Richard Green has been a member of Crown heights for many years he would be described as an activist due to his influence in calming the troubled waters in the Crown Heights Riots in 1991. He would be the best person to talk to about the changes in crown heights as well as his experience as a longtime resident in Crown heights. He is also part of the Crown Heights youth collective on 113 Rogers avenue. I want to know what he sees for the future of crown heights and Newcomers to Crown Heights. As well as if he dealing with generations of residents particularly black youths in the neighborhood how his teaching methods might have changed with each new generation.
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Alphabet City Will Never Be the Same
From East 14th Street to East Houston lies Alphabet City and all of its residents. Most of New York’s residents look at neighborhoods with convenient stores, close transportation and lower rent prices when deciding where to live. About 66,000 people live in this neighborhood. 66,000 people have chosen to live in a neighborhood that lacks what people find most convenient about this city.
A busy entrance to the L train on East 14th and 1st Avenue
The nearest subway line to this entire neighborhood is the L train on 1st Avenue and East 14th Street. “It takes me 25 minutes to walk to the subway every day and then I have to always transfer to another station” said resident Gina Cappola rather frustrated. She moved here because the rent was slightly cheaper than the other apartments in the area. It seemed like a good idea at first, but now she can’t wait to move on to a different neighborhood when her lease ends.
“I moved into the city because I was a commuter and now I am still a commuter” said Gina Cappola laughing. It takes her over an hour to get to where she works which is just about as long as it took her when she lived near Rockland County.
You can see the look of frustration at the Subway entrance for the L train. There are lines at each turnstile during busy hours and each person looks like a zombie waiting to get in as if they do this everyday.
“Its truly unbelievable what I need to go through to get on this subway” Daniel McDonald said while waiting for his train. Most days this 50 year old man does not mind, but others when he’s tired the train seems further away then ever.
The Pheonix, a small bar/ restaurant in the neigborhood
Alphabet City is not your typical neighborhood. As you walk up and down the streets there is no Starbucks. Duane Reade is only on the border streets. There is no chain grocery store favorites such as whole foods and no chain restaurants. “I can always find something similar to what I need but it isn’t always what I want. Sometimes walking twenty minutes to get my favorite brand of coffee just isn’t an option” said long time resident Billie Hudzik.
New York is known for its convenient means of transportation. Usually we think of subways at almost every corner and a McDonalds or a Starbucks every other block. Alphabet City denies its residents both.
Manhattan Community Board 3 has addressed issues of transportation saying they have been working on plans for decades now. There was talk of extending the subway line under Avenue B.
Residents of this neighborhood laugh when asked about it. They feel that this is never going to happen. “If it does happen maybe my grandchildren’s grandchildren can get to work faster than I ever did” Billie Hudzik said jokingly.
The lack of transportation and commercial shops and restaurants to draw residents in, are issues not being ignored any more. Gentrification is now being seen in Alphabet City. There are plans for new Walgreens to be brought into the neighborhood as well as talk of other chain establishments.
There are all new upscale restaurants and trendy spots that have emerged over the past few years with the intention of changing Alphabet City for the better. “They won’t ever do anything about the Subway system so they are trying to make it more appealing in other ways” Billie Hudzik said when asked about future changes. The new crowd that these trendy spots are bringing in has changed Alphabet City and is beginning to give it a new reputation.
According to DNAinfo.com this gentrification brought a dramatic 71 percent drop in major crimes in the area over 17 years since 1993, led by a 91 percent plunge in car thefts, an 81 percent drop in robberies, and 77 percent declines for murders and burglaries. “This neighborhood used to have a bad reputation but now its becoming a hot spot for young crowds. I used to just see the same people walking around everyday now I see a new face every night” Billie Hudzik said after living here for 35 years.
East Village Cafe on East 13th
Crime rates have dropped and rent prices have gone up. The new developments to Alphabet City have caused a significant increase in building costs. Buildings that have been vacant for years are now getting swooped off the market, remodeled and sold. According to StreetEasy tallies the median increased for asking prices rose 2.79 percent to $699,000 by the end of 2014, but today this has jumped to $865,000.
Residential area of Alphabet City displaying the artsy vibe of the neighborhood
Some new residents were drawn to this area because of the changes and the style of living. New resident Aliyah Sullivan says, “It was one neighborhood that reminded me of how New York is supposed to be.” Each street you walk up and down has businesses and restaurants that created by people hoping to find a place to thrive in the city. Here in Alphabet City they find a way to mesh creating a vibe that draws people in to live here and an authentic New York feel.
Alphabet City is changing, but not everybody is happy about it. Julia Bennet who has lived in Alphabet City for 10 years said, “I have to leave this neighborhood after this year. My rent keeps going up and I can’t afford to stay here anymore.” The unavoidable increases in rent that are due to gentrification is pushing out many long time residents.
“This neighborhood used to be original but now they want to take that away from us” Markus Reynolds another long time resident said angrily.
