[811] GLOSSÁRIO URBANÍSTICO: GENTRIFICAÇÃO / GENTRIFICATION [PARTE 1]
EDITOR NOTE: PICTURES & MAPS DO NOT APPEAR IN THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE BY HUMANITY IN ACTION.
BOOK: Jane Jacobs: The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Vintage Books, 1989)
“CHANGE OR
DIE”? GENTRIFICATION IN BROOKLYN
[The case
of Williamsburg and Bushwick, Brooklin, New York, USA; January 2009]
Source: HUMANITY
IN ACTION; Publish Date:January 2009
CONTRIBUTORS
STEPHANIE
CHANG (2008 New York City Fellowship)
FLORIAN
DRUCKENTHANER (2008 New York City Fellowship)
Acesso RAS 2019-11-04
[1] ARTICLE
[preface]
1.
With simple clothes and a storm of grey
hair, the petite STEPHANIE EISENBERG
does not look like a successful developer and manufacturer. But in fact, she is, and also
happens to own one of the biggest buildings in Williamsburg, an area in northwest
Brooklyn known internationally for its bohemian attractions.
2.
EISENBERG speaks about the neighborhood as if it
were a setting for a mafia movie. In the 1970s, shootings and gang fights were a part of everyday
life.
“This was not a place you wanted to be,” says the 60-year old woman
while sipping a $3 cup of coffee in one of the many upscale cafes on Bedford
Avenue.
3.
Now the
vibrant center of the area, it is unimaginable that stores on Bedford Avenue
used to close at 5:00 pm. “It was a
landscape full of abandoned factories and collapsing industrial buildings,” says STEPHANIE. But for her, Williamsburg was neither a failure nor an eyesore opposite the
skyline of Manhattan. Coming from a manufacturer’s family, she was thrilled by
its post-industrial charm and she also saw it as a chance for future
development.
4.
In 1982, STEPHANIE invested $25,000 into a ruined warehouse building. At that time no bank wanted
to finance her purchase because they saw it as too risky. But she was convinced
that she was making the right choice. She bought the building, and let it sit
until only a few years ago when she was able to finance a radical restoration.
5.
The entire warehouse was converted into a
residential building, which offered affordable condominiums to architects and
other artists already living in the neighborhood. Today, the building has over 70
units – one of them just recently sold for $750,000.
6.
But it was not the profit that drove her
engagement. STEPHANIE tries to play
the role of a responsible business-woman. Many years she has been on the forefront for sustainable
development on Brooklyn´s waterfront.
7.
Her different approach is also reflected
by the way she planned her building. There is no door-man and complicated house-entry system and the
ground floor houses a nursing school and a music store. “We have 75 families and 35
children. Everybody cares for each other.”
8.
This was her effort to build a community. But she is not convinced that
other developers follow her rule: “I am not saying you shouldn’t develop, or
make a profit, but you just have to be sensitive, and realize that you’re part
of a bigger picture.”
Now the
vibrant center of the area, it is unimaginable that stores on Bedford Avenue
used to close at 5:00 pm.
[2]THE CITY’S DECLINE AND RENEWAL
9.
Thirty years ago, [c.1979-80]
New York was a dying city. The decline of the industrial sector, high rates of crime,
pollution and racial tensions forced the middle and working class to leave the
city and escape to the suburbs. New York was the perfect example of the
process that sociologists and urban planners now describe as WHITE FLIGHT, a massive exodus
of predominantly white, middle-income individuals having a huge impact on the
real estate.
10.
The market was so low that, for many
homeowners, it was more profitable to burn down their buildings and get the
money from the insurance than to rent them out.
11.
This simple market observation led to
disastrous outcomes. In 1979,
Bushwick, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, experienced a wave of fires that burnt
vast parts of the district to the ground and completed its economic collapse.
Located
in the northeast part of the borough, and sharing a border with Williamsburg, BUSHWICK
is a perfect location to study the roots of gentrification.
12.
Sometime in the 90s things
started to change.
i.
First, New York City was
no longer a place where one could get shot in the middle of the day. RUDOLPH GIULIANI’S harsh
anti-crime, “zero tolerance” policy put the crime level relatively under
control.
ii.
Second, New York City seized an opportunity to
become a leading financial and banking center for the world, one that provides
services for the fast-paced globalized economy.
iii.
Third, people from the upper middle class
started to return to the city. In the beginning they started to buy properties situated close to
the heart of Manhattan, as well as near the financial district. Greenwich
Village, once occupied by artists, was one of the first areas affected by this
process that is now known as gentrification.
13.
From Manhattan, where the costs of living
became too high, the highly paid young professionals also known as yuppies
began to turn their eyes to the other side of the East River: to Brooklyn.
14.
Brooklyn is New York´s most populous borough that is now home to the
most rapidly changing neighborhoods of the City.
15.
Bushwick is one of them. Located in the northeast part of
the borough, and sharing a border with Williamsburg,
it is a perfect location to study the roots of gentrification. The area is
dominated by three-story apartment buildings, which are still occupied by many
low-income renters. But the plane of gentrification
is about to take off. And the “displaced” from Williamsburg have already taken their seat in the cockpit.
[3] THE
PIONEERS OF GENTRIFICATION
16.
Embedded
between colorful signs advertising “Chicken
Patties” and second hand refrigerator stores, the entrance to “Good bye
Blue Monday,” on 1087 Broadway in South
Bushwick, is discreet. Inside one will find just the opposite.
17.
The space is covered with antique trash
(mostly from dead people), with puppets hanging from the ceiling, and lights
and lamps wherever you look. “I wanted to establish a place for cultural activity. So I turned my retail store into a coffee house, bar and music venue,” explains owner STEVE TRIMBOLI,
a short, laid back guy in his 50´s.
“I’m here
because it’s cheap and close to the subway…I don´t want random people to come
in, there are so many greasy people hanging out here.”
18.
TRIMBOLI was one of the first exiles from
rent-rising Williamsburg to move further east on the subway-map. “It was a nightmare. When I came here 9 years ago [c.2000] , the streets were crowded with
prostitutes and drug-dealers. Some brothels and crack houses worked in joint venture.”
19.
Today, the freely accessible stage in the
bar attracts musicians from all over the world. Along with them come artists, gays, hipsters,
and the most frightening crowd of first-wave “gentrifiers”, yuppies.
20.
“When a crack house was shut down, they
turned it into an underground party space,” STEVE says as he points at the
“Bodega,” a corner shop down the street which is well-known for its illegal
electro parties. “There is more creativity in Bushwick than anywhere else in New
York,” says the
experienced retailer, who goes with the trend and started his own bar-blog. “Last
week I gave an interview for a Japanese newspaper.”
21.
This recent media attention however is not
the only reason why the area has become a hot spot for newcomers from all over.
22.
“I’m here because it’s cheap and close to
the subway,” says JENNY
MULITANO, a young fashion designer from Baltimore. She opened her t-shirt showroom
in June, just two blocks away from Goodbye Blue Monday on Broadway. Having her
own store-front was her childhood dream. “I could
never afford a place like this in Williamsburg”,
says the 26 year old.
23.
But in contrast to the store’s name,
“Yours truly,” a quite customer-unfriendly door policy has been established:
She locks them out. “I don´t want random people to come in, there are so many greasy people
hanging out here,” MULITANO says.
24.
SAFETY is still an issue in the neighborhood,
and speculation is part of the game. “I want to give it a try. And if it doesn’t get better within a
year, I will move somewhere else.” For now, newcomers like Jenny are careful, especially when
they have the feeling of not being welcome.
Real
estate agents have started to show the bar to potential buyers, knowing that a
white outpost in a predominantly black neighborhood opens the mind for
speculation.
25.
“You have to watch your back here,” says ADRIANO MORAES, a
cartoonist and bartender. His friend got beaten up, but didn’t want to talk about it. Too often he saw the word “gentrification”
used as an excuse for violence.
26.
ADRIANO himself has a critical stand towards the
projected development of the area. To him Gentrification
means “simplification”: “At some point everything will look the
same. It changes the personality of a neighborhood. Big chains come in, kill
the competition, and destroy the difference. People here don’t have the power
to fight this.”
27.
His fears are somewhat real, for the north
of Bushwick has started to be
labeled as “East Williamsburg,” and condos are starting
to rise.
28.
“We are all broke here and don’t want to
be pushed out again,” says the 33 year-old cartoonist, who has
not been yet recognized by the market. It’s hard for him to realize that the place he works at is on the
forefront of all of this change. Real estate agents have started to show the
bar to potential buyers, knowing that a white outpost in a predominantly black
neighborhood opens the mind for speculation.
29.
Pioneer-Developer STEVE prefers the word “redevelopment,” and does not feel
responsible for the side effects of his engagement. “You start selling something different than fried chicken and
pizza and you are called a `gentrifier´. It’s like blaming the inventor of the
wheel for the climate change.”
30.
