Category: Blog 2

As someone who grew up in the south Bronx, I’ve experienced many changes in my neighborhood. Growing up in my neighborhood, it seemed like everyone knew everyone else, and all of the businesses were family-owned. Because of gentrification, the neighborhood did not appear the same until recently. These activities of strong corporations have a significant influence on the neighborhood because people are compelled to relocate from their homes. Furthermore, gentrifying our neighborhoods is driving people to become homeless in some circumstances since they can no longer afford homes in such areas. Essential products such as groceries and household items are becoming increasingly pricey. Because politicians profit from gentrification, minorities or people of color who live in these communities receive little to no assistance from government officials. Even though I wasn’t born in the 1970s or 1980s, I can tell from photographs that the city has changed dramatically since then. Apartment buildings in the Bronx used to be very affordable when my grandmother lived in her old neighborhood, but due to new stores in the area, such as Starbucks and Applebees, prices have increased to three times what they were previously, and residents are the ones who are forced to bear the consequences. These actions are completely reprehensible, but they still happen today. Instead of safeguarding the people who elected them, local officials are protecting firms that profit from gentrification. It wasn’t difficult to afford a pleasant area with a park for your children in previous years, but recently, families have been forced to relocate further away from communities with good health conditions, parks, and even good schools since they can no longer afford the locations they grew up in. I believe that government authorities are unaware of or unconcerned about the impact on children when parents are forced to leave their homes. They forget that these children are reliant on their parents, and that each action that affects the parents has an effect on the children.

As a resident of New York, I have witnessed the recent effects of neoliberalism. Inflation has caused prices to skyrocket. Gas, homes, rent, and basically anything else has increased and the pandemic has not helped in this cause. People’s lease for their apartments and homes that they signed are starting to expire and rent is becoming to expensive for people to afford and live that lifestyle. So many places are being gentrified so the wealthy and middle class could come an take over along with other businesses. People who lived in certain neighborhoods for years and all their lives are being forced to move out because they can not afford housing and afford to live that lifestyle anymore. People of color and low income communities are being impacted the most causing them to resort to government aided housing or projects which are already so crammed and packed and are unsafe living conditions. People of color and lower class minorities face lots of accessibility and inequality whether that come to housing, health, or anything really. People of color and poor communities are not vaccinated and cannot afford COVID tests. Health is not accessible to these communities. Immigrants seeking a better life populate most low-income neighborhoods. The privatization of insurance businesses makes it more difficult for low-income groups to apply for insurance, as well as a financial barrier. Inflation is also seen in food. Groceries and food used to be much cheaper but due to inflation has increased drastically over time. Relating back to Maggie Dickinson’s article and a quote of her find that I found quite interesting ” “People of color and lower class are constantly  being displaced to make room for the upper class and elite; they are being thrown out of the city. organizations only care to serve and cater the elite or wealthy. Gentrification happened for the wealthy to get rid of the poor and middle class to make room for the wealthy.” A quote that applies to our society today that has to do with Gentrification and Neoliberalism. 

I lived in New York my whole life, I’ve seen how neoliberalism affects the people in my neighborhood before i moved from Brooklyn to Staten Island back in the 10th grade. There have always been people in my community struggling with health insurance given by the government. Although they some what help, health insurance is hard to acquire for people with low income . They’re also people that are immigrants who don’t receive health insurance at all since they don’t have have a social security to be eligible to apply for it. A couple years later after I’ve moved the pandemic hit. Ever since the pandemic, there has been a supply for a Covid-19 testing kit given to the public by the government for free. It was a great way to support the community considering New York has had one of the most highest rates of residents testing positive for Covid-19 of all states. People would test themselves instead of going out their way and getting tested in public places protecting others to stop the spread of the disease. Soon after, the government had started to place a price on these Covid-19 kits which were originally given free to the community. This isn’t fair for the people that can not afford the kits, especially people who aren’t financially stable. They shouldn’t be paying for something as simple as testing if they have Covid-19. It would actually be more helpful for everyone else if they had the free kit to test themselves in order to protect other people such as family, friends, e.t.c.

