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Bed-Stuy in the News
By The Changeling | July 28, 2008
Only One Way to Go (Up)
No doubt that by now you’ve seen the The New York Times piece on Bed-Stuy in Sunday’s Metro Section. In my opinion the reporter, Manny Fernandez, accurately captures what is going on in this area. He talks about gentrification the way it really happens: two steps forward, one step backward, tension between old and new.
When he interviewed me I told him that I hoped that I wouldn’t come off as Pollyannaish in the article, and thankfully I don’t think I do. I will continue to be cautiously optimistic about change in this area, though. That photo of me really captures it–I spend a lot of time reflecting on the this neighborhood. I also spend a lot of time reflecting on class differences within the African-American community, a topic that only became salient to me when I moved to Bed-Stuy, but perhaps that is another discussion for another time.
Both Antbed.com and Bed-Stuy Banana are encouraging comments about this piece on their blogs (the links are below). I thought I would do the same. How do you feel about the story as told by the Times? Do you think it is a fair assessment of the northern section of the neighborhood?
Not At All Obvious [Antbed.com]
Breaking News: Bed-Stuy According to the NY Times [Bed-Stuy Banana]
Topics: , Gentrification |
July 28th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Although I think the article tried to play up some differences, I think it was ok. Though I am not a native of the neighborhood and I have only lived here a few years, I can’t help but feel that the media likes to portray all areas of Bed-Stuy has dirty and out-of-control and that, somehow, the changes are taming the “wild west” atmosphere. Don’t know why that gets under my skin, but it does.
(You looked great, btw, Changeling)
July 28th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Thanks, Newbie!
As for portraying BS as out of control and in need of taming, isn’t that always the underlying message in all gentrification stories? Whenever I read articles on gentrification they all read the same way. I believe that the crime reduction* that accompanies gentrification feeds into this “taming of the wild west” imagery.
*Maybe I should say crime transformation rather than crime reduction. When the most common crime is not burglary but embezzlement, and the drug of choice is not crack but cocaine, then the wild west of Bed-Stuy will have been tamed in the minds of many.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Where is the gas station that was shut down located?
I understand many stations across the city are being shut down. Good we should all walk and ride bikes around the city.
Ray
July 28th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
That gas station was on the southeast corner of Myrtle and Marcy. I’m glad it is gone. Good riddance! Of course, I say this as someone who only owns a bike.
July 28th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I thought the article was a little alarmist and one sided. I know of 3 people moving out of their apartments and they’ve all chosen to remain in the neighborhood. I haven’t, nor do I know of anyone who has been the target of hostile racial remarks. Disclosure: I’m at the south end of the neighborhood, so maybe it’s a different vibe there. But the piece doesn’t go into that either.
You look great though!
July 28th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
The unmentionable characters in “the Bed-Stuy Problem” are those familiar rogues, Gentrification and Racism – and though they have always haunted “long-troubled places at the fringes,” they are not quaint historical relics.
Gentrification, is must be remembered, is not a pleasant, weightless real estate word, merely describing a laudable trend toward bustling nightlife, public safety and general affluence. For the native member of a “gentrifying” community, Gentrification is a steamroller of expense and cultural annihilation: it drives up housing costs, closes locally-owned businesses, threatens community identity, eliminates affordable food and goods. Folks are priced out of the homes they grew up in, and cultural conflict between natives and newcomers arise as their respective communities seek to hold ground. Usually, the people with the money win.
When Community Board Chairman Henry Butler says he’s “not looking to Harlemlize” Bed-Stuy, he doesn’t just mean that he doesn’t want to see real estate prices climb – he means he doesn’t want the neighborhood to become a site of class conflict, where the needs of the existing community become increasingly unaddressed. He also means that he doesn’t want Bed-Stuy to lose its special something – a something which is utterly unrecognized by Fernandez or some of the other commenters who responded to your post. Harlem is a cultural institution, “the birthplace of jazz”; likewise, Bedford-Stuyvesant is a nucleus of cultural history – all the way back to its 17th century existence as Weeksville (established in 1838), one of the first flourishing colonies of (and havens for) free African Americans. Since then, the neighborhood has continued to be a powerful source of African-American identity, producing hip-hop legends like Mos Def, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli, and Jackie Gleason, as well as poets like June Jordan and filmmakers like Spike Lee. For all its “shoeless men,” “birthday specials,” public housing projects and low-income families, Bed-Stuy is not an oppressed community (though its residents are certainly not exempt from the effects of racism and classism) – it is a proud font of African-American music and culture, depicted and commemorated in lyrics, literature and movies for a hundred years.
