Tag Archives: brooklyn

by | April 9, 2013 · 1:32 pm

Is Gentrification in Bushwick Inevitable?

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What do you think of when you think of Bushwick?  If you think of hipsters and loft parties, you’ll understand why the older residents of Bushwick are rallying to make sure that the neighborhood will remain an affordable place to live in the future.  In attempts to limit gentrification and displacement in the neighborhood, Community Board 4,  St. Nick’s Alliance, and Councilwoman Diana Reyna are working to re-zone the neighborhood.  According to Councilwoman Reyna, the re-zoning is necessary to keep out speculative developers who are interested in turning Bushwick  into “the next Williamsburg.” Just East of Williamsburg, Bushwick (or Bourgwick- “bourgie Bushwick”) has seen the influx of young gentrifiers, many of them artists, and residents’ fear of spreading gentrification is real and warranted.  So far, it has been difficult for luxury developers to get their grubby hands on prime Bushwick real estate because the majority of Bushwick is currently zoned for manufacturing.  As a result, it has been difficult to convince the city to allow them to build luxury apartments and condos within the neighborhood borders.  But that doesn’t mean they haven’t tried.

According to the Real Deal and industry experts, “Developers are salivating over sites in Bushwick.” Already, there has been a 144-unit luxury rental built in the neighborhood, catering specifically to artists.  And it’s fully occupied. Speculators, meanwhile, are trying all sorts of tricky maneuvers to skirt the zoning laws and convince current property owners to sell.  Sometimes it means offering buyouts, and sometimes it means schmoozing their way in. As Ian Lester, an attorney who represents commercial developers, tells Real Deal reporters:

“A lot of these sellers are old-school, meaning they are literally old,” he said. “The key is listening to a bunch of stories about the old country…they won’t sell to you unless they like you,” he added.

Groups like MySpace who cater to young (mostly white) people moving into gentrifying neighborhoods certainly don’t help things.  MySpace works with landlords (no matter their record of housing code violations or HPD litigation) to bring in higher paying tenants.  Their neighborhood is primarily Crown Heights, but they have expanded in the past several years to Bushwick and Bed-Stuy. (Check out Crown Heights Assembly’s campaign to halt MySpace’s negative impact in their neighborhood!)

Meanwhile, Rolando Guzman, Deputy Director of Community Preservation at St. Nick’s Alliance, tells reporters:

The last thing Bushwick needs is high rises. It needs affordable housing…And there needs to be some rule to prevent the displacement of local businesses and residents.

That is why St. Nick’s and others are working to prevent the same type of luxury apartment boom as what happened in Williamsburg, as well as to “preserve the unique character of Bushwick.”

In addition to working on zoning laws, community members and activists have produced incredible social commentary about the gentrification phenomenon in Bushwick.  Check out East Willy B: The Changing Face of Bushwick, a hilarious online series on about how gentrification, race, and community interaction plays out in the neighborhood.  Check it out here.

Finally, for your comic relief, check out this on point video (also produced by East Willy B) commenting on real estate agents in Bushwick.

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by | March 15, 2013 · 11:30 am

Friday News Round-up!

As we culminate another eventful week at UHAB, we’d like to leave you some of the highlights of the week.

  1. Newly published census data illustrates that The Bronx population has grown within the past year. Prior, population numbers dropped significantly from year to year. (About 20 years ago, the population in The Bronx dropped by 20,000 residents per year.) Now, more folk are not only moving into The Bronx, but they are staying in The Bronx as well.  This changing trend is, in part, a response to the lack of affordable housing available in Manhattan and Brooklyn. As time progresses, we are confident that similar trends will continue to emerge.
  2. Months after Hurricane Sandy, homeowners allege that they are still waiting for insurance companies to process their flood insurance claims and, in turn, reimburse them with needed funds to recuperate from the storm. According to the Real Deal, 11,000 out of 57,000 claims are still unresolved. And, the state’s finance department found that New York banks were holding 6,600 checks amounting to $208M. With Hurricane Sandy nearly 5 months behind us, its imperative that FEMA and other government agencies offer homeowners the compensation they need to rebuild their lives.
  3. According to officials, NYCHA is actually AHEAD OF SCHEDULE in their goal to remove the backlog of repair needs by the end of 2013. This has advocates worried that the repairs are shoddily done, in an effort to take care of quantity over quality. The nation’s largest housing authority is at significant risk due to the sequester, as nearly half of its budget comes from the federal government.
  4. Gentrification is continuing to infiltrate Brooklyn. The NY Times published an article illustrating that, like Williamsburg, Boerum Hill, and Park Slope, the neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and Bushwick are undergoing significant demographic and, as a result, geographic transformations.  Similar to the changes in The Bronx, affordable housing in the neighborhoods closer to Manhattan have become scarce. As a result, folks are moving deeper into Brooklyn, transforming the market value of rentals and demanding trendy cafes and restaurants. As neighborhoods gentrify rapidly, the need to preserve affordable housing has become dire.
  5. On Saturday, Kimani “Kiki” Gray was killed by police in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Police allege that the teen was armed and, as a result, they opened fire for protection. Community members are enraged by the police violence, insisting that this was an act of excessive force rooted in racist ideologies. As a response, community members have held a candlelight vigil in protest for the past three evenings. According to police, the protest turned violent and 46 people were arrested. This is one of many acts of police brutality that have gained significant attention within the past few years. Our hearts go out to Kimani’s family and friends.