I have experienced the effects of neoliberalism as a resident of New York City. Living in Brooklyn, I have seen how much prices have increased overtime. Espesially after the huge outbreak of Covid 19, the prices around where I live have increased even more. Supermarkets, deli’s, and convenience stores increased their prices in fruits, vegetables, meat and even chicken. Although, I have lived in Brooklyn for so long I don’t remember the last time my family has gone to eat at a restaurant or cafe around here due to how pricey everything has gotten. Our nearest supermarket, which we had gone to weekly to do our grocery shopping was remodeled and was placed under a different company. This affected us as we couldn’t find certain products we used, compared to before therfore it became extremely difficult to afford groceries there. It was clear their target was leaning more towards the white community and wealthier people. Prices increased from around $8 to $15 for both meat and chicken. The huge increase in price led us into having to look for other supermarkets. Even after doing so, not long after, the prices in the current supermarket we go to have been increasing as well. As of recently, I’ve also noticed that my nearest convience store increased their prices for a box of chocolate chip cookies from $4.99 to now $5.99, which further supports the effects of inflation and neoliberalism. Lastly, this relates to Dickinson’s text as wealthier people are least likely to be affected by inflation in NYC, however, miniorities and lower class people are left behind without much support from the government. Leading them into having to deal with insanely high prices not only to buy food at their nearest supermarket, deli or restaurant, but they also have to worry about having to maintain a roof over their heads with how much rent money has increased as well.

       As a New York resident, I have witnessed lots of changes in our lives and the impact of neoliberalism on our lives ever since the outbreak of the pandemic. A pandemic causes labor shortages and a partial break in the production chain, which ultimately affects our daily lives. Empty shelves in grocery stores and soaring prices show us the changes and difficulties the pandemic has brought to our lives. The cost of living for many people has also increased. This is a kind of neoliberalism brought about by the impact of change. The scarcity of goods led to the increase in Costco, such as the shortage of paper towels at Costco. The price of vegetables in the supermarket. Originally, a couple hundred dollars could buy the necessities. Now we need to pay three or four hundred dollars to buy them. My friend once tried to buy a table from IKEA that met her requirements, but due to the pandemic, the table was out of stock, customs shipments slowed down, overseas products took a lot of time to get to the US, and prices went up. Therefore, it took her longer to wait and cost her more money to buy what she wanted. The cost of living has increased so that those of us living in New York who are affected by the epidemic are feeling the pressure from prices. The government is choosing to subsidize people in the face of their plight, such as the $1,400 subsidy, the amount of subsidy people will receive from things like the 1099g form, etc. This reminds me of Dickinson’s text about how the government is discriminating against poor people for graffiti problems on trains. The government doesn’t want to deal with the aesthetics of the trains, but the graffiti makes them have to deal with the trains, which is the same as the pandemic issue.

 

After facing an economic crisis in the 1960s that caused residents to lose faith in the city government’s ability to provide, people came to rely more heavily on private volunteerism and partnership with private businesses. In the late 1980s, Mayor Ed Koch solidified the presence of the private sector and market in the political and economic governance of New York. 

One aspect that I’d like to focus on is how neoliberalism has led to gentrification. There is an undeniable link between the rapid transformation of dilapidated neighborhoods and market forces, specifically the real estate market. Poorer residents have been displaced by increases in rent in an effort to make real estate in the city more competitive and luxurious, rather than provide affordable housing. The goal of neoliberalism is to replace existing infrastructure with newer infrastructure that can generate more revenue. I have seen this in my neighborhood as smaller businesses are replaced with chains because they cannot pay the increased rent, and I’ve noticed it in general as NYC becomes full of expensive high-rise buildings that barely reflect the NYC of the early 1960s and 70s. Standardized testing is one field that has been prioritized at the expense of students. Standardized tests, made by private companies, reward students for achieving high school and sort them into categories based on their perceived intelligence. Because of this, many schools have abandoned meaningful teaching due to the stress of making sure their students perform well on standardized tests. I experienced this firsthand in high school when I was taught a basic core curriculum that barely skimmed the surface of many important concepts to make sure that I was prepared for the tests coming at the end of the year. This relates to Dickinson’s text as the example of gentrification, caused the lower class to be displaced because they could not afford to continue living there which shows how the government just keeps taking away every little thing that the lower class may have for themselves.

I have witnessed the effects of neoliberalism while living in New York. I’ve noticed that over the years, gentrification is becoming more and more common. I’ve noticed that in places like Harlem, bigger corporations are coming in and running smaller businesses out. Even in Chinatown, there’s a campaign going on called “Save Chinatown” because the same thing is going on there. Bigger private companies are buying out smaller companies, forcing them to shut down. I’ve noticed that a lot of new NYC apartment buildings are being built, and only the higher classes can really afford to live there. Smaller communities are being broken up because of this.  Another effect of neoliberalism I’ve witnessed is inflation. For example, potato chips used to be a dollar, but over the years the price is now around 3-5 dollars for a bag. I believe it’s because bigger private companies buy over the smaller ones and increase the cost of production, making inflation occur. I think that this is happening more and more because more people are moving to NYC and with the money, the city gets from this, they want to make the city “better” but they’re just really destroying it and destroying the communities. Around the area where I live, they’re building so many new apartment buildings, that are way more affordable for people, so I guess not everything is so bad. The company that is building these new apartment buildings is owned by the city. I always think of these companies fighting each other. Both the company that is owned by the city and the private companies. The company owned by the city is trying to make people’s lives easier by building affordable housing and providing other things such as free education etc. Private companies make things more difficult by driving out smaller communities and building their own.

