I was born in Manhattan, before there were efforts to introduce New Yorkers to “green spaces” and “street trees.” Concrete and steel held me in their grasp; I could have walked multiple blocks without seeing the color green beyond an occasional glimpse of dead grass and limp shrubbery from a “secret garden.” There was comfort in the noise of traffic, the rumble of the subway, and the clamorous conversations. My family did not choose Brooklyn per se; we ended up there. Brooklyn real estate used to be cheap because of its bad reputation, and my family did not have the money to be picky with the neighborhood we could make our home in. We could not realize our dream of a two story house in the suburbs with a white picket fence and …show more content…
Bensonhurst is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in New York City. For decades, the Jewish and Italian population were equal. Around the 1950s, more Italians immigrated to Bensonhurst, which pushed a majority of the Jewish population out. In the early 1990s, immigrants from China and the former USSR arrived. From then on, the neighborhood got increasingly more diverse. In Bensonhurst alone, there are Eastern European, South Asian, East Asian, Central Asian, Middle Eastern, Latino and Hispanic immigrants from dozens of countries, in addition to the thriving Italian and Jewish communities that were already living there. Yet with all this diversity, Bensonhurst was known nationally for its racism. In 1989, a mob of ten to thirty bat-wielding white teenagers taunted and shot a black teenager named Yusuf K. Hawkins. A teenage girl bragged about dating Latino and Black men to the local teenage boys. The boys waited outside her house, looking for a “dark-skinned Hispanic man” to beat and intimidate. Hawkins was interested in buying a used 1982 Pontiac near the girl’s house. There were protests almost immediately after word got out and there were more protests after the results of the murder trial came out. Three hundred demonstrators marched through the streets of Bensonhurst, met with slurs, chants, and watermelons. Protest leader Reverend Al
For example, many cities that are rich in culture, diversity, and vitality are beacons for white people interested in the “upcoming scene.” This brings more and more whites who displace and marginalize the original residents through increasing prices. Cities such as New York, Boston, and San Francisco all have neighborhoods that originally had mostly poor, uneducated African Americans, and now are swelling with young, educated whites that have greatly increased the price of living. In Boston, Charlestown, Jamaica Plains, and Beacon Hill have all experienced intense characteristics of gentrification from the 1970s up until the present, showcasing an increase in the population with at least a bachelor’s degree, as well as a large increase in new and renovated buildings. In New York, the most famous example of gentrification is in Harlem, has undergone a process of gentrification after becoming known as the national, and even international symbol for black culture with a vibrancy that is not seen in the suburbs. Finally, in San Francisco, in the bay area, there has been a massive influx of affluent companies that have completely devastated the middle class due to a high rise in wealthy, educated, employees. These employees have taken residence up in the bay area, causing the entirety of the already previously gentrified neighborhood to skyrocket to unobtainable prices, even for the
Before getting into the case of Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Podair begins by discussing how the New York population became so divided in the first place. After WWII ended in 1945, the industry landscape shifted from on one that mainly relied on manufacturing to one contrived of service occupations. As a result, there was a plummet in the demand for low education labor, and a spike in the desire for workers with higher education. Resultantly, black communities were marginalized and jobless. Similarly, housing constraints and de facto segregation lead to mainly black neighborhoods, leading to neighborhoods that provided abysmal education for its local youth. A region in the Bronx that epitomized this lackluster educational system is the schooling system of Ocean Hill-Brownsville.
How exactly does a neighborhood become gentrified? First, analyze the word. According to Dictionary.com, gentrification is defined as, “the buying and renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, thus improving property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses” (“Gentrification | Define Gentrification at Dictionary.com”). Usually, the terminology has a negative connotation associated with the meaning. Considering that the phrase links affluent residents, mostly white, to capitalizing on inexpensive real estate located within the ghetto. This was recognized in Bed-Stuy during the mid-nineties. Furthermore, the newcomers are eventually praised
First and foremost, South-Central Brooklyn is one of the most overpopulated community within Brooklyn, it is extremely diverse with many rich cultures and traditions. Within it, lies seven neighborhoods which are Flatbush, Borough Park, Ditmas Park, Midwood, Kensington, Manhattan Terrance, and Prospect Park South. It serves Community Districts 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17. It mostly consists of densely populated African American, Hispanic and West Indian neighborhoods. According to the 2015 U.S census bureau, the population of Brooklyn stands at 2,504,700 out of which South-Central Brooklyn has approximately 804,982 residents and it is expected to have grown gradually through the one year-period that has elapsed (United States Census Bureau, 2014). This is more than double the amount of the total number of people that was living in South- Central Brooklyn in 2000, which was only 317, 300. Presently there are 37% Caucasians, 36% African American, 16% Hispanic, 10% Asian, and 2% other (Indian) living in South-Central Brooklyn. The female population is 54.6%, and the male population is 45.4% (United States Census Bureau, 2014).
