Willoughby Avenue off of Nostrand: quaint tree lined block, newly paved, and somehow, an inordinate amount of sunshine. Now how did they manage that? Keep walking, keep following the money… Lush garden, nice feature, and what’s that? Hip cafes, cute girls, and charming buildings which were once dilapidated. Still not convinced, walk faster, see the bodega there at the corner? Would you believe not even a rash of robberies at the latter end of 2008 had a single effect on it from serving $2.25 cereal off-brands to now serving Kellogg’s and Post boxes at $5.50 a pop to students and young professionals in thick-rimmed glasses.
Unfortunately that is where is it stops. Or so you think. Let’s think monopoly, it’s every real estate agents favorite game…Around the corner from we are standing is Vernon, just pass the “go to jail” sign. Vernon for those who don’t know is the Witch Chapel of monopoly, it’s there on the board, but hell no one really wants to live there (yet).
The pavement is pockmarked and otherwise potholed; the buildings are still dilapidated. There are no trees and some of the sidewalk is missing. And if you’re looking for students or young professionals, think again, you know who lives there. Same forgotten residents that have lived there for years. As opposed to adjacent Willoughby, there are no Hasidics parked along the sidewalk assessing leads on new apartments or conferring with landlords. Likewise, there are no hipsters. Vernon simply hasn’t been touched. But it will…
So, let’s put it all together. Groups are grouped, and then ignored. The property and land value plummets. Local businessmen (in this case, Hasidics, concentrated about a mile up Nostrand once it turns into Lee) begin buying the newly affordable property in the area, and implement improvements, order the skies to always shine and hipsters to come.
Landlords who are interested in the relatively large sums offered by these businessmen begin to give their tenants incentives to leave—reduced rent, or even bribes and evictions. The city pays attention, and follows suit. The area is improved: street cleaners begin frequenting, trees are planted; construction work is done in order to improve the area’s general aesthetic. A new neighborhood is born. Fort Green. Park Slope. Ask someone who’s lived in New York all their lives—these were the jungles Mom forbids us to visit, but now, they’re the crème-de-la-crème of Brooklyn.
How do we know? Because that’s where you are moving to, and where you will hurry to move to once the recession is over, even before it’s over.
Just remember to follow the money…we always do.
fto Lately I was lacking in $$ and debts were killing me from all angles! that was UNTIL I learned to earn money on the internet! I went to surveymoneymaker d.o.t net, and started filling in surveys for straight cash, and really i have been really more able to pay my bills!! I’m so glad that I did this!!! With all the financial stress these years, I really hope all of you will give it a chance. – qvAn
How, pray tell, was this at all anti-Semitic? Politically provocative? Yes. Degrading? No. When should truth ever take the backseat to political correctness? Also Bed Stuy has not been gentrified holmes. Take a nice little walk down Ralph ave. Clearly you must be talking about those blocks bordering Clinton hill, I know it can be confusing. All that shimmery hipster pleather does disrupt sense of direction.
I am so sorry to have offended you, my dear readers, but apparently such sensitive subjects require much more than a cursory review.
Bed Stuy is not already gentrified, it’s about a quarter of the way there. And, this is largely due to the perspectives of this society, not of due to the Jewish community. Actually, I made that rather clear. On the other hand, they do in fact support local businesses because that raises land value. And really, there is nothing wrong with that.
You can walk around with your eyes closed and verbally accost a writer you’ve never met all you like… and please, base it on completely unfounded arguments, because otherwise, it might compromise my credibility.
But do realize that there are not very many so foolish as to deny that these facts are true… especially when there’s a sign on the Williamsburg Bridge heading toward Manhattan that reads:
“Now leaving Brooklyn — Oy Vey!”
It is anti-semitic, really? I mean, quite possibly, the author might be but the article is so meandering, stuttered and pointless that I could barely discern a coherent thought, much less a bias.
If you take his assumption, ridiculous that it is, that Hasidim are somehow responsible for ghetto-fication then, that would be anti-semitic. But, obviously Robert Moses was no Jew.
If you take his assumption that Hasidim support local business, education, and pretty Pratt students. Well, it is equally ridiculous but not anti-semitic.
If you take his convoluted argument that Jews are somehow planning whole neighborhood transformation, then, I guess the general tone of “plotting Jew” is anti-Semitic and I vote we beat this gentleman to death with his over-used thesaurus.
But, really,why not let him drive himself crazy in his paranoia and those writing classes he takes that are advertised in boxes next to the Village Voice.
P.S. Desmond – BedSty been gentrified, holmes. And, if you look at the voting records of the zoning board of the city council, you’ll see a whole lot of dark-skinned folks who were responsible for it. Study your math, you shmeil.
I’m really surprised and disappointed at how anti semitic the tone of this is. WTF? REALLY? I can only assume this was done in some mad bid to stir up controversy but OMG. I usually really enjoy reading the articles on this site, especially Christopher’s humourous take on society. The sheer backwardness and ignorance shown by this writer makes me want to throw up. Then never visit this site again.