Flatbush junction the heart of it all. Living in Flatbush I’ve learned a lot and seen the community evolve over time. My neighborhood mostly consists of African-Americans specifically Caribbean’s. To specify, The Junction Flatbush Nostrand, Flatbush is also one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Brooklyn, although a large percentage of its residents are of Caribbean descent, many other heritages and ethnicities are represented in the area, including African-American, Jewish, Middle Eastern and Chinese Americans. 10 years ago, Flatbush was really different compared to now as there had been many renovations and new constructions happening. On 32nd street my block specifically before there were only 3 brownstone buildings and the rest was houses but today most of those houses are being knocked down and turning into buildings which are a big change as the neighborhood is becoming more crowded. To continue, about 7 years ago the target junction was open along with other stores such as Home Goods, Children Place, Applebees, David Bridals… which was a very big change to the community. Today many people are moving into this neighborhood as these changes are happening which is positive and negative to the community living there beforehand. Throughout this project, I have identified a couple of patterns in the community such as the triangle junction, West Indians restaurant, Construction signs(Gentrification), Method of transportation, Schools…
Triangle Junction
The Triangle Junction has been a catch to the population as it is not easy to miss this big building while passing down Flatbush. On one corner of the building is a big triangle sign to describe the shape of this building which is surrounded by different brand stores. Under the big green triangle sign (See Figure 1)is the target sign which is very bold and big so it’s visible to the people. I noticed that this sign and Apple Bees are red like the constructions which makes me think why this specific color or does this color attract people to look up? On the other corner, of the triangle building is a list of other stores accompanied by this target where people can shop for different things or even eat (See Figure 2). A little history behind the opening of the Triangle Junction BC New Service Deja Smith describes the triangle junction The area known as the Junction–the name stems from its history of being a transfer point for trolley lines–has seen dramatic changes over the past six years as more consumers travel there for their everyday shopping and dining needs. The Triangle Junctionopened up in 2009, near the crossing of Flatbush and Nostrand avenues, housing what was then the largest Target in America. At a whopping 225,000 square feet, Target is undeniably the outlet’s anchor. Home Goods, The Children’s Place, David’s Bridal, Men’s Warehouse, Verizon, AT&T, Payless Shoe Source, and an Applebee’s moved in.
West Indian Restaurants in the Neighborhood.
My neighborhood consists of many Caribbean/ West Indian people and other ethnicities as well. Statistical Atlas shows that there is about 32% of West Indians located in Flatbush which enforces my point of having a strong cultural appreciation for west Indian food. In the same block, there are about 5 restaurants that mostly serve the same dishes but also some of these stores are from different islands as some of the store signs have different flags. For example, in figure 6, there are two different flags that represent different islands which are Jamaica and Guyana so based on these flags we can determine the type of food they sell. Also in Figure 3, it says Jamaican Grill on the right corner to indicate that the food served comes from Jamaica. Most of these signs are in English which makes sense as the Caribbeans and most other races that live around here speak English. Even though not every person in the neighborhood speaks English it is important to see the flags in which can help figure out what these restaurants specialize in. A remark I see about these restaurants is that there all around each other which causes a lot of competition because as stated before they mostly sell the same food. All these restaurants that are located on the block of Nostrand consist of savory or spicy food such as Curry Chicken, Jerk Chicken, Oxtail… With a population that mostly has Caribbeans, these restaurants are always full and delivering to the community. This is something important to consider as the population defines the neighborhood. Before living there I wasn’t really familiar with Caribbean dishes but since there’s are many Caribbean restaurants I got used to their food and I enjoy eating it.
Constructions Sites Signs
Next, throughout the years I’ve noticed many new construction sites around Flatbush junction which I indicate is a method of Gentrification. These signs are all over which concludes that there are many new buildings, commercials that are adding up to the community. Many of these signs include Safety protocols for covid-19 (See figure 11). Also, signs to protects the people who travel every day in front of these construction sites. Throughout these signs, I notice that the color red is used to attract people’s attention since it a vivid, and words like (Danger, Caution, Stop, Notice…) inform people that there’s something going on. To continue, most of these signs are English and few in Spanish which explains that most of the population in the junction are familiar with English and can understand what the signs are indicating. According to East Flatbush BK17, there has been an increase in residential as there were 678 units authorized by new residential building permits, which is 7.1% of total new units in Brooklyn, and 2.5% of the citywide total, in East Flatbush. Department of Buildings issued new certificates of occupancy to 938 residential units in new buildings in East Flatbush last year, 530 more than the number of units certified in 2018. Before it was safe to say there were more houses than buildings but recently many of these houses a being knocked down. As mentioned in the introduction, my block had only 3 brownstone buildings but today we are up to 7 buildings in which 4 new ones were made. To elaborate, many jews are coming around the neighborhood to buy these houses off and invest by making buildings. In my opinion, I thought it would be important to ask my house owner neighbors if they were given a proposition about selling their house. Joseph LeMoine who has owned his house for about 30 years now stated ” My door is being knocked almost every day with extravagant numbers but this is neighborhood my kids were born here, most of my life was in done here I’m not ready to leave anytime soon”. As Joseph said many jews are trying to change the community by adding more buildings. The neighborhood is becoming more and more crowded as these buildings are growing which is becoming harder for the old community living there for a long time so they rather sell their house and out of state especially older people.
Signs of Public Schools, Offices…
Here, we see a couple of signs that are all in English which shows how Flatbush Junction is not that diverse at all as these signs are not helpful towards others who are not fluent in English. Also, we can see that these signs have been around for a long time as the words on the signs are fading away. These offices must be private as they there signs are not bold and visible (Figure 12).
Some Signs of transportation.
Throughout these signs, we see different methods of transportation that are indicated on these signs which are mostly all in English but some of these signs show arrows to point where to exit from the train station( Figure 15,16) to indicate what transportation can be taken after the train. Also in figure 17, the sign shows that there is an accessible elevator on Nostrand which is helpful for people who are in need of that type of service.
Conclusion
From all these signs shown through this blog, we can definitely take away that this neighborhood does not really show diversity in certain ethnicities. Most of these signs are in English which is common all over the place but with a strong population of 156,866 according to Census Reporter, I thought this neighborhood was more diverse. While doing this paper I never really took the time to analyze different signs and see what they represent to the community specifically construction signs or triangle junctions which I see every day.
There have been many signs of gentrification happening to our community as many things are being changed and overpriced to the people who were living here for a long period of time. With many of these construction signs that show work in progress of new commercials and residentials, it concerns the population. In my point of view, I see a big change in Flatbush Junction such as the one that is happening in Downtown Brooklyn right now. To continue, signs of transportation that people can rely on helps the community attract more people into living here knowing that the transportation is easy to access. Many of us may not pay attention to signs or how they relate to the community but while this paper I got to examine more about my community and certain changes that are happening under my eyes.