Which is why it is especially strange that race is barely mentioned in Fernandez’ article about the “stalled growth” of this “frontier neighborhood” (who are the frontiersmen? Is Bed-Stuy an uncharted territory, populated by savage natives?), though it permeates the subtext despite his best efforts. His first subject, 23-year-old Caucasian software engineer Dakota Blair, is “out of place” in his “Yuppie Spaceship” surrounded by (black) homeless people, (black) rappers, murals commemorating (black) murder victims, and liquor stores (where black people shop) with bulletproof glass (to protect from armed black people); though he and others pine for “different types of bars and night life nearby,” “the biggest news is the opening of a Duane Reade pharmacy” (no doubt a boon to locals with limited pharmaceutical access). On the other hand, some amenities-for-white-people – coffee houses, Fresh Direct – are making their timid presence known; oh, the suspense! Will Bed-Stuy become the “next [white] hipster enclave” after all??
I don’t mean to essentialize. As a Caucasian twenty-something Bed-Stuy resident in a low income bracket, I know as well as anyone that the issues facing this extraordinary neighborhood are far more about class than they are about race; having previously been a member of a racially-diverse-but-economically-similar university community, I also know that racism is far more likely to rear its ugly head among exploited and economically-divergent people. And yes, there have been times when I have been singled out or harassed here because of my race – but for every one of those, there have been a hundred instances of kindness, of welcome. These instances have not occurred because or in spite of my race, but because my respect for the community and commitment to enriching it were noticed and appreciated.
Fernandez’ piece wholly equates the “success” of a neighborhood with the progress of gentrification within it. But how many coffee shops or bars or condos – that’s not how I measure a neighborhood’s success. I measure active block associations, community gardens, neighbors hanging out together on their stoops in the summertime. I measure the local deli owner knowing my name, asking about my family, and I measure the outpouring of wonderful music as so many neighbors jam together in their living rooms with the windows open. I measure the Egyptian pizza guys teaching me to spin a pie, the Korean fish monger giving me a homemade Christmas gift, the Rastafari behind the juice bar laughing at the way I said “Selassie” and telling me that my pronunciation sounds too “ancient,” but still beautiful. I measure the locally-owned-and-run pharmacy slipping a Kit Kat in with everyone’s prescriptions. I measure my elderly next-door neighbor giving me a bouquet of her beautiful hydrangeas because I complimented her backyard garden, which I watch her tend from my window.
These are all blessings I have found here in my two years in the Bed-Stuy community – and I found them just by demonstrating respect and care for my neighbors. Not all communities are so healthy that they can respect you and care for you back, but this one is. And maybe I don’t totally “fit in” here (my sangria and chili-lime corn were met with some hesitation and dubious looks at the block party), but I like to think that I can offer what I have, all the same, and it will be received in good faith. Dear Gentry: if affluence makes you thoughtless, snobby or unkind, then Bed-Stuy is not for you. If difference makes you afraid, and fear makes you treat neighbors like criminals or animals or statistics, then Bed-Stuy is not for you. If you are “waiting for a surge,” then Bed-Stuy is not for you. But if you want to be a humble, loving part of Bed-Stuy as it exists today, then I predict you will feel welcome, safe, enriched and happy.
Seek community,
Kate
PS. Dear Gentry: it may also be a problem if you don’t like hip-hop.
(Hi Changeling! I posted these thoughts at Bed Stuy Banana, as well - thanks for the space to soapbox a bit.)
