Making Atlantic Yards a Black-and-White Issue
The map that ran with the Atlantic Yards article in yesterday’s Times was pretty neat. Not that the results were particularly surprising (they were about what you’d expect) but it was particularly interesting for us to see that Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, which get so much press for being so racially mixed are still…
The map that ran with the Atlantic Yards article in yesterday’s Times was pretty neat. Not that the results were particularly surprising (they were about what you’d expect) but it was particularly interesting for us to see that Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, which get so much press for being so racially mixed are still predominantly black on a pure numbers basis. As for the article, it wasn’t much fun being reminded of the appalling amount of race-baiting that’s gone on in battle for the hearts and minds of Brooklyn residents over the Atlantic Yards issue. We thought Brad Lender from PACC summed everything up the best:
If you live nearby, you have a nice home and you have a job, you’re probably not that excited by the benefits, and you’re swamped by the drawbacks. If you live a little farther away, and you don’t have a job and a nice house, then you probably get a lot more of the benefits. None of that is about race per se. But when you layer on that the people who live nearby are more likely to be whiter and wealthier, and the people who live farther out are more likely to be people of color without good jobs or housing, the race elements have become stronger.
We agree. It’s much more about class than race. It just happens to be that economic stratification in the neighborhoods surrounding Atlantic Yards happens to occur along racial lines so it’s a convenient lever for the powers-that-be to try to manipulate.
AY Development Through the Prism of Race [NY Times]
ltjbukem,
guess again; or check mapquest. Greene and Gates are “SOUTH” of Lafayette.
7.43 is also clueless about which way is east and west on the map. Grand is east, not west, of washington.
Really Quick, in today’s Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/471287p-396530c.html
CHP, when did you live in PLG and where did you live?
This is an excellent article written by Norman Oder about many issues, including jobs and housing, as they relate to the AY proposal by FCR (Forest City Ratner.) It’s really interesting reading and is enlightening about how ACORN’s leader is using race discussions as a tactic to derail discussions of substance. And also at the end there is specific mention of how Ms. Lewis is forced to only say positive things about the FCR proposal to over-develop the Yards because of an agreement she signed. The press should just stop going to her again and again as a community leader. She is leading the financial interests of her organization first and foremost. And its irresponsible of the press, espeically a dignified national paper like the NY Times, to keep calling her anything but a paid supporter of the FCR proposal. I mean come on, journalists don’t quote publicists without calling them publicists do they? Why should ACORN’s role be any different?
http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2006/03/acorns-lewis-gets-fiery-as-affordable.html
Hey CHP- don’t you mean “caretaker,”? I find it hard to believe the troll was born normally. spawned is more like it.
Ah, 9:55, your Mommy must be letting you use the computer again.
To anons 6.45 and 7.43 – there are no “white blocks” east of Washington on the map above – certainly not the blocks of mr. b and others.
I think the map is out of date though for some blocks. I know that where I live it would be in the “diverse” category, probably closer to the 50 you 75% black than 75 to 100% on my block in Clinton Hill. The nice thing about where I live is that it has a high rate of owner occupancy with long time residents and newer residents who take care of their places and watch out for one another – not all the antagonism and hatin’ like on this blog sometimes. Sometimes the negativity can be a real downer and turn me off of this site. Fort Greene and Clinton Hill are such nice places to live with friendly neighbors (90% of the time). If all you did was read blogs, you’d get a different impression.
I live within the vicinity of those ‘2 white blocks’ and walk down those blocks on almost a daily basis.
I don’t ever recall seeing a large concentration of older Italians in that nabe.
You might be mistaking this area for the Wallabout area. Those 2 white blocks south of Lafayette seemed to be largely populated by older, middle-class blacks and, a group of younger, seemingly more affluent yuppies and buppies, more or less recent transplants.