By expanding his music venue to the
basement, Steve tries to adapt to what he calls a “natural process.” “For a
while it is wonderful, then it gets gentrified, rich people move in, others
move out, that’s New York.” And in fact, competition might soon get harder for
the first and only bar-owner in the street, as some of the “underground” venues
start applying for alcohol licenses.
31.
STEVE tries to act cool, “I say `change or die´
and I’m prepared to stay.” After showing the newly constructed lounge in the basement, he
takes a last sip of his coffee and hops on his bike to get to the subway.
[4] WHAT A DEVELOPER HAS TO SAY
32.
“Yuppies just realized that cities are
cool,” says BRIAN EZRA, an energetic
28-year-old developer from Brooklyn, “and they love artists.” One cannot fully
understand what gentrification is all about without understanding the role of
artists and creative individuals like STEVE
and JENNY.
33.
Their situation is truly schizophrenic. On the one hand they are victims
of high real estate prices, and on the other hand they are a cause of it. “If
you are a developer you want to see some sort of investment already in place.
Before luxury condos are built, you see homes starting to be renovated and
second hand furniture stores existing. Developers are looking for signs of
life.” And artists provide these signs. Looking for cheap housing and bigger
space, they tend to be more ambivalent towards crime and underdevelopment than
yuppies. “They are pioneers of gentrification,” EZRA says as he smiles while sitting in his office on 6th avenue. He looks a bit like the chief of
the West-Indian Trading Company, and as if he is just about to send his first
ship with settlers to the New World.
Their situation
is truly schizophrenic. On the one hand they are victims of high real estate prices, and
on the other hand they are a cause of it.
34.
Artists bear
the risk that many developers do not want to take. Moreover, they tend to be
white, which literally changes the image of a district. This change of image
seems to be a prerequisite for further development. Soon after the pioneer’s
arrival, the first stores are opened. “Retail follows
residential,” says EZRA, as he plans
to send barbers and goldsmiths to his service-starving settlement.
35.
But this time they are thirsty for lattes
and organic food. “It eventually becomes a cycle. Higher-end people then become
attracted, more restaurants and coffee shops are opened and so on…”
36.
It does not take much time to see condos
being built and upper middle class families moving in. This then acts as a motive for
landlords to raise rents, which in the end results in the displacement of old
residents.
37.
The progression of gentrification sees no
end, and the list of districts affected by this process become longer every
year. EZRA concludes, “I
can’t think of any neighborhood in the city that has deteriorated. New York City in general is being
gentrified”.
[5] THE
MECCA OF GENTRIFICATION
38.
Follow the L TRAIN, or “the gentrifiers
train,” as some New Yorkers call it, just one stop from Manhattan and you will
land in the heart of it all – Bedford Avenue in north Williamsburg.
39.
Bikes line the street, chained to every
non-removable surface possible – stop signs, fences, trees, and parking meters.
Take a look
around, and ‘Williamsburg Walks’
signs block off the main drag of the Avenue, with the normal hustle and bustle
of car traffic being replaced by young fashionistas clad in sunglasses and
cut-off jeans, playing guitar or selling second-hand books.
40.
And the customers look the same:
Good-looking, cigarette smoking, espresso drinking, twenty-somethings. Walk
down Bedford to South 2nd, into STEPHANIE
EISENBERG´S converted shoe polish factory which now houses the creators of
Limewire, a free-form music-downloading site; Videom, a space for independent
video artists to share their work; and Threadless, a clothing company which
allows buyers to create their own t-shirts.
41.
High-ceiling lofts with 10-foot windows,
colorful walls, and music recording equipment scattered throughout the space,
this is the picture of bohemian living that has attracted so much attention to Williamsburg in the recent years.
42.
The district has transformed from a
historically Polish, Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Hasidic neighborhood to what
is now internationally known as the most gentrified
place in New York City.
With an
estimated 4000 new housing units scheduled for construction, and with many
having already broken ground this past year, one cannot help but wonder what
the future of this neighborhood will entail.
43.
Looking a
little bit further, past the bikes, past the coffee shops, and past the
converted live/work industrial lofts, you can see the waterfront, with
Manhattan’s gleaming skyline poking out in the distance across the East River.
This waterfront is now the real attraction in Williamsburg.
44.
Developers have found it, and in the words
of STEPHANIE EISENBERG, they are
saying: “Oh look! Waterfront! And the neighborhood has already been stabilized
by artists… let’s move in!”
45.
With an estimated 4000 new housing units
scheduled for construction, and with many having already broken ground this
past year, one cannot help but wonder what the future of this neighborhood will
entail.