We will return with more news next week as we welcome the arrival of spring (March 20th)!

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by | October 12, 2012 · 12:58 pm

Friday News Round-Up

We’ve got a lot for you today (a lot happened this week and we can’t pick). Without further ado…

  1. “Outside of the limelight, the Obama administration has been quietly pursuing ambitious changes to better support healthy neighborhoods and regions,” begins this article in Shelterforce Magazine. The article was contributed to the magazine by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, so it comes with a certain amount of back-slapping in regards to the Obama administration. But it does give a good sense of what programs are being implemented in low income communities to combat poverty and provide a path for sustainable affordable housing. If you have a different take than Secretary Shaun Donovan on how effective these programs have been, we’d love to hear about it.
  2. The vice-presidential debate was much, much more interesting than the presidential debate. You can read a full transcript here (NY Times) or watch a full video here (YouTube.) According to Think-Progress, Mr. Ryan only lied 24 times in 40 minutes, and in a moment that elicited laughs from the audience, Joe Biden snarked: So Now You’re a Kennedy?! Not a bad day for the Congressman! In other debate-related news, demand for Big Bird Halloween costumes has shot up since Mitt Romney threatened to cut federal funding for PBS.
  3. In another self-congratulatory post from our friends at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, PD&R published this article detailing how the new Elliot-Chelsea Houses transformed a parking lot into a shiny, new, sustainable, mixed-income project in Chelsea. Of the 168 units, only 34 are reserved for people making below AMI. We can’t help but feel a pang of regret that an entire lot owned by NYCHA could not be dedicated to more specifically low income, affordable housing – housing that is desperately needed in Manhattan. Does Chelsea really need any more market rate apartments? The neighborhood will remain vibrant and mixed income no matter what, and rents are shooting up overnight. However, some housing is better than no housing, and we’re glad to see this space as more than a parking lot.
  4. The City is working to create an “Aging Improvement District” in the Northeast Bronx, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilman James Vacca announced on Tuesday. The idea is to concentrate stores, services, and housing specifically for seniors in the neighborhood. The area in the Bronx is the fourth such district in the city; districts in Brooklyn and Manhattan include perks such as seniors-only hours at public pools and more outdoor seating. New York City is typically not an aging-friendly city (just think of all the subway stairs you climb every day). It’s great to see agencies and businesses working together to address the crucial needs of the senior population. The district is being created with the input of community members (seniors!) and we are hopeful that concentrating seniors in specific neighborhoods will not lead to isolation.
  5. It sounds like repairs are finally getting made at the 3 “fire-trap” buildings on 46th Street in Sunset Park. Tenants in these buildings have been fighting for safer and more secure conditions for quite some time, aided by many advocates and organizers. Aside from the pressing repair issues, these three buildings are in foreclosure and the debt is held by a mystery group called Seryl LLC. Tenants are hoping for a preservation deal out of foreclosure that will give them a larger ownership role in the three buildings. We hope that this will come through for them – and we know, that no matter what, these tenants are ready to Fight Fight Fight!
  6. Here is an extra article for you today, simply because it is really cool. After a decade of research, the Mannahatta Project at the Wildlife Conservation Society has uncovered the original ecology of Manhattan. Check out this map and use the slider to move from 1609 to today. Watch the streets begin to fade. The same folks are hoping to expand this project to the outer boroughs, and you can (of course) donate to that effort on their website. Pick your borough to check their progress: Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens and Staten Island.

See you next week!

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by | September 7, 2012 · 2:32 pm

Friday News Round-Up!