I have only been in New York City for less than six months. I spent most of my life on Long Island which is very different from the city. One thing that sticks out to me here more than when I was on Long Island is the fashion, especially streetwear. The quote for this blog is, “Deviation from the nom will be punished unless exploitable.” When reading this quote, I immediately thought about streetwear and how much people have profited on things started by many different minority groups. Such as baggy clothes and brands that were mainly popular within communities with large amounts of black and brown people.

Although Long Island is known for having a large number of white people, i grew up in one of few minority towns. Whenever I went to school, I always saw the other kids in my school wearing expensive brands like Jordan, Uggs, Adidas, etc. I was always too scared to ask my mom to buy these brands mainly because of how much they cost.  Instead, she would try her best to get these brands for my brother and I whenever they were on sale. As I got older and began to work, I finally was able to buy these brands that were out of my mother’s price range, or so I thought. Now that I work, and have the money to buy these brands, resell culture has now become a thing. Shoes that once went for $90 can go for up to thousands of dollars. Company’s like StockX and GOAT profit of brands that people in black and brown communities were called ghetto for. They even have Stores all over New York City that specifically sell these brands for triple the price because they know that people that have money can afford to buy these items at ridiculous prices.

Being a resident of nyc I have experience the effect of neoliberalism first hand.Before every time I say a new building being build or a new store being open I would get happy because I thought that these things would increase the quality of life in my community.But I quickly came to the realization that these things were not being build for us but for the tourist or member that of a higher class that came to visit or that were moving in.I live around a high tourist concentrated area so I been use to seeing them around but now is to the point were they are permanent members of the community.Another way is through inflation, but Inflation is going to happen regardless of neoliberalism or not.

The landscape of nyc has changed a lot, even so much that some places feel as if I’ve never been there.For example a lot of places which were previously open to the public now you have to pay to get in or can’t even get in at all.Like in the passage by Dickson, she mentions how graffiti does not compliment the image of New York and that’s why they were doing everything in there power to stop it.I believe that the politicians think that the black and latino Communities don’t help the image of nyc so they are trying to push us out in order to look more appealing to tourist and other travelers.

Being a resident of New York, I have witnessed the effects of neoliberalism, although, I didn’t always realize what was going on until looking back now. One instance is private colleges, which are extremely expensive. I remember applying for a lot of colleges my senior year of high school, and seeing the tuition prices, which, even after grants and scholarships, were very high. The only way I’d be able to go to these colleges was to be stuck with insane amounts of student debt that would take me years to pay off. Another similar instance was one of my friends’ experiences with the same thing. She and her brother would go off to college a year apart from each other, and the family faced a lot of challenges with basically having no financial aid or grants for the kids.

     I have also seen neo-liberalism throughout my neighborhood. In the span of about 3-4 years, I’ve noticed 3 new buildings just around the block I live on. One was constructed after tearing down houses to build apartments for rent, another for corporate and office spaces, and the third for apartments for sale. The latter two were built in spaces of the street that were free and had no buildings before.

     As mentioned by others, we can notice instances of neoliberalism in the emergence and development of Covid. People were unable to get tested because of the costs, and the at-home Covid test prices went up as well. Just a few months ago I went on what we could call a journey to buy a test, which, after visiting numerous pharmacies, could finally get, but for a high price. Similarly, about a year ago, I remember my mom trying to buy some hand sanitizer, which was sold out everywhere, and was marked up for a much higher price than what it cost before. Staying on the topic of health and services, I remember my sister needing an epi-pen, which is when I found out that they cost a lot of money if not covered by insurance. I also remember my brother needing to take care of a dental problem that he ended up putting off because of the costs.

     An argument relating to my observations from Dickinson’s text is one exploring how the government, businesses and media fault the poor, minority and working class as the cause of their problems, specifically, my observation about Covid. The argument in Dickinson’s text was more clear and severe in my opinion, but I can relate this theme to how people address Covid. I’ve seen government officials and the news telling people to just get tested often, even if they had no symptoms, and to stay home. While I understand that these are good suggestions in a world experiencing a pandemic, I can’t help but think about the people who don’t have access, and/or cannot afford to get tested even when they do have symptoms, let alone being tested just in case. In addition to this, essential workers who didn’t have the ability to work remotely and keep earning money, couldn’t simply stay home and avoid contact with people, and it wasn’t their fault that this was the situation.