July 28th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
i found the tone of that article to be alarmist as well. i for one don’t see this mass exodus that the writer speaks of, nor have i felt the hostility that he mentions. i’ve had some superficial racial comments directed toward me but in the great system of checks and balances i maintain that if you operate with kindness in your heart and the desire to be part of the community it is usually recognized and reciprocated.
great post, kate.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I agree with rh. I was bothered by the article and spent the day complaining to my husband about it. I found the tone to be very negative and feel that good people that had considered moving into the area would be turned off by the article. I do think Bed-Stuy has a way to go but the changes I’ve seen over the several years I’ve lived here have been great. I too live in the southern “Stuyvesant Heights” section so I can’t speak for the northern or eastern parts of the nabe (Bed-Stuy is quite large). I wish the article wasn’t so one sided and would’ve pointed out some positives.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
It seems like the writer of this article drove to the Mynt and walk around the block saw Marcy projects and judged Bedford Stuyvesant the one of the largest neighborhood in New York City from the one or two blocks. It would be like if i was from another country and came to East St Louis only and said that the US is ugly and scary. This “writer” did not go to the Bedford Stuyvesant most in the community knows. He did not WALK down beautiful blocks of Madison, Jefferson, Putnam, Hancock, Halsey, Macon, MacDonough, Decatur, Bainbridge and Stuyvesant and talk to the old and new homeowners that really care about this very old community. I am very shocked at the New York Times for doing the NEGATIVE article on the great neightborhood. There is no mention of how friendly this place is or how people really look out for one another. This article really pissed me off when I saw it… I am very disappointed in the new york times and I will NOT be supporting them for some time.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Dear Kate,
You tempt a heavy hand, Kate. But I will try to be fair. Your research is impressive, though flawed. Your romantic vision is admirable. though naive.
“Bedford-Stuyvesant is a nucleus of cultural history – all the way back to its 17th century existence as Weeksville (established in 1838),”
Wanna think about that one a minute longer? As you know, Weeksville is located in Crown Heights. Perhaps there was a historical shift in borders since the, what, 17th century? You mean the 1600’s? But then Weeksville, according to your research, was established in 1838. That would be the 19th century. This gives me pause.
But I don’t want to engage in the nastiness other blogs are famous for. Rather, I will relay an anecdote: when we bought our house here in 2005 (yes, we are gentrifiers, too), the white woman who sold it to us sat across the closing table and cried. While I thought she was crying from joy at making such a butt-load of money off of us, she began to tell a story. She said there was one New Year’s holiday when she was so drunk she dropped her wallet in the street as she got out of the cab in front of her (our) house. A kindly (black) neighbor found it and returned it to her much to her surprise. I thought awhile about her story until I realized there was nothing special about it. Why wouldn’t a neighbor return a wallet?, I thought. If one of my neighbors dropped a wallet and I found it, I would return it, too. “Those people,” she said, “have ben so good and kind to me. And, I will always cherish my time in that house, on that block.” I am taking some creative license here, of course, but her saying “those people” was unmistakable.
My point is there is something of a “those people” in your post. You mean well, you mean well. I get it. But your willingness to distort the facts in service of your romantic vision is a little off-putting. We can research the histories of any neighborhood in NYC, but those histories are finite and fractured. Bed Stuy has been a black community for 60 years, and that’s admirable. It is also a result of the fact that many of the black residents couldn’t get mortgages on Long Island when everyone fled from integration, from riots, and then from the crack wars. Do you think people stayed because they had faith in their community to rebound? Or because they wanted their children to attend sub (sub-sub)-standard schools?
You paint this picture of a Bed Stuy that is proud and defiant. But that is simply a fiction. Granted, we will hear stories of people who invested in a community they believed in and committed to, but the overwhelming truth is that they were held captive by a variety of antagonistic social forces. The arts and culture you cite result from necessity rather than choice.
I don’t want to blow up your spot, by any means. But it seems your desire to celebrate the history of Bed Stuy, while laudable, represents an over-anxious desire to be “down.”
July 29th, 2008 at 2:12 am
Quincy,
A fair critique, and thanks for catching my 17th century gaffe (I did mean 19th - curse you, slippery fingers!). And while Wikipedia does locate the original Weeksville in present-day Bedford-Stuyvesant, my more general point was that the community arose from as much of a tradition of creating opportunity and culture as one of seeking sanctuary from racist oppression.
I do reject your assertion that there is a “those people” tone to my post, beyond the simple truth that I am one of many minorities in Bed-Stuy. I do believe that it is important to recognize that white people have a old and bitter identity as oppressors (and that affluent “gentry” are usually, though by no means always, that color), and that even the most well-intentioned white people enjoy privileges not afforded to most African-Americans; in light of these facts, as a socially-privileged Caucasian person, I enter into this community with mindfulness and humility. But in my post, I sought to describe the ways in which I feel united with the community, participating in it - not just being moved or served by it. Perhaps I should have described this better.