This is our first September news round-up. This week kids went back to school in New York City (and many, many other places to probably.) Other things also happened:

  1. Richard Florida at The Atlantic Cities, with the help of Paul Romer and the NYU Urbanization Project makes a case for City-Sponsored Visas, temporary with the possibility of renewal and a path to citizenship. Of course, employers already sponsor Visa Applications, as do colleges. Read more. We think this is a really creative idea that could make a big impact in opening doors to  immigrant communities.
  2. Our favorite speeches from the DNC: Julian Castro, Elizabeth Warren, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden. (Does Biden tear up at the end of this one?) Michelle Obama and her husband were also good.
  3. Check out New York Mag to read more about Vito Lopez, the ever-deepening scandal and what it means for Sheldon Silver. And of course, Power-Hungry Andrew Cuomo possibly taking advantage of this moment. However, Silver will not be investigated by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. And the New York Times talks about the trouble with saying “NO” to Brooklyn Kingmaker Vito Lopez. And don’t forget to vote on September 19th for Mr. Lopez’s replacement. Governor Paterson says Brooklyn should look for young Brooklyn democrats to replace Vito Lopez as county chairman.
  4. That’s My Issue at The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC is a great way to let other audience members know why the issue you are most passionate about is important, politically or personally. A couple weeks ago Brian Lehrer had a call-in “That’s My Issue” about homeownership and how it has shaped your politics.
  5. At City Limits, NYCHA Residents Seek More Power. City Limits responds to investigations of NYCHA on the part of the New York Daily News.
  6. It’s official: The Rent Is Too Damn High. The Council for Community and Economic Research in Washington, DC released a report proving Brooklyn is the 2nd most expensive place to live in the country, topped only by…anyone care to guess?…Manhattan. The Center for New York City Neighborhoods responds to what this could mean for Brooklyn’s black communities. Read more at Colorlines.

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by | August 30, 2012 · 2:55 pm

“How Big a Scandal Could This Become?”

That’s the question Brian Lehrer asked Azi Paybarah of Capital New York this morning on WNYC, in reference to the sexual harassment charges against New York State Assemblyman Vito Lopez. Lopez has been censured by the New York State Assembly, forced out of his job as Chairman of the Housing Committee, and has announced that he does not plan to run for re-election to be leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party. As more information about previous harassment charges and subsequent settlements emerges, the implosion of Mr. Lopez’s career may have implications for other NYS Democrats: Sheldon Silver, Tom DiNapoli, and even Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Sexual harassment is just one example of how Mr. Lopez is totally unfit for public office. A notoriously corrupt machine-era politician, Lopez used his power to direct subsidies and steer developments as he saw fit. (The story of the Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg is a good example.) As Chairman of the Housing committee, Mr. Lopez wielded considerable power in the city’s subsidized housing industry. His non-profit, Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizen’s Council, has been wrought with charges of corruption since its inception.

Some affordable housing developers we have spoken with since the implosion of Vito Lopez’s career are pleased with what this may mean for the affordable housing community in New York City. And on Friday, a community organizer based in North Williamsburg commented to us, “You should see Brooklyn right now – it’s like Christmas.” This may be a liberating moment for the borough that has been rigorously controlled by Mr. Lopez for years.

A lot of information, some of it quite descriptive, is available about the charges filed against Mr. Lopez and we do not need to go into it here. But our question is: what took so long? Without trivializing the scarring experiences victims have suffered at Mr.Lopez’s hand (or mouth, or eyes), at times it can seem like everyone knows someone who the Assemblyman has acted inappropriately with. His corruption and his heinous behavior have been an open secret for quite some time; there are entire websites dedicated to exposing it.

Now powerful New York politicians are lining up around the block to call for his resignation. But they are answering the wrong question. Of course Mr. Lopez should resign, but it is not challenging anything to publically call for his resignation now that this scandal has been a breaking news story for nearly a week. New York pols should be telling us how this was allowed to happen, for so long, and why they looked the other way. They should also be answering WHY these sexual harassment charges are so much worse than the laundry list of things that this man has done wrong. By all common sense, this man should not have been allowed to hold office long enough to have been given the opportunity to prey on his recent victims. New York politicians should be apologizing to Mr. Lopez’s victims for waiting this long to take action and in so doing enabling him to exploit that power, again and again, on women, on neighborhoods, on Brooklyn, and on New York State.

If this is a liberating day for Brooklyn, it is a sad day for Albany — a day that illustrates the desperate need to change the status quo in New York State politics.

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