Today the Times looks at the 2010 census numbers for Bedford Stuyvesant and reports that the neighborhood has shifted from 75 percent to 60 percent black over the past decade, while “in the older Bedford section west of Throop Avenue, according to the 2010 census, blacks have recently become a minority of the population for the first time in 50 years.” The white population in this part of Bed-Stuy was up 633 percent from 2000, according to the story, accounting for the biggest racial or ethic group increase in any area of the city. The article sounds familiar notes of gentrification: One resident compares the changes in the neighborhood to “what I saw happen in Fort Greene starting in 1997,” while John L. Flateau, a professor of public administration at Medgar Evers College, says “there are also a number of white families and single hipsters moving into Bed-Stuy, as renters and owners, who seem to be disconnected from, unaware of, and oblivious to Bed-Stuy’s rich, historical legacy of social capital, community networks and its politics.” Henry L. Butler, the chairman of Community Board 3, says that the increase in real estate values has been a boon for homeowners but pushed some renters out. Still, he says: “You’re getting new money, new people, you get different types of services and stores, and you get more police protection.”
Striking Change in Bedford-Stuyvesant as the White Population Soars [NY Times]
Photo by dorywithserifs.

UPDATE: Seems like this article is being discussed on Twitter too…

ANOTHER UPDATE: Now an editor at The Atlantic has chimed in

AND ANOTHER: This Bed Stuy-based Tweeter had The Times beat by a few days…


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  1. Bedford is the western part of Bedford-Stuyvesant (from Classon to Tompkins I think), as Stuyvesant Heights is toward the east. I believe each of them was a separate town way-back-when. The Bedford area is now up for landmarks designation.

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