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July 16, 2008
williamsburg low rent projects
Lived in williamsburg, well, forever, rarely had a problem.
I see condos going up everywhere, oftentimes they are across the street from low-rent projects. Will these low-rent projects remain forever you think or be moved elsewhere as the surrounding buildings become luxury. How does it work?
Last night went to pick up some chinese take-out and the girl i was walking with got hit with a bb gun from one of the project windows. I looked at her ear and saw the bb stuck in there.
Made me realize as safe as i feel and as much as the neighborhood has changed, these project buildings haven't changed at all so its hard to say that its any safer even with all the new additions
Comments
Whoa, where was this? And did anyone bother to call the cops or do the kids shooting a BB gun at your girl get a free pass?
This was a little disturbing as well..
http://nyherald.com/machete-attackers-in-williamsburg-have-their-own-music-video/184.html
Posted by: nabenews at July 16, 2008 3:30 PM
Lived here for years. Projects have always been unsafe and will always be unsafe. Leopards don't change their spots no matter how many million dollar condos go up around them. Actually the rising prices of our neighborhood has just made the poor feel poorer and the crime has escalated because of jealousy and/or dirty looks from the hipster crowd.
Posted by: wburghipstersaredirty at July 16, 2008 4:20 PM
"Will these low-rent projects remain forever you think or be moved elsewhere as the surrounding buildings become luxury. How does it work?"
The projects will be moved to New Jersey when enough buildings in Williamsburgh "become luxury." This is how it works...
The have the project people put all of their belongings in clear plastic bags and then they throw the bags in the back of a truck. They then dig up the foundation of the project buildings and put the buildings on a flatbed attached to aforementioned truck. The truck moves slowly over the Williamsburgh bridge through Manhattan and then through either the Holland or Lincoln tunnel. Upon arrival in New Jersey, it is then unloaded somewhere off of Route 1&9.
Posted by: Chaka at July 16, 2008 4:44 PM
I thought they always took them over the Verrazano-- They had a problem getting one of the smaller farragut houses through the tunnels
Posted by: bunkerlabs at July 16, 2008 7:01 PM
Chaka, I have to laugh in appreciation at your post.
Having been born in the "low-rent" borough of Brooklyn, and lived and worked in several former "low-rent" neighborhoods throughout the city, OP's 10+ years in BBurg (according to his bio) does not quite qualify for me as "forever". (Then again, I only moved to low-rent PS 25 years ago, while many posters think it was uninhabitable before the late '90s.) More to the point, I note that *I* am the kind of blue collar, low-rent tenant discounted by posts that imply their neighborhoods did not exist until "rejuvenated" by transplants, or "improved" by luxury condos. We ALL like safety and comfort, including tenants in low-rent housing built to contain the cultural curve, not to advance it.
Posted by: vinca at July 16, 2008 7:07 PM
Yes Bunkerlabs, I was told that when the buildings don't fit through the tunnel, they use alternative routes.
Vinca, I am so glad that you it because I am certain that Reno911 will not. Reno911 may be suffering from PTSD from witnessing his friend get shot with a BB gun.
Posted by: Chaka at July 16, 2008 7:20 PM
I'm with you, vinca! OP sounds like he expects the neighborhood to change just because he moved there. And sad to say, too many other people feel the same way- forget the people who have lived in the neighborhood for years. You are right on target about how we would ALL like safety and comfort. Not condoning the bb gun (and I hope it was reported) but then again, why should poor folks in the projects care about luxury buildings when all the condo owners want to do is get them out of their homes.
Great post Chaka and bunkerlabs but I heard the entire complex will be airlifted to Pyramus, next to a chemical plant so you can bet the real estate prices won't go up and gentrifiers 10 years from now won't want to live there.
Posted by: also guest at July 16, 2008 7:24 PM
Curious
I'm in a similar environment. Where specifically in B-burg are you speaking of? I've had similar thoughts but have never had any real concern. Can't say it makes for the most spectacular streetscape but I wondered what sort of projects you are dealing with.
