Is Dumbo a victim of its own success? Yes, according to some of the people quoted in yesterday’s Times article about the neighborhood’s transition from a dingy artists’ enclave in the late ’70s to its current incarnation, a new historic district that lures what one longtime Dumbo dweller calls antiseptic yuppies to pricey condos like 100 Jay Street. Although plenty of neighborhood businesses welcome the area’s cachet and influx of affluent residents, others aren’t as pleased by its transformation. Some residents, however, have made peace with the changes. The worst thing you can do in New York is fall in love with a neighborhood, said Cara Lee Sparry, who moved to Dumbo in ’92 and runs Superfine. Sparry said she has been pleased by new amenities and suggests that Dumbo may have won the gentrification lottery, becoming a place where cool and condo coexist.
District Trying to Forge a New Identity [NY Times]
BREAKING: Dumbo Designated as Landmark District [Brownstoner]
Photo by TomVu.