Anti-Gentrification Fliers Plastered Throughout Stuyvesant Heights in Bed Stuy
This morning one of our readers tipped us off to these fliers that were stuffed in car windows and stuck on front doors throughout Stuyvesant Heights in Bed Stuy. The fliers use racist imagery of watermelons and fried chicken, presumably to paint the investors who are buying up property in the neighborhood as racist. And…
This morning one of our readers tipped us off to these fliers that were stuffed in car windows and stuck on front doors throughout Stuyvesant Heights in Bed Stuy. The fliers use racist imagery of watermelons and fried chicken, presumably to paint the investors who are buying up property in the neighborhood as racist. And they urge homeowners “Shut it down Bed Stuy by any means necessary.” Presumably that means not selling their homes to investors.
Our reader thought the fliers might be a response to New York Magazine recent story that revealed the real estate business practices of a racist landlord-investor. He described replacing black renters with white ones and speculated black property owners in Bed Stuy would start “dumping” houses to buy in East New York.
The hashtag on the flier, #standupbedstuy, links back to Joshua Wiles. A little Googling reveals a schoolteacher of that name who lives in Bed Stuy who brought a lawsuit against some Hasidic businesses for allegedly discriminatory dress codes, and was active in Occupy Wall Street.
We’re not sure, but we think he might have been the same activist who was ejected from a Bed Stuy panel on gentrification last year for disrupting it. At the time, he vowed to start a campaign against “Brokeland Capital,” aka Brookland Capital, a prolific developer of condos in Brooklyn based in Bed Stuy.
We find the situation in Bed Stuy to be more complex than described in the fliers. Recent change in the area — remarked on by several speakers at Community Board 3’s last meeting, which we attended — is not only, or even primarily, due to longtime black owners of brownstones selling to developers. New-building development is limited, and mostly on empty lots and, to a lesser extent, wood frame houses and churches on oversize lots.
Elderly homeowners losing their homes to fraud, tax liens and all-cash flippers who don’t pay what the property is worth are some of the pressing concerns raised by community leaders and community groups such as the Brownstoners of Bed Stuy, who have educational programs to help homeowners. Also, now that their properties are worth something, black owners have the same right to benefit from a sale as anyone else, some might argue.
Click through to see more versions of the flier and a picture of them stuffed in car windows on Stuyvesant Avenue. What do you think of the fliers? Have you seen any? — Jim Rendon and Cate Corcoran
Many of you fundamentally don’t get it. These have been black owned and occupied communities for decades in a country and city where black ownership is EXTREMELY limited. There is a sense of frustration that this real estate is now slipping through their hands because they are economically unable to resist the short term incentives to sell. The ads are an appeal to concerns about the well being of the community and a plea for community/racial solidarity. What’s so hard to understand about this? Other communities stand together to support ownership and entrepenuership. Yes, the flyer is designed to be provocative but the core message is legit. Frankly, it’s in everyone’s best interest to maintain a viable, economically strong black community. Pay now or pay later…
Those who think the flyer is ridiculous know nothing about the (black) community and associated dynamics. This is absolutely a racial AND economic justice issue.
Aren’t capital gains taxes very high for flippers?
actually, if you do it fast enough you can make a 1031 exchange and avoid capital gains taxes altogether. it’s what my mom did when developers offered her oodles of money for her small apartment building in Miami she’d had for 15 years.
Man, I’ve met mom and pop real estate brokers selling houses in Flatbush that didn’t know the area, didn’t know comps, didn’t know it was gentrifying. One guy hosting an open house didn’t know how far the house was from the park! For one house I looked at in Kensington, the broker was based in East Elmhurst for a firm with no website or listings. Stick in the yard with a sign on it.
What’s going to happen when an elderly owner contacts a firm like that to get a price range?
Even if you look at comps often there is going to be a wide range, with houses that sold off the open market for very low, houses transferred between family members, flipped houses, foreclosures, etc. You have to do real digging around to figure out what something is worth.
Say an elderly person decides to sell their house and does some asking around, in say, eastern Bed Stuy. It’s 2013. They bought the house for $20k in 1965. Surprise, says a broker friend, your house is now worth 750k!
A year and a half goes by and the elderly person gets an offer for 900k and is overjoyed. Little do they know that in the past 18 months the value has doubled.
I don’t know it’s not a real figure! I’d like to know! I’m sincerely curious.
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As historian and journalist for this site, you should know or you should research it if you are going to write “For every black homeowner who lawfully and rightfully sells their home to whomever they choose and gets a top rate, there are an equal number of mostly older people who are getting ripped off.”
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Are there more black homeowners lawfully selling their homes (in which case these fliers should be dismissed), or are there more people taken advantage of (in which case these fliers should be taken seriously)?
If you’re retired, with no job income, but have rental income, and no mortgage, is it possible to get a home equity loan?
Not saying everyone is me MM but if you own a home(which is probably a great % of your net worth) wouldnt it be logical to do just a little investigating? Wouldnt you want to make sure that you get the maximum $$$ out of it – old,middle-aged or young? I just dont see it being that difficult for even elderly to get informed these days. Perhaps im wrong.
Folks need to understand how to use the concept of leverage to increase their return on equity. If do this, they would be far better positioned to participate in the new economic growth that’s reshaping Brooklyn. An even better strategy is to pull out equity from under levered primary homes to finance the purchase of additional rental, mix-use and investment properties throughout the borough. I’m sure that folks who have managed to own their 2-4 family brownstones over 30 years and now own their homes “free and clear” can quickly grasp the concept of supply and demand as it relates to the broader real estate market.
Really? Lol!
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The avg US small business starts with just $15k in start-up capital. And you suggest that they these folks just sit on $2mm of equity and do nothing while “newcomers” (who often have far lower net worths) move into their neighborhoods and open up new restaurants, bars, cafes, coffe shops, clothing stores, pet stores, ice cream parlors, bakeries, laundry mats, cleaners, pharmacies, etc?
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Typical POV of colonizers who wish to keep the indigenous folks stupid and powerless. Lol.
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Ever heard of economic empowerment, self-reliance and self-determination? Or are those principles exclusively reserved for whites? SMDH.
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No one is suggesting that folks draw down on $750k of equity without any strategy or means to carry the higher note. Your presumption is condescending. I am talking about understanding the plan and simple concept of not pulling equity out of ones home simply to purchase $100k depreciating asset like a luxury vehicle but rather using such proceeds to start a few businesses instead. You only have to raise your rents modestly to finance the home equity line of credit. This is not rocket science.