Artwork dedicated to Robin Williams on Avenue B
Despite the lack of subways and a quickly changing neighborhood, many residents are in favor of this. “Its always good cardio for me to walk to the subway I have never minded!” said Richard Brenner who currently lives all the way on Avenue C.
“The changes are making this neighborhood safer and more original then it ever has been before. Alphabet City is really coming into its own” said Sophia Watts of Avenue B. This is why many people are leaving, but why more are coming. The changes coming to Alphabet City are unavoidable. Almost as unavoidable as the walk all of its residents put of with to get to work each day.
This neighborhood has become something beautiful. While some residents are frustrated with its lack of similarities to the city, majority are being drawn closer due to its differences.
American Girl
What is the theme of Ta Nehisi-Coates”s profile?
In this piece, Coate offers a unique perspective on Michelle Obama by providing her background, along with context on her view towards America’s racial stance.
Is there an overarching narrative?
Although the main purpose of the article is to explain Michelle Obama’s dynamic cultural views, it does so by introducing a larger historical context of black cultural views, and it’s dynamic nature as racial integration proceeds.
What surprises Coates about Michelle Obama?
As Coates puts it, “In all my years of watching black public figures,
I’d never heard one recall such an idyllic youth”. Essentially, what surprised
him was the unconventional perspective Obama displayed; relatably offering
the perspective of an average American.
How does Coates contextualize Michelle in the context of his own background growing up in Baltimore?
Coates relates Michelle Obama’s experience to his own childhood by discussing the perspectives they had with relation to “black” as a culture. While Coates experienced his own culture explicitly in comparison to his white peers due to the racial integration in Baltimore, Michelle Obama was surrounded by a uni-racial neighborhood, and only knew of America’s multicultural nature as a concept.
Black and White
Fox’s story takes on a very personal style, as she tells her grandparents’ story of a pursuit and struggle for racial equality in the housing market. In Fox’s piece, the injustice in the Stuyvesant Town community is a matter of race. The story more recently released by New York Times is told in a more objective voice. Displaying specific statistics and figures, this piece focuses on the socioeconomic struggle for fair housing.
Both pieces tell the struggle for, and triumph of, justice in the community.
When combined, these two stories also show the dynamics of the housing
situation of Stuyvesant Town over the years.
Minorities Forced to Move as Rent Prices Raise Over Night
The train slowly crawls out of the tunnel, finally seeing the light of day for the first time since it’s entered Manhattan. Out of the window, the Manhattan city skyline becomes visible and the train moves farther away from the skyscrapers and closer to the plateaus of the apartment buildings of Astoria, Queens. The deeper the train dives into Astoria, the more homogeneous the riders become, losing its diversity with the riders that get off the train every stop along the route before meeting the heart of Astoria.
“I really used to enjoy living there.” high school student, Debbie Santiago states. Debbie and her family recently moved out of Astoria due to increases in their monthly rent that soon became a payment that was too costly to live by.
Santiago and her family, a family of five, lived in Astoria for about ten years before they had no choice but to move out. There was no limit to the rent price Santiago’s landlord could put on her family’s apartment rent ever since the removal of the rent price ceiling by Governor George Pataki.
The removal of the rent ceiling pricing policy allows landlords who previously owned apartment buildings with a rent ceiling to apply to have the it removed. When removed, landlords were given the freedom to raise rent as frequently as they wish, and by as much as they want. This is something that jeopardizes diversity and pushes out poorer tenants who cannot keep up with increasing prices.
Astoria was recognized for it’s diverse demographics, and has even been named one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the world. 54% of Astoria’s demographics consist of minority races, diverse demographic in Astoria is at risk as rising rent prices push out minorities of lower income (2010 Census). Astoria seems to be progressively becoming a neighborhood for upper-middle class and upper middle class residents.
“I usually set up my tenant’s payments so that a majority of them pay at the first of every month,” Peter Blidy, the landlord of an apartment building on Newtown Ave states. “I do have a rent ceiling on my building, so my rental prices never really leave the $1500-$1600 monthly rate.”
Peter Blidy has owned his apartment building for about twenty years and faces less tenant turnover because of the rent ceiling. The stabilization of rent pricing meaning that his tenants can afford to live in his building for longer periods of time due to very little changes in rent. Blidy notes that he has a diverse range of tenants living in his building, something that he takes pride in.
“In the building next to me, I see more people move out than actually move in.” Blidy comments when asked about his knowledge of rentals and tenants in nearby apartment buildings. The building that he is referring to is one that does not have a rent ceiling pricing policy.
Blidy’s building (left) and the building with no rent control policy (right)
When comparing the two buildings visually, there appears to be no difference between Blidy’s apartment building and his neighbor’s. However, there appears to be a stark difference in pricing. According to a local real estate agency, apartments in the neighboring building have an average monthly rent price of $2300, an amount that is almost $1000 greater than that of a rent controlled apartment. The real estate agency also confirmed that most of the apartments that are rented in Astoria have decontrolled rents.
