More Angst Over Prices in Bed Stuy
A long piece in City Journal about gentrification in Bed Stuy travels some well-worn ground that will be familiar to readers of this blog and long-time residents of Bed Stuy but perhaps news to outsiders. In a nutshell, the point of the piece is that Bed Stuy gentrified before whites arrived, and now houses cost…
A long piece in City Journal about gentrification in Bed Stuy travels some well-worn ground that will be familiar to readers of this blog and long-time residents of Bed Stuy but perhaps news to outsiders. In a nutshell, the point of the piece is that Bed Stuy gentrified before whites arrived, and now houses cost $1,500,000 but shootings are still common. The story ends by wondering if gentrification will reverse itself and cites the case of a recent African American arrival who decamped to Kensington with his family.
“We were paying the rent of an upper-echelon neighborhood but had none of the security,” said the high school teacher.
One interesting fact the story uncovered: The much-touted 663 percent increase in the white population between 2000 and 2010 was actually due mostly to Hasids on the fringes of South Williamsburg, not hipsters or yuppies.
The story also quotes Bloomberg in the aftermath of a shooting that paralyzed an 11-year-old girl: “You have a right to live in Bed-Stuy and not have bullets whiz past your head.” That’s a nice sound bite, but we noticed that when a shooting occurred near Carroll Park, the police set up shop there; when the same thing happened in front of Saratoga Park, the police said there was no need for any extra police presence.
Meanwhile, the Real Deal looked into the details of who’s buying in Bed Stuy and found that 73 percent of sales of houses under $550,000 went to investors. “It’s tough out there for a Brooklyn buyer looking to land a modestly priced townhouse,” said the story. “But in the gentrifying area of Bedford-Stuyvesant, private buyers face even stiffer competition than elsewhere in the market for homes and small multi-family properties.” Flippers have been buying wrecks in all-cash deals for a long time, of course, but now the market is more competitive because the potential returns are higher than during the bust. An interesting tidbit: The story said that sometimes the price on the books isn’t the real price because buyers sometimes pay additional cash under the table to avoid tax.
Where do you see prices — and gentrification — in Bed Stuy heading next?
Bed-Stuy’s (Unfinished) Revival [City Journal]
Investors Are Behind 73 Percent of Bed-Stuy’s Cheaper Home Sales [TRD]
All Cash Investors Beating Buyers of Townhouses in Brooklyn [Brownstoner]
And while you are all arguing over a comment by Al Vann, no one has mentioned other important issue.
While the houses are fetching upwards to $1.6M, the zoned schools are terrible.
I will ask again and again, where are the parents that are snapping up these million+ homes sending their children to school?
That’s a good question, but I would add, if you can afford a $1.6mm brownstone, there is a lesser probability versus the population there that you would be sending your kids to public school. I would take a look at Harlem for example, where brownstones fetch in the neighborhood of $2-4mm, but the schools would still be an issue. You are also assuming that the buyers (1) actually have children or (2) those kids haven’t gone to college already.
Private Schools/ Charter Schools such as the Excellence School and Bedford Academy (that has 100% graduating rate going to college and many to the Ivy Schools).
Excellence School is all boys. and Bedford Academy is high school.
What about elementry?
Hate to burst everyone’s bubble, but Bed Stuy is poised to become just like Park Slope.
^ This right here. Thank you Montrose. We can equally find quotes from, let’s see, Hitler or some equally despicable character just because he’s white, and apply that thinking to you MrHancock. I would simply hope the insight provided through this forum would educate you, but that hope is not very high based on what you’ve written before.
It’s this simple to illustrate the difference for you – The statment “I hope Eh succeeds” is not the same as “I hope no one else but Eh succeeds”.
And again – you seem to not be actually reading what he ACTUALLY said, even though it’s in print for all to see. There is a difference between a negative action and a positive one. He never, as you declare “publicly pronounce that you prefer certain types of people NOT live or own a business in the area” [empasis added]. Simply reading comprehension would lead us to that fact. Rather he stated his preference that members of the black community ACTIVELY own homes and businesses. I hope you appreciate the difference between those two statements, rather than look at this like zero-sum game.
Eh – Do me a simple favor – look the word up in the dictionary and come back to me with the definition is.