Second Development-Related Rally in May Expects Hundreds
Brooklyn is expected to see its second massive development-related rally this month on May 17, when hundreds are expected to march to Albee Square protesting the “lack of community involvement in upcoming development plans,” according to a press release from Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE). Last Saturday, hundreds of Brooklynites clashed in…
Brooklyn is expected to see its second massive development-related rally this month on May 17, when hundreds are expected to march to Albee Square protesting the “lack of community involvement in upcoming development plans,” according to a press release from Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE). Last Saturday, hundreds of Brooklynites clashed in a protest and counter-protest over Atlantic Yards. This rally addresses a myriad of other, less publicized effects of Downtown Brooklyn’s development boom that have perhaps been overshadowed (pun intended) by the massive arena and high-rise project, or at least its opponents’ more forceful media efforts. A few of the more noted past events expected to be addressed at this coming rally: Albee Square Mall was emptied to make way for City Point; dozens of small business owners on Bridge and Willoughby streets were evicted so new towers could be built; large apartment building for low-income families and a handful of smaller buildings were taken through eminent domain for Willoughby Square Park, a planned public plaza and underground parking garage (a home many believe was involved in the Underground Railroad was spared from the wrecking ball, but may still be lost to foreclosure). And nearly all of Myrtle Avenue’s neighborhood services between Flatbush Avenue and Fort Greene Park were cleared for construction of luxury high-rises, leaving residents of the nearby public housing complexes with nowhere to shop for groceries. Do you think the end result will put Brooklyn better or worse off in 10 years?
DoBro’s Household Income to Double? [Brownstoner]
Atlantic Yards or Atlantic Lots [Brownstoner]
Much of Downtown Brooklyn Going Out of Business [Brooklyn Eagle]
Albee Square Mall Clears Out [Brooklyn Eagle]
3:10 — Glad you’re here to close the door on all the other white suburbanites who want to live in Brooklyn.
Please define what an assimilationist is specifically as it relates to blacks born in the United States.
I need a laugh.
jay-z for president.
3:34,
This article might answer your question:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/nyregion/thecity/05stre.html?_r=1&fta=y&oref=slogin
Apparently, they want Brooklyn to remain a shopping zone for low income blacks only, to the exclusion of other Brooklynites. Here’s a quote from one of the members of FUREE in the article:
“This mall caters to African-Americans, Latinos, Caribbeans,†said Ms. Cruickshank. “When they close down all these local shops that cater to our hair, the clothes we buy, the food we eat, where are we going to shop?†Ms. Cruickshank asked. “Round up 10 people here, and I guarantee you they won’t say they want a Banana Republic. We don’t want another Manhattan. Let Brooklyn be Brooklyn.â€
3:25 – plenty of black people are successful without being a gatekeeper (as is Cosby and 1:36) or a neoconservative lacky (as is Condi)mentioned above.
It’s a sad thing to think, that the only way you can imagine a successful black person is as a conservative or assimilationst.
2:07 & 2:25, seriously, what do you want to preserve about brooklyn?
“keep brooklyn Brooklyn!!!!!”
2:14, it means “keep the Downtown Brooklyn shopping district attractive only to the black and poor”.
That’s basically FUREE’s goal, isn’t it?
I fail to see why the area should serve only the nearby residents of the Farragut houses. There are decent and hardworking taxpayers that live just as close (in Brooklyn Heights, in Boerum Hill) that don’t have a lot of shopping options close by. Why should they be forced to trek outside their neighborhood and borough to shop?
2:31–what “space and community” have “they garnered” in Downtown Brooklyn? Shopping in an area doesn’t give you any rights to it, nor does it form a community.
I’ve heard some people try to compare Downtown Brooklyn to Chinatown or Little Italy (in the sense that they cater to a specific group). However, unlike in Chinatown and Little Italy, blacks don’t own the buildings in downtown. They don’t own the businesses. They don’t even live there!
If the members of FUREE would spend as much time getting jobs as they do complaining, maybe they wouldn’t be on public assistance (as most of them are). Maybe then they wouldn’t feel the need to protest the loss of a few sneaker stores and gold chain shops.
So Condi and Cosby don’t have any cred because they made something of themselves huh? I guess what you’re saying is that “real” blacks are poor and incapable of making something of themselves?
What a sad thing to think.
I’m one of those white suburbanites who grew up and moved to Brooklyn, and a big reason why is because I couldn’t stand the lack or racial and economic diversity where I grew up. Downtown Brooklyn has a long history of racial cooperation, since back when those houses on Duffield Street were Underground Railroad stops and free slaves settled the neighborhoods nearby. The proposed redevelopment threatens to upset the historic balance we have and impose an unwanted homogeneity on our racially mixed neighborhood. Whether or not I shop downtown or on Smith Street is irrelevant. Smith Street already exists for me to shop on, and downtown Brooklyn exists for my neighbors. The expected cultural encroachment is greedy and unnecessary.