46.
“The city is trying to create a second
skyline, and they’re trying to do it with condos,” says NEIL DEMAUSE, a
journalist from City Limits magazine. What is particularly interesting about such developments is the
fact that the back-to-back lots all have the appearance of being ready for
construction, yet very few actual buildings are starting to be built.
47.
As of now, only one luxury condo high-rise
has been erected in the middle of Kent Avenue, with multi-story glass windows
protruding into space like a giant finger.
48.
“Why do developers make the effort to
claim so much land and then build so little?” asks NEIL DEMAUSE, knowing exactly what the
answer is.
In order to qualify for the tax break, developers must make 20
percent of their housing units “affordable” to low or moderate-income
individuals.
[6] “AFFORDABLE”
HOUSING
50.
A policy known as 421a,
originally instated in the 1970s, gave tax breaks to developers in an effort to
reverse the surge in suburbanization. “Developers
should help to rebuild the city,”
explains DEMAUSE with a perfidious
smile on his face, “but what they were actually doing was building condos for the
upper-middle class, subsidized by millions of tax dollars.”
51.
This policy only changed two years ago, as
the City government began to realize the negative effects of development, such
as the displacement of people.
52.
“The Republicans found a new catch word, “Affordable housing.” And they
repeat it over and over,” STEPHANIE
EISENBERG says as she gets visibly angry when she talks about MAYOR BLOOMBERG’S new engagement in the
struggle against displacement. Now, in order to qualify for the tax break, developers must make
20 percent of their housing units “affordable” to low or moderate-income
individuals.
53.
But developers found a way to avoid this:
by breaking ground, before the new legislation came into effect, in June 2008. This means that they pretended to
start a whole construction project by just digging up land. This is precisely
what has happened with the various lots lining Kent Ave on the East River.
54.
Besides the
failing efforts to protect communities from gentrification, the requirements of
the so-called “80/20 law” are not as
stiff as one would assume. The calculation is complicated.
55.
A unit is considered affordable if the
rent does not exceed a certain share of the average median income for all of
New York City. For a family
of four this means a $2300 rent a month.
56.
This is certainly not affordable for a
family that makes $28,000 a year – the average median income in Williamsburg. EISENBERG calls this, “Affordable
for the few, misery for the many.”
57.
She also comments that the city is
rezoning Williamsburg “so that rich
people can look at each other across the waterfront.” And the luxury condos are raising
property values throughout the entire neighborhood, pushing out not only
residents, but also many local manufacturing businesses that constituted the
majority of Williamsburg’s economy
through the 20th century.
58.
Unlike the displaced residents of Williamsburg, many of whom found
shelter in nearby Bushwick, the manufacturers have no alternative as they have
to be near their market. “My brother is doing steel work for the subway. Since he moved
out, he has to pay his employers to drive the trucks back into the City. They are killing the economy and don’t even realize it,” says EISENBERG.
59.
Meanwhile,
the people on the streets of Williamsburg
have similar problems. ELIJAH WOLFSON, a 22 year-old photographer and
filmmaker, must work as a legal reporter for a financial company in order to
afford his $1000/month rent. He voiced his concern that Williamsburg’s
infrastructure will not be able to handle the large surge in population. “There
are already 2 times as many people waiting to get on the L train into Manhattan
at 8:45 in the morning. I have to wait for 3 trains to pass by before there is
enough space to get on. It’s only going to get crazier. They need more buses,
more trains, or a ferry that goes across the river or something.”
60.
Other residents mock the “ugly and cheap”
appearance of the newly built condos. For BRIAN
JACOBS, a web developer and guitarist, taste in design was one of the
reasons he came to Williamsburg. “It seems that Williamsburg is
loosing its very nature.”
61.
Moreover, the 28-year-old states that
there are no an ordinary banks in the neighborhood, or grocery shops.
62.
Activist EISENBERG also raised the poignant questions of schools, hospitals,
and sewage. “Prevention is a dirty word in New York City. We don’t
believe in it,” she states.
63.
With no development plans for anything
other than condos, rentals, retail stores, parks, and food service establishments,
one cannot help but think that she may be right.
Rather
than charging developers to help build a second sewage line through
Williamsburg in exchange for access to land, the city is building a giant
expandable rubber bladder.
64.
A particularly interesting example of the
city’s priorities is their plan to accommodate all of the new sewage that is to
come along with the high density housing to be built along the river.
65.
The city, which already has been known to
have sewage flooding problems, especially during the rainy winter season, plans
to build a rubber “bladder,” which will expand underneath the East River in
order to accommodate the extra waste.