Posted by: thinkaboutit at July 16, 2008 7:33 PM
Projects are a scourge on the poor and a drag on the city. The system is so broken it is beyond repair. They are urban prisons disguised as housing that guarantee an ever growing and ever more dependendant class of perpetually poor people.
Posted by: newsouthsloper at July 16, 2008 8:09 PM
Actually, the project buildings will be lifted by derigibles which will gently float them to Manhattan (incredibly green, that), specifically the East Village, and other formerly hip places, now totally over. They will be set down in Thompkins Park, Washington Sq Park, and other empty spaces, once the playgrounds of the hip and happening. Since everyone who is anyone has moved to B'burg, no one will even notice or object.
The projects folks can go about their business, as per usual. This will give them time to ruminate on the irony of being like the Native Americans: you're out there trying to survive, and white folks come in, build right in front of you, and then expect you to leave.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at July 17, 2008 1:10 AM
BullSh!t! Nobody is telling anyone from the projects to move anywhere! It’s just people do not enjoy being harassed by people from the projects or apt bldgs as they walk by. It’s just causing more resentment towards the residents from the projects & apts. Bldgs.
Posted by: 911NewYorker at July 17, 2008 9:53 AM
I'd much rather be harassed by people from the condo's or houses as they walk by. Would explain why, but I've got to go. There is a condo walking by right now!
Posted by: Chaka at July 17, 2008 11:34 AM
does "low rent project" mean public housing? if so, they will not necessarily remain forever, policy reform can get them demolished (as in chicago and st. louis). but nyc public housing is an anomaly, within the high-rise variety (i.e. it is better managed, maintained and safer than the ones that have been demolished).
however, as with everything, when there is money involved, new policies can get pushed through.
it sounds like the problem is kids being kids. doing stupid things because they don't yet realize the effect.
unfortunately, the design of high-rise projects makes it hard to determine where a kid with a bb gun is shooting from.
kids need leisure activities that are less destructive and harmful; and they need to understand the consequences of their actions.
Posted by: dtrain at July 17, 2008 12:34 PM
thanks
yea i put 10+ years that could mean 20+ too ;0
just was unsettled/shocked by the shot to the head, was a few steps from bedford avenue on the southside. Cops helped by offering to call an ambulance.
years ago i could barely get anyone to come here and when they did they would say "this is a ghost town" and yet i rarely had any kind of problem. Now that it is condoberg i was surprised that now something like this happened.
anyway good points dtrain
also i'm not a fan of the luxury condo's either
Posted by: reno911 at July 17, 2008 3:26 PM
It stinks these kids shot at people and the cops should have been called absolutely. But this is because of boredom and excess aggression and it's the stuff some boys do anywhere not just the projects. My privileged, suburban brothers did insane things when they got bored. Aggressive, energetic boys should be on a football team and work it out on the field.
Posted by: traditionalmod at July 18, 2008 9:05 AM
I have given a lot of thought to the kids being kids argument. When I was younger, I benefited from it (albeit to a lesser degree than shooting someone). I did have a friend that stun gunned someone and got expelled, but anyway....
The difference is that for kids in the lower socioeconomic classes, they have a lot fewer opportunities to improve their lot in life. Does anyone remember the Pot Princess who went to NYU and was selling drugs in Washington Square Park? Her family weaseled her out and it didnt destroy her life. If it had been a kid from the projects, he'd have been done.
It's happening in schools too. Safety officers arrest everyone for even minor infractions, causing mandatory suspension.
These are disadvantages, and they are distinctly unfair.
However, when individuals excuse these kids from taking those risks, they are doing those kids a disservice.
Posted by: slick at July 20, 2008 4:40 AM
went out for chinese again around the same time
was in front of a different building on a different block and there were a lot of cops
i asked what was going on and they said someone was doing it again, had hit a few latino teens i think but no damage done that i could see (maybe hit their clothes)
Posted by: reno911 at August 13, 2008 10:55 PM
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