk of buyers who they would accept but who wouldn't live there, is taking a toll.The place has a grim feel.
Actually,there has been a fair amount of new construction of condos and 2 and 3 family houses on the periphery of these communities in the last 5 or 10 years which sell pretty quickly ,while they(Edgewater,Silver Beach) have sort of deteriorated.Strangely(or maybe not so strangely),while most of The Bronx is looking much better than it did 5 or 10 years ago,these two places are not.They are becoming the blight.
They hummed along for decades because they always sold to their own children and grandchildren.Now,even a lot of the children and grandchildren don't want to live there.I have some teacher friends who grew up in there so I hear a lot.
They may have cooked their own goose,so to speak.
These odd neighborhoods hidden in edges of the New York metro need to step up into the 21st century and realize that discrimination isn't going to be tolerated anymore.
I don't know if the fear of black people opening up the floodgates for riff-raff is a valid argument, maybe its my biased opinion being black and not associating with riff-raff myself. Obviously the black couple in this situation would've been in the same economic bracket and probably have a good educational background. This isn't the 70's anymore where banks automatically dropped home values because minorities were present, a scenario that concentrated poverty as homeowners fled. Nowadays, in any neighborhood which is predominantley owner occupied, the neighborhood is well kept no matter what the racial demographics are. There is no need to fear such things, as long as the physical structure of the neighborhood hasn't changed. And from what I've read on this board of the majority of white people living in Harlem, very few face those problems of hostility, and even when they did it was isolated events. The difference with Harlem however is the physical structure is also changing; getting rid of stores that long time served the community, building condos that don't match alot of the traditional surroundings. No one is going into Edgewater and saying, hey look I want to build a high density housing complex which will attract people who are not of your demographic. They're blocking people who are the same as them economically and probably education wise, but different in color. I understand the argument, but its just two different scenarios. Besides Wakefield is probably a better neighborhood anyway, and its well kept homes owned by working class Jamaicans, not Archie Bunker.
I suspect if it's like most ethnic white NYC nabes, it's population is probably middle aged to older, and larlgey is still living in the 1970s w/ regards to the concept of NY Blacks = ghetto criminal.
It's tragic and disgusting people think this way, but unfortunetly, it continues to fester in many areas. I will say that I have always felt that the Crack Epidemic and the rise of the Hip Hop culture have set Civil Rights back 100 years in urban areas.
And no, the situation in Harlem is not the same. In Harlem, it's as much about money as it is about race. To the "Silver Lake" fools, it's 100% about race. Sad sad sad.
I suspect if it's like most ethnic white NYC nabes, it's population is probably middle aged to older, and larlgey is still living in the 1970s w/ regards to the concept of NY Blacks = ghetto criminal.
It's tragic and disgusting people think this way, but unfortunetly, it continues to fester in many areas. I will say that I have always felt that the Crack Epidemic and the rise of the Hip Hop culture have set Civil Rights back 100 years in urban areas.
And no, the situation in Harlem is not the same. In Harlem, it's as much about money as it is about race. To the "Silver Lake" fools, it's 100% about race. Sad sad sad.
the crack era and some aspects of hip-hop, though I am a fan of the more postitive parts of it, did undo alot of hard work done by previous generations (as far as perception is concerned). I still run into older people who still associate certain parts of the city for what it was in the 70's. Its like they just can't shake that image out of their heads. So yes, maybe some of the folks in Edgewater probably think the "Savage Nomads" and "Black Spades" are still running the South Bronx. I'm hopefull that these types of mentalities on all spectrums will change.
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