I realize my description of Bed-Stuy is heroic, oversimplified, maybe even Romantic - but I did not mean to distort the facts. Certainly the neighborhood has suffered decades of terrible violence and rampant drug use, extreme poverty and utter absence of decent educational facilities or civil services. Absolutely arts and culture arose from necessity rather than choice - and what triumphs they have been! And for loving families to stay so closely knit during difficult times, for small business to keep alive, for trees to be planted and gardens tended - these are achievements worth celebrating.
My point is that Bed-Stuy loves itself. Even as disappointed prospectors lament its “growing pains” and lack of “nightlife”, Bed-Stuy believes in its strength and tough survival, is proud of its history and culture. This is not a community of captives, any more than Harlem - whatever their history. And yeah, I’m “down” to appreciate that - way more that I’m down for bars and condos and Fresh Direct, certainly.
The woman in your story expresses surprise and gratitude that her neighbor did the neighborly thing - returning a dropped wallet. Maybe she did believe that black people usually snatch dropped wallets, and that they transcended their thieving nature out of kindness to her - but maybe she just understood that Bed-Stuy didn’t owe a wealthy white landowner any kindness whatsoever, and offered it to her anyway.
Neighborliness, respect, loyalty, generosity - these are not values traditionally embraced by gentrification. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible - or pollyanna - to embrace them.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:14 am
PS. Thanks, duchessa
July 29th, 2008 at 6:27 am
I don’t care what neighborhood I’m in. I would be surprised too if I got a wallet back in NYC.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:45 am
I’m enjoying your thoughtful comments on the article. I just wanted to mention something about the article and its focus on the northwest portion of the neighborhood. When I was contacted by the reporter, he told me that he was interested in doing a story on the changes occurring on Myrtle Avenue. He interviewed several residents and business owners along the avenue, and he even tried to get in touch with the pastor of the church located on Myrtle between Nostrand and Marcy (the church’s name escapes me and I’m not sure if he ever got the chance to interview the pastor). I’m sure that some of the negative feelings people have been having towards his piece would never have emerged had the title been “Growing Pains Come and Go on Myrtle Avenue.”
July 29th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Changeling, absolutely. As another commenter mentioned on BedStuy Banana, making generalizations about one of the biggest neighborhoods in New York based on a small area is, at best, lazy journalism - and at worst, sensationalist exploitation of an easy target (the Mynt and the surrounding area). In the past couple of years I have lived on both Decatur Street and Putnam Avenue (six blocks apart), and neither of those streets nor the area between them fits Fernandez’ description.
Thanks for spurring an interesting conversation!
July 29th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I don’t think I’m suprised at all by the undertones of negativity in the article. I’ve lived in this neighborhood since I was three and I’ve never heard anything but negativity about “Do or Die”. When I met my husband (we were dating at the time) and told him I lived in Bed Stuy, he looked at me like I was crazy. He was literally afraid to come to my house or come pick me up. Bed Stuy has always been categorized as this seedy den of drug slinging and murder. Honestly, I think its one of the reasons why it was such a “secret” for so many years. No one would have believed the beauty, the architecture, the wonderful people who lived here. Friends of mine have been literally shocked to see how lovely many of the streets and homes are when they have come to visit for the first time.
I think sensationalism is a large part of reporting, it has to be. We were said to be in a “heat wave” on a 86 degree day last week.
Now the question is, will this be a detriment to the community? I like many of the changes the neighborhood has undergone. I like that I don’t have to go to Manhattan to have a devent meal anymore. I’m glad that I have a nice coffee shop in my neighborhood where I can shoot the breeze. Will this article or others like it keep prospective businesses or new home owners out of the neighborhood?
