Category: gentrification

  • Can’t they just catch a cab?

    The cash-strapped, teacher-laying-off, social-programs-slashing NYC government somehow dug up $9.3 million to subsidize a privately-run ferry service on the East River. Residents of “Dumbo, Williamsburg, Greenpoint or Hunters Point” are expected to especially benefit. …some transportation experts worry that the boats will appeal only to an affluent sliver of the population — those who can…

  • This Friday in Brooklyn: premiere of a new film on gentrification and community organizing

    This Friday I’m heading to Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn for the premiere screening of Some Place Like Home: The Fight Against Gentrification in Downtown Brooklyn, a documentary by Families United for Racial and Economic Equality. FUREE, a community organization lead by and comprised primarily of low-income women of color, has been rallying the community…

  • “We do this because to do nothing leaves others with no options.”

    I might not be writing much lately, but other people are. One such person is Valery J, who I work with at one of the organizations I do tech support for. Recently she sent the staff an email entitled “Val’s Reason #2018 for Being Committed to Racial & Economic Justice.” I really appreciated her reflections…

  • Hey white folks – it’s time to get really mad at me again!

    So, white people seem to get really, really angry when I write about gentrification, as evidenced through the many irate comments I’ve gotten, in which I’m called ignorant, racist, and “mean bitch,” amongst other things. I’ve left lots of those comments lingering in moderation for a while, because I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to…

  • The Onion: spot on.

    Sometimes I Feel Like I’m The Only One Trying To Gentrify This Neighborhood When I moved into this neighborhood, I fell in love right away. Not with the actual neighborhood, but with its potential: It’s affordable, there are nice row houses all around just waiting to be filled up by my friends, there’s lot of…

  • (re)defining racism: who gets to?

    I’ve been neglecting this blog for the past few days, mostly because I’ve been caught up in debate over on this thread at Alas, A Blog. The part of the conversation that I got involved in began with someone comparing my saying that white gentrification can seem like an invasion to anti-immigration rhetoric, but the…

  • Since apparently my many previous clarifications weren’t enough

    I’ve seen a lot of responses to my posts on gentrification, both in comments here and on other blogs, that question why I don’t want white people moving into poor neighborhoods of color. Some people wonder if I’m endorsing a kind of self-imposed segregation; some ask whether it’s not good that white people move in,…

  • doozies

    Wow, I woke up to some doozies this morning. Check out the most recent comments by LOLA and Jack Alouet who are, of course, all up in a tizzy about my posts about gentrification. LOLA’s are especially enlightening, especially when LOLA says that Puerto Ricans are the most racist people in NYC. LOLA also took…

  • more thoughts on gentrification

    Yesterday, I visited a friend who lives uptown. Walking from her apartment back to the 125th street stop on the A, I was struck by the fact that almost every single person I passed was white. I thought this was Harlem. Turns out, according to Wikipedia, Harlem proper doesn’t really start on the west side…

  • on gentrification in Bushwick

    Today I was directed to some good (and not so good) words written on gentrification in Bushwick. For the good (at least, as of the last time I got to look), check out Penpusher’s comment. Some of the good stuff: But I think deep down, everyone knows that “Gentrification” might as well be called “Manifest…