There has been a recent phenomenon throughout the United States of gentrification. As older parts of neighborhoods are occupied by new tenants with money, the neighborhood changes and loses its old character. Those who might have lived in those neighborhoods their entire lives are pushed out as rents begin to skyrocket and the surroundings begin to change. This has happened in many neighborhoods. One of the most well known is San Francisco, where technology companies have brought in new software engineers that have caused local rents to skyrocket and people to move out of the area. However, just as importantly has been the influx of new money to Brooklyn, where local neighborhood changes have forced people from their homes, traditional music to be replaced, and old businesses to go bankrupt.
Brooklyn is a “melted pot” in terms of its diversity in population and culture. In many different areas of Brooklyn there are Public Housing set-up for those who are considered “low-income families”. Public Housing in brief was originally set up for people who would temporarily live there until they could eventually afford something better. In this day and age now Public Housing have become a “safe haven” for families who are low income as well as receive benefits such as food assistance (food stamps), Section 8 ( program set up to help pay rent to families who may not be able to afford
Chicago’s budget crisis has been one of the most unfortunate events of the decade. As a former student of Chicago Public Schools, myself and other students wanted the best for our education, but CPS school teachers and faculty are given the bad news that the City Council thinks we demand too much. Resulting in the Chicago Teachers Union strike of 2012, budget cuts, and many other events impacting things within the schools, it is no longer new to students, who also encounter what goes on outside, such as political news or neighborhood violence. Those in schools feel that it has been the place to be and to feel secure. Now that I have recently graduated, I have encountered a similar want for the best for my education through my college. As
I was up raised in a tight-knit Jewish community, in a suburban county in Florida. Having briefly visited New York City as a child, I become fascinated with the great city. I was simply amazed with the cultural vitality of New York, relative to the modest diversity in my neighborhood.
To tackle the housing affordability, first of all, it is crucial to lift the supply of housing as it will release the pressure on the housing price. Nevertheless, the supply of housing is inelastic as it requires an adequate fund, time, approval from the Government. Besides, the housing system is heavily dependent on the private sector. Thus, the Government should provide initiatives for housing providers to shift the supply of houses in the market. Australia would follow the policies from other countries to tackle the housing affordability. However, it has to fit in the Australian context. These policies might work well in other places but it does not mean that it will be applicable in Australia. The Singapore Government has a public
Writing has many tools and devices that can be used to influence the purpose and meaning of the a piece of work. In the two pieces of work, "Private License Plate Scanners Amassing Vast Databases Open to Highest Bidders-which is written in a way that it is anti-license plate tracking- and "Who Has the Right to Track You?'-which is written to be for license plate tracking- many different tools and devices are used by the authors. These pieces of work describe the benefits and drawbacks of collecting data and tracking fellow citizens, but use different forms of pathos, ethos, and logos to portray what they are trying to say. Also, both articles state how many are opposed to this tracking, arguing that it is against the First Amendment,
Neighborhoods, like South Jamaica, Queens,where I'm from, hasn't been omitted from the populace boom that was once exclusive to the more appealing boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx. When people migrated to the Big Apple from all over the world, they settled in the boroughs closer to public transportation and burgeoning job markets. Jamaica, Queens wasn't considered the ideal borough for families moving from the South to the north because throughout the 19th to early 20th centuries, Jamaica was mainly populated by whites as new Irish immigrants settled around the places known today as Downtown and Baisley Pond Park. By the 1950s, however, in what was later called "white flight", African-American families with middle incomes began to move in as white families fled to Long Island. After the 1970s, as housing prices began to tumble, many Hispanic, such as Salvadorans, Colombians, Dominicans, and West Indian immigrants, moved in. These ethnic groups tended to stay
Since the early 2000s, gentrification accelerated in various New York City neighborhoods. Data shown that about 29.8 percent of New York City has been affected by gentrification in low-income communities (Governing Data 1). This is over a 20 percent increased from the previous decade in New York City alone. Gentrification is a term used to describe displacement or renewal in urban neighborhoods as a result of increasing property values and rent prices. Gentrification has existed since the 1960s but has rapidly increased since then . Gentrification has now become a common and global controversial topic in many low-income neighborhood. Although, gentrification hasn’t always been bad from increasing job opportunities to lowering crime rates. Gentrification has impacted and transformed underprivileged districts in New York City. However, at the advantage of who ? Thus, gentrification has only increased average rates of poverty and infused neighborhoods with “white privilege”.