For landlords, rent ceilings allows for more freedom in the leasing and governing of their apartments and who lives in them. Rent ceilings do allow landlords to quickly evict tenants who are consistently behind on rent, so that they do not lose out on rent money they were supposed to receive.
Nick Gayle, the landlord of the apartment building in which there is no rent control comments, “Not having a ceiling on my rent allows me to adjust the rent I need in order to fund the buildings maintenance costs, which do increase from time to time.”
However, it’s interesting to see that there are such large price differences between neighboring apartment buildings, buildings surrounded by exactly the same resources as each other in the neighborhood.
The after affects of the rent ceiling removal is actively affecting families like that of Debbie Santiago, in that more minorities are being driven out of their homes due to uncontrollable increasing rent.
Affordable Housing vs. Gentrification
Dear Feature Writers,
Several of you have chosen the subject of Affordable Housing for your final Conflict Story project. Do read the editorial in today’s New York Times on the subject. Note the opposition from various neighborhood Community Boards:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/28/opinion/affordable-housing-vs-gentrification.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
Also worth reading: Priced Out, and Moving On about gentrification in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
RB
American Girl
What is the theme of Ta Nehisi-Coates”s profile?
The theme of Ta Nehisi-Coates’s profile is about Michelle Obama’s past and how she grew up “rooted in her home, the South Side of Chicago”.
Is there an overarching narrative?
Well there seems to be an overarching narrative about the separation between the way Ta Nehisi-Coates grew up and Michelle Obama. He references a lot of his past in way that the readers can be able to relate too and is interesting enough to keep your attention.
What surprises Coates about Michelle Obama?
Ta Nehisi-Coates was surprised about Michelle Obama because she wasn’t an average angry black women he’s used to seeing. Growing up as a son of a radical Black Panther movement he must have been surrounded by female individuals who spoke from their heart. Much of which we can assume was about black oppression and white supremacy.
How does Coates contextualize Michelle in the context of his own background growing up in Baltimore?
Ta Nehisi-Coates’s background is built upon the idealistic that were impressed upon him as a child growing up within the Black Panthers. Especially during his college years in Howard referring, “It was the mid-’90s, and all of us sported some measure of black pride—be it Afrocentric or ghettocentric”, while Michelle Obama grew up in a black community. This idea of “blackness” growing up seems to spur Ta Nehisi-Coates’s inner soul while for Michelle Obama she didn’t have to face the same struggle.
Alphabet City Conflict Story Proposal
Alphabet City is a tiny neighborhood in New York that is full of tiny boutique shops and cafes. As I walk around I do not recognize the names of any of the shops as chain restaurants. The only Starbucks coffee shops are on both the far ends of the boundaries of this neighborhood. Many young people move here and I would like to investigate if they feel like this neighborhood is lacking things that the city has to offer. The subway is very far out of the way, large grocery stores are not nearby and the basic shops most of these people are used to going to are not a few steps away.
I talked to a few people who think it is a big issue and they said they were considering leaving because it can be so inconvenient sometimes to live there. They also knew people who were considering leaving. On top of not having these conveniences to offer, they are shooting up the rent prices. So what is truly making alphabet city a desirable place to live anymore? Some people were saying this is the reason they love it there so much its different and unique compared to other parts of the city.
Either way I would love to look into it, go into a board meeting and see if there is any discussion about this. Are they purposely keeping the chain business’ out of the area ? Do the chain business’ think they cannot find business there? Is Alphabet City going to become to inconvenient and an undesirable place for city residents? These are all things I would like to explore.
American Girl
What is the theme of Ta Nehisi-Coates”s profile?
I think the theme is very historical. Throughout the interview, Ta Nehisi-Coates’ profile on Michelle Obama emphasizes where Michelle came from and how it contrasts as to where she is now.
Is there an overarching narrative?
I believe there is an overarching narrative. The reason is because not only does it reflect on a profile of Michelle Obama, but it also expresses how history has changed in particular neighborhoods over the years.
What surprises Coates about Michelle Obama?
Coates was surprised about Michelle’s personality and its flexibility. One moment, she’s, “slinging bean pies,” and the next moment she is recalling about her old past.
How does Coates contextualize Michelle in the context of his own background growing up in Baltimore?
The author has a comparison with Michelle Obama’s background in Chicago. As the author grew up in a neighborhood and time where blacks were treated poorly, Chicago had it’s own fight with black segregation. In addition, it seems as if the black community in Chicago was filled with culture.
American Girl by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Please answer the following questions on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ American Girl, a profile of Michelle Obama. Answers are to be uploaded by 6PM on Monday, November 23rd.
What is the theme of Ta Nehisi-Coates”s profile? Is there an overarching narrative? What surprises Coates about Michelle Obama? How does Coates contextualize Michelle in the context of his own background growing up in Baltimore?
Note: Coates has just received The National Book Award for Non-fiction for his new book, Between The World and Me. Do read it!