July 29th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Native, I think you’re right that Bed-Stuy’s reputation (and the accompanying racism) has served as a kind of cloaking device for the community, shielding it from gentrified interests (until now?). It’s also true that because so many of the original residents own their homes, increased rent rates are benefiting some members of the community (or at least not causing a mass exodus, the way housing costs did in places like Alphabet City). It’s great that there is good, healthy food available, and the occasional cafe - as long as those businesses exist proportionately and in the service of community needs, rather than anticipating a “surge” of moneyed newcomers. I feel like Bread Stuy does this particularly well, offering reasonably priced goods, a welcoming and inclusive hang-out spot, free events like game nights, and a forum for holding and publicizing community events and issues.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
You know I had a chance to buy in Bedford Stuyvesant 7 years ago but I chose a condo in Park Slope. Well I finally had my mother hit me on the head last year when I wanted to sell and move to another condo. She told me to look in the “hood” you can get a big grand brownstone for less than this condo you are looking for and that is what I did. I was fortunate to buy a house on MacDonough St between Tompkins and Throop. I love my block the people are wonderful and can’t do enough for me… In North Park Slope I never knew my neighbors and lest than a year of living here I know about 80% of the residents on my block. It feels good to say good morning to everyone in the mornings. I get so MAD when I see lies printed about my area. I am sure things happen in Bedford Stuyvesant but it is not around me. I have small problems with the neighborhood but they are things that can be fixed very easy. I hate to see people throw trash on the street when a trash can is 5 feet away and cars that blast music late at night. I hate seeing so many teens with nothing to do during the summer but hang out on the corner. I wish there was a way to create jobs for them… Hey maybe picking up the trash? Overall the positives outweigh the negatives big time. I have friends from PS that what to buy in the area but the US economy scares them right now. One of my friends is jumping in head first on his first home on Macon, I hope that I did not hype this area up too much but he did not even consider looking over here 3 months ago and now he is in contract on a fixer upper.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
What a nice surprise to see your lovely face in the paper.
Though we left BK it’s still nice to keep up with the the old nabe (well, in the case of Bed-Stuy, the neighboring nabe…) greetings from Providence!
July 29th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Hey thanks Jen! I hope that I’ll get a chance to see you and Mike at the BBQ at the end of Aug. Will you be back for it?
July 29th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Kate,
Both the issues I had with the NYT article and the many wonderful things I value about the Bed-Stuy community were eloquently noted in your post. Thank you.
One thing I would add — Sure, white people in Bed-Stuy sometimes get Othered (http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/rww03/othering.htm), something most people accustomed to being in the majority haven’t experienced. Instead of running away from the discomfort, we ought to sit with it and ask ourselves why the feeling is so unusual.
That I was never made to feel unwelcome or told I didn’t belong somewhere until I was in my mid-30s? That’s not a statement about Bed-Stuy, that’s a statement about white privilege. At the end of the day, someone calling me snowflake or vanilla or telling me to go back where I came from hardly compares to the Othering people of color experience throughout their lives.
As you so aptly put it, “If difference makes you afraid… then Bed-Stuy is not for you.”
July 30th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Alabama -
That I was never made to feel unwelcome or told I didn’t belong somewhere until I was in my mid-30s? That’s not a statement about Bed-Stuy, that’s a statement about white privilege.”
Well said!
July 31st, 2008 at 10:47 am
I think what troubles me about the article is that it is written almost exclusively from the perspective of ‘newcomers’(I am a newcomer too), with only a couple of token quotes from longtime residents buried at the end of the article. And even more problematically, there is a focus on newcomers who have moved here specifically in anticipation of ‘changes’ - which seems to mean that they were hoping to replicate their east-village lifestyle with cheaper rent, and taking no interest whatsoever in the actual community. And the article implicitly endorses this perspective by representing this agenda as normal/appropriate and inviting the reader to identify with this kind of resident. And while i definitely do not include Petra in that category, it seems to me that they managed to selectively quote you in a way that reinforces that particular narrative.
I’m not in any way suggesting that only newcomers want change, and longtime residents don’t, or any other simplisitic dichotomy; I’m just seeing a really problematic view presented by the Times, according to which a neighborhood is little or no more than an investment or a chance to get a bargain on housing before it’s “discovered.” I’ve even heard acquaintances of mine say things like, “oh, i hear it’s already too late to buy in bed-stuy,” or refer to it using terms like “frontier” or “pioneer,” which I find really offensive. I would like to see an article that deals sensitively with the complexities of what they so euphemistically call “change.”
July 31st, 2008 at 11:15 am
amy - totally. I think it was bad (and tasteless) journalism for the Times to put this article in the NY/Region section, in stead of real estate, since it exclusively uses real estate framing, perspective and language.