hot seat christopher allen edit

Welcome to the Hot Seat, where we interview people involved in real estate, architecture, development and design. Introducing Christopher Allen, Founder and Artistic Director of UnionDocs, a nonprofit center for documentary film based in Williamsburg. We talked with Allen about UnionDocs’ ongoing collaborative project Living Los Sures, which chronicles the culture, history and stories of Williamsburg’s Southside. You can check out a video installation with some of the project’s short films at the Ildiko Butler Gallery at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus. They’ll also screen some of their short films on September 19 at 7 pm, during the Southside Connex street festival in Havermeyer Park.

Brownstoner: What neighborhood do you live in, and how did you end up there?

Christopher Allen: We live in Clinton Hill. We moved there last year after living in Williamsburg since 2002. We found a place that we liked, and rent was going up in our building and it didn’t feel like it was a good deal anymore.

BS: Can you talk about the beginnings of “Living Los Sures”?

CA: We’ve been involved in a restoration project with the New York Public Library to restore and rerelease a film from 1984 called Los Sures by Diego Echeverria. That film we’ve been working with for four years — it’s inspired about 30 documentary projects made by people in our studio. Over 50 people have been involved in creating short documentaries about the neighborhood today over the last four years. We’re also doing a participatory platform where we’ve split the film from 1984 into different shots and we’re splicing in longtime residents of the neighborhood talking about places in the film.

So the project is three parts: the participatory website, called Los Sures Shot by Shot. There are 30 short documentaries, produced by our collaborative fellows. One of the characters from the original documentary, we’re updating her story as she sells her apartment and leaves the neighborhood. It’s an interactive documentary called 89 steps. She’s considering leaving the city and moving out — and the film follows her as she goes through that process, and we learn a little bit of history about the building she’s lived in for 40 years.

That’ll be launched at the New York Film Festival September 27.

After the jump, Christopher talks about gentrification on the Southside, Sternberg Park and how rezoning has shaped the neighborhood.

BS: What has this project taught you about south Williamsburg?

CA: It’s a place with rich history and a vibrant community. There’s still a lot of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, and there’s a lot of organizing for affordable housing and against segregationist policies in schools and public housing. It has a lot of community organizations we’ve been able to connect with through this project. From the demographic side, the neighborhood is still below the median income for New York City. It has a number of resources that other parts of north Brooklyn get a bigger share of. There’s still a lot of struggle in this part of Brooklyn — it’s remarkable, the strength and determination that those [long-term residents] had through the ’70s and ’80s.

The neighborhood is where it is now not because of some recent economic boom but because of people who reacted against violence and drugs that were ruining the neighborhood, who rehabilitated buildings that had been abandoned. Los Sures refers to the South streets, South 1st, South 2nd, South 3rd — usually called “Southside.” There’s a movement among many organizations to designate the neighborhood as “Los Sures,” which has been a colloquial name for a long time.

BS: Tell us about the most interesting or memorable parts of the documentary project.

CA: One of the most exciting moments was when we started to reconnect with the characters from the 1984 film, like Marta. She’s the story we’re telling in 89 Steps. It was a total surprise and shock to find out that many of the people who were in the film 30 years ago were still living in the neighborhood, and two in the same places. And hopefully they will be at the screening. Finding and reconnecting to the main characters from the film — we had no idea about them. But if you show the film to people in the neighborhood, they’ll see someone they know or have a story about some place in the film.

And some of the films we’ve produced here have gone on to win film festivals. We made a film called “Third Shift” about two Domino sugar workers who returned to the factory before its demolition. It won Best Short Documentary at the Brooklyn Film Festival. Another film, Toñita’s, won best Brooklyn Film at the Brooklyn Film Festival, and will be screening at New Orleans Film Festival and Morelia in Mexico. Toñita’s is about one of the last remaining Puerto Rican social clubs in Williamsburg and the matriarch who runs it.

This is the 30th anniversary from the film from 1984, so we’ll be doing a whole year of projects, events and film screenings, and working with the community to get memories and recollections together.

BS: What inspired you to create films about the Southside?

CA: I think it came out of just wanting know more about where you’re situated, wanting to know more about the history of the city and its culture. There’s a residency component to Union Docs, so several of the artists also live in the neighborhood as they’re making these films.

BS: How would you describe the changes you’ve seen since you first moved there?

CA: The changes are obvious. What’s less obvious is the people who have remained. The people who could be displaced by rising rents have been pushed out of the neighborhood. But there are people who have lived here a long time and still think of it as Los Sures. But the feeling and culture of the neighborhood has remained pretty consistent.

There are newer and younger people in the neighborhood, but perception has shifted more than the reality. Since the waterfront has been rezoned, there’s been an unprecendented amount of development. It’s a more dense population now. That said, what’s interested me more is what’s persisting, what are the characteristics that make a place unique. In 2002, there was a sense that this part of Williamsburg was more on the fringe. It’s interesting how the perceptions change but the reality continues. This area is close to 45 percent Latino.

BS: What are your thoughts on the development happening in Los Sures?

CA: I think the important thing to remember about changes happening in the city is for all the participants in the neighborhood to be involved in that change. Especially the people who have struggled the most to make the neighborhood what it is. It’s more about making sure there’s affordable housing to keep the city vibrant.

I’m not a fan architecturally of a lot of what’s been built in this area. Most of it has been pretty cookie cutter, like you could see it on the exit of a random highway, like a Holiday Inn or something. It’s a shame that so many of these places are being built with retail spaces on the ground floor that either don’t attract tenants or ones that enrich the fabric of the neighborhood. I think if they had broken up those big blocks it would attract smaller, more interesting businesses.

BS: What kind of future do you see for the Southside and the longtime Latino community there?

CA: It’s here to stay, and it’s really in the hands of the leaders of that community. My hope is that it continues to be an inclusive and interesting neighborhood with a distinct flavor and continues to represent the legacy of its past 40 years and beyond. I think it’s worth noting that Antonio Reynoso won the race for the local council seat, and it’s a great thing for the neighborhood because he grew up here. It gives me a little hope for what’s to come.

BS: Finally, tell us some of your favorite places in Williamsburg. 

CA: Sternberg Park — I think it’s a really beautiful park and there’s tons of activities. We have one project that’s all about the BQE, and all the strange spaces and infrastructure that the highway creates as it tears through the neighborhood. There’s so much life on the streets, especially in the summer. The BQE, as it goes into the Southside, goes underground and below ground level, so it really kind of cut the neighborhood in half. So some people refer to this side or the other side, depending on which side you live on. It’s about the shadows, and the light and the moving cars. There’s a lot of infrastructure there that’s also very unique.


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment