Comments on: Meet Your Neighbors: Episode 8

By: eric on myrtle

eric on myrtle — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:08:57 +0000

Gentrification always brings on many defenders among the folks doing it. Whom would you wish to sway? Long-term residents you don’t have relationships with? Developers who already have their money? Random folks on blogs? I don’t see an audience to win here. You can have power or pity, but not both. (Leonard Pitts said that.)

this defense (usually a pointing to technical gentrification benefits and lacking iteration of cultural benefits) points to the heart of the problem: cultural responsibility. We should be dealing together if weâ€™re living together.

Instead of defending presence, apply time and economic weight to lobbying against the automatic â€œgentrification = displacementâ€ equation. Lobbying for whole grain bread in the bodega is less powerful than an integrated group consistently pushing for change that benefits the whole neighborhood. Amenities don’t really need a lobby – Pale Ale and Sam Adams are already here. Those amenities come with the demo change. Instead, spend more time with Hakeem Jeffries as he lobbbies and rallies for G-Train service to improve.

Fundamental, integrated, consistent, strategic neighborhood change is where we can all get down. But you should start on your block by being aware, being yourself, and just being people. Real recognize real – and cooperation can come from that.

By: Fitz

Fitz — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:41:21 +0000

Most people who oppose gentrification translate it as: #1. Higher Rent- Shucks, I’ve got to move again. This will be the third time in 2 years. My Section 8 housing is turning into a Co-op?? #2. More Expensive Food- So long to the 25 Cent bag of Bravos and 10 Cent Icy for lunch. #3. Does there really need to be a 3?

Much easier and cheaper to champion the status quo for most people. Life is just easier with less change.

By: laduchessa

laduchessa — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:00:21 +0000

haven’t seen the criterion collection (i want to now) but i do own his “do the right thing” diary that has tons of production notes in it. will have to re-read and see what he says about the location. btw… that’s a fascinating read and producing that film was pretty much a miracle given what he had to contend with.

By: Jimmy Legs

Jimmy Legs — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:24:58 +0000

the block between quincy & lexington was used for the main block shots. did you guys ever see the criterion collection DVD? it has tons of extra stuff, including spike returning to the bock as it is today (or a couple years ago). it’s a little depressing to see those lots still empty.

By: inquisigal

inquisigal — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:17:10 +0000

It is on Stuyvesant Avenue, at the corner of Quincy. I thought it was the empty storefront at the corner of Stuyvesant and Macon, but nerd alert here too; while watching DTRT we paused the tape on the garbage can that was thrown through Sal’s front window, noted the street address, then Googled it. If you go to that corner, there are empty lots (where they must have built the set), but you can also see buildings still standing that were in the movie!

By: laduchessa

laduchessa — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:45:38 +0000

nerd alert: i googled and found that the address of sal’s was supposedly 162 stuyvesant avenue. according to google maps that puts it between lexington and quincy. i do, however, think it was shot closer to fulton because i feel like i knew the cross street at one point. bainbridge?

By: laduchessa

laduchessa — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:18:49 +0000

also, the street sign outside of sal’s pizzeria in DTRT says stuyvesant ave.

wondering about the cross street?

By: laduchessa

laduchessa — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:10:40 +0000

i saw DTRT when it came out in ’89. i’ve seen it many times since and very recently in fact. it’s still an important, relevant film. and wow if he doesn’t just capture the heat in brooklyn and all of the tension that comes with it. at the same time he also paints quite an endearing picture of bed-stuy and its community. same with “crooklyn”.

i will say i paused on the “blatant gentrification” comment as well but i took it to mean something else, more in the line of what jimmy legs previously stated. sometimes i think “gentrification” and “development” are terms that get interchanged and while related and somewhat dependent on each other they have two distinct meanings. i think i appropriated her words to mean the latter. when i see new construction slapped up and landlords that have no ties to the community whatsoever i see it as “blatant development”…

By: JB

JB — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:31:06 +0000

Somewhat of a gentrification sidenote, sometime around 2002 I saw Do The Right Thing for the first time since it came out in the late 80′s. NYC back then was VERY tense, i’ll even say Summer ’89 specifically, around when DTRT was out for a bit. Seeing it again in ’02, you can really FEEL what NYC felt like back then, I was like, Holy $hit!! Most surprising, was the part in the movie, when the loudmouth guy with the wire rimmed glasses was giving the white guy with the Celtics shirt crap, yelling at him about ‘Gentrification’. After the passage of time having not seen DTRT for so long, I was a bit taken aback to hear gentrification referenced and complained about, at a time in our City’s history, when it felt like our City had completely gone to $hit!

By: Rob B.

Rob B. — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:36:22 +0000

Well, my dad was born in what is now Clinton Hill, but what was then Bed-Stuy in 1918. According to him, the Bed-Stuy of his childhood was a working class neighborhood that also included wealthy blacks. Blacks with money purchased homes here because it was one of the few neighborhoods where they could, while the rest of the neighborhood was composed of Irish, Jewish, Italian and Black families that rented.

He attended Old Boys High with my uncles while my aunts went to Old Girls High. Their classes were anywhere from 10 to 40% African-American. The area really started to change over in the 40′s and 50′s and by the time Jackie Robinson came to Ebbetts Field, Bed-Stuy was a predominantly black community, but one that had a great class diversity. Homeowners were professionals, but there were plenty of bus drivers, train porters, and factory workers at the Navy Yard that had saved enough money to buy a home and raise their families.

My dad had great stories about growing up here. His love for this neighborhood is one of the reasons I grew to love it (warts and all) and why I chose to stay and raise my family here.