66.
The rubber bladder will then contract when
the rainwater has subsided, and the waste can then run as normal to the sewage
treatment facility, according to Eisenberg. Therefore, rather than charging developers to help build a second
sewage line through Williamsburg in
exchange for access to land, the city is building a giant expandable rubber
bladder.
67.
In the
meantime, local manufacturers, ethnic communities, and aspiring artists are
forced to move out. The positives of development, such as increases in
safety, the creation of more green space and the influx of commerce and
cultural activity, are only accessible to those who can compete with 3 million
dollar condos.
68.
“Tourism and Wall Street are the only
things left in this city,” says EISENBERG, unconscious of her double
role in the game called gentrification.
“Developers
are killing the very reason why tourists come here. They come to see diverse
ethnic neighborhoods, artists, not condos. And we all know what happened to
Wall Street.”
[7] REFERENCES
Interviews with:
Ø Brian Ezra – Manhattan 8/8/08
Ø Neil DeMause – Manhattan 8/8/08
Ø Stephanie Eisenberg – Williamsburg, Brooklyn 8/10/08
Ø Steve Trimboli – Bushwick, Brooklyn 8/11/08
Ø Jenny Mulitano – Bushwick, Brooklyn 8/11/08
Ø Adriano Moraes – Bushwick, Brooklyn 8/11/08
BOOK: Jane Jacobs: The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Vintage Books, 1989)
*********************************
AVISO AOS NAVEGANTES!
NOTAS DO EDITOR do Blog Ronald.Arquiteto e do Facebook
Ronald Almeida Silva:
[1] As palavras e
números entre [colchetes]; os destaques sublinhados, em negrito e
amarelo
bem como nomes próprios em CAIXA ALTA
e a numeração de parágrafos – se
presentes nos textos ora publicados - NÃO CONSTAM da edição original
deste documento (mensagem, artigo; pesquisa; monografia; dissertação; tese ou
reportagem). Os
mencionados adendos ortográficos foram acrescidos meramente com intuito
pedagógico de facilitar a leitura, a compreensão e a captação mnemônica dos
fatos mais relevantes da mensagem por um espectro mais amplo de leitores de
diferentes formações, sem prejuízo do conteúdo cujo texto está transcrito na
íntegra, conforme a versão original.
[2] O Blog Ronald Arquiteto e o Facebook RAS são mídias independentes e 100% sem fins
lucrativos pecuniários. Não tem anunciantes, apoiadores, patrocinadores e
nem intermediários. Todas as
publicações de textos e imagens são feitas de boa-fé, respeitando-se as
autorias e respectivos direitos autorais, sempre com base no espírito e nexo
inerentes à legislação brasileira, em especial à LEI-LAI – Lei de Acesso à Informação nº 12.257, de 18nov2011.
[3] A eventual republicação de
matérias de sites e blogs que vedam a retransmissão de suas publicações deve
ser considerada como ato proativo não doloso de desobediência civil (tipo Soft
Wikileak) em favor da Transparência Total e da Melhor Democracia na comunicação
privada e pública, no espírito e com base na LEI-LAI, visando apenas ampliar o
universo de internautas que buscam informações gratuitas na rede mundial.
[4] Para usuários de
correio eletrônico - e-mail, Facebook e blog: O Emitente desta mensagem é responsável pelas opiniões de
sua autoria, mas não se responsabiliza pelo conteúdo elaborado por terceiros,
embora tenha agido com zelo e descortino na seleção de textos e imagens que
reproduz nas mídias citadas, evitando propagar fakes e informações injuriosas
ou ilegais. Cabe ao Destinatário cuidar quanto ao tratamento e destino
adequados da mensagem recebida, respeitando sempre as normas do marco
regulatório brasileiro da internet. Caso a pessoa que recebeu esta mensagem não
seja o Destinatário de fato da mesma, solicitamos devolvê-la ao Remetente e
apagá-la posteriormente. Agradecemos a compreensão e a colaboração de todos
quanto ao uso correto, ético e civilizado das mensagens e documentos tramitados
por meios eletrônicos.
RONALD DE ALMEIDA SILVA
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 02jun1947; reside em São Luís, MA, Brasil desde
1976.
Arquiteto Urbanista FAU-UFRJ 1972 / Registro profissional CAU-BR A.107.150-5
e-mail: ronald.arquiteto@gmail.com
Blog Ronald.Arquiteto (ronalddealmeidasilva.blogspot.com)
Facebook ronaldealmeida.silva.1
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário