Author: q.george

Host Intro: Gentrification in Brooklyn marches on, and the adjacent neighborhoods of Flatbush and Crown Heights are two of the latest to feel its effects. Longtime residents see the arrival of coffee shops, bars, doggy day cares, and hookah lounges as warning signs that they may soon be priced out. Although these places might be a nice touch to the neighbourhood, residents fear for their future in these places. Reporter Quain George has the story.

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Vehicles driving by.

I’m on Schenectady Ave, Utica, Crown Heights. The area itself has a huge West Indian demographic. To my left there is a supermarket and a Korean vegetable market. Tenant complains that their rents are rising, the cost of food is rising, and a lot of the cheap places are closing down, like Os Grill, which was known for their Jamaican American dish rasta pasta. “Crown Heights native Kareem Thomas says it’s becoming impossible for anyone below a certain income to stay in the area.

 

Thomas says: “Well I was gonna say it affects all black people, but really it’s a wealth gap. Which blacks are kind of in the middle, sometimes we are doing just good enough, but we are never at the point where we can just go spend thousands on a place. Its’s really affecting people that don’t make 40 grand a year.”

Mr. Thomas himself has been affected by gentrification while moving out on his own. Ideally he wanted an apartment for himself, but after seeing the prices for apartments right now he took another route.

Mr. Thomas says: “Well I moved out and I’m leaving with roommates, you think that was my first choice? Hell no. I looked on Nooklyn which is real estate place that especially for Brooklyn, and the apartments were 1,500 which is double what I’m paying for rent right now. I could not afford, I had the money but, would it be a smart investment? No.

Vehicles passing by.

Im on Flatbush Ave between ave D and Ditmas, to my left there is Paw House which is a pet grooming company on that same block is where Nikiesha Hamilton live, grew up in Crown Heights but moved to Flatbush. She thinks that if these areas doesn’t get the proper support they might be displaced.

Mrs Hamilton says: If a certain community of a certain type of people doesn’t not have proper support for their living situation in the community they are going to be displaced.

Although Flatbush Avenue is very Caribbean and West Indian area, Mrs Hamilton still notices the changes.

Mrs Hamilton says: Flatbush is very Caribbean, when I come to Flatbush I barely see people outside the Caribbean culture or the Caribbean diaspora. I do slowly see gentrification happening, when you walk down certain streets you say “ OH, there is a Italian restaurant over there.”

Even though Mrs Hamilton had a lot to say how gentrification will negatively affect the people, she also acknowledged some positive aspects of it.

Mrs Hamilton says: I’m very adamant about protection for poor people, but I like that we get more attention to clean our streets and I like that I feel safer.

These are the challenges Crown Heights and Flatbush residents is facing while gentrification is among them, although it has it’s negative impacts, there are also some positives one, but is it worth it?

 

For Baruch College, this is Quain George, Brooklyn, New York

My podcast is going to be on the Stock Market. I have a friend that invests in the stock market, so I planned to interview him on what he invests in, what are the stocks someone should invest in as a beginner, and what’s the benefits of starting at a young age, and so on.

Drink Champs is a podcast that is about hip hop, It is intended for hip hop fans that appreciate stories about how older hip hop figures came up in the rap scene and even how some of the new rappers came up in the rap scene. So they interview more older rap artist or even some older music executives that are responsible for a lot of careers in that field. This podcast is not scripted, it is more like a host interview style. In terms of advertising, Drink Champs went from a regular youtube podcast to signing deal with television network,  Revolt Tv, which founded Sean Combs, also known as Diddy. Revolt TV is a music oriented digital cable television network. Throughout the years Drink Champs grew bigger and bigger, with its casual setting, while interviewing their guest, everyone is free to drink as much as they want. They provide different types of liquor for their guest. Drink Champs has had some good reviews from their audience. Since this podcast isn’t in a particular order you can start with which ever guest you are more likely to be interested in. To add to their long list of hip hop figures on their podcast, actors like Marlon Wayan also made appearances on the podcast.