New Bed-Stuy More Like Old Bed-Stuy?
Bedford Stuyvesant was the childhood home of both Billy Joel Norman Mailer and Lena Horne, reports Globe St., and it’s posed to become such an artistically, economically and racially diverse neighborhood again. “In recent years, Bed-Stuy’s population has begun rebounding and the demographic mix of that population has been diversifying. Those with a historical bent…
Bedford Stuyvesant was the childhood home of both Billy Joel Norman Mailer and Lena Horne, reports Globe St., and it’s posed to become such an artistically, economically and racially diverse neighborhood again. “In recent years, Bed-Stuy’s population has begun rebounding and the demographic mix of that population has been diversifying. Those with a historical bent might point out that the demographics are returning to the kind of diversity seen here in former years.” Of course, some of that is code for white people moving in, and as we know from yesterday’s discussion of the reversal of what demographers call “white flight,” that doesn’t necessarily mean a neighorhood’s on the upswing. Here’s what they report it has going for it: Last year, the Bed-Stuy Gateway Business Improvement District was formed; most of the area still qualifies for the 421-a tax abatement program, despite changes to it in July; and they’ve seen an influx of retail — Home Depot, Applebee’s and a consumer banking center are cited. Wait, aren’t we the borough of Mom and Pop shops?
A Tree Grows in Bed-Stuy [Globe St]
Brooklyn Brownstones. Photo by sfcityscape.
Can we start typing “i disagree” in quotes or perhaps (i disagree) or {i disagree} or something…. When a post begins:
I disagree, blah blah blah…
I don’t know if this is a statement or a salutation. Of course, I would not be so bold as to suggest a name change. Don’t worry your little heads about that.
Southwest Bedford Stuyvesant will gentrify next it is happening already. Stuyvesant Heights is looking very diverse also these days and the Bedford Corners section of Bedford Stuyvesant is seeing the spill over from Clinton Hill.Williansburg. Streets like Hancock, Jefferson, Halsey and Macon near the Nostrand corridor will gentrify sooner than the other areas of Bedford Stuyvesant. The architecture and beauty of the the grand Montrose Morris apartments and brownstones on those streets are attractive to people coming from the other areas and the A train is great for people who work in the city. By car the Williamsburg bridge is about 10 min away the same distance as people who live near Grand Army and rely on the Manhattan Bridge. The Williamsburg bridge puts you in the east village in 12 min from South Bedford Stuyvesant. I have done this many times when driving to the city.
The thing is that areas like the neighborhood like Ocean Hill will follow soon after kinda like Ft Greene then Clinton, Hill/ Park Slope then Prospect Heights.
MM:
I pretty consistently resist any attempt to ascribe rights to groups, especially in regards to claiming a neighborhood. Brighton Beach is too small for me to really care about, but Brownsville has a lot going for it. At the moment, it receives little attention – but trust me, it will. Vast swaths of that hood are derelict or abandoned; it is ripe for high density development and it will happen in time. People will undoubtedly scream.
I routinely use Borough Park as an example of zoning codes gone awry and being exploited by the local populace in an exclusionary manner. It is the most overcrowded neighborhood in the nation, in terms of persons per household, yet even moderate density housing is largely prohibited.
So, are there hypocrits out there on this issue? Perhaps, but I’m not one of them. I simply find it deeply offensive that people can’t look at each other as individuals, and instead portray any neighborhood demographic change as a race war. It is a primitive, tribal mindset that has no place in this country. I will continue to resist the balkanization of this city.
i disagree: I think your post at 11:16 is accurate.
Montrose: Although I can see why you might take issue with the article, I think the focus was more about highlighting to potential investors who don’t know the neighborhood that here is a place you should invest you money. Yes, the reference to a changing demographic is insulting. (See everyone, I stood at the corner of Nostrand and Fulton and I didn’t get killed.) I think a part of that comes from ignorance by the writer and his editor about the community. They only seem to be concentrating on the southwestern part of Bed-Stuy here. They ignore the northern and eastern parts all together, even though they are changing too, so you know this guy didn’t walk around the entire neighborhood and really get to know what is going on on the street. However, they seem to show no concern about any aspect of the community – good or bad – except for the potential to invest and make money. They don’t see black or white. They only see green.
That said, I think all the neighborhoods of Brooklyn face the same problem of how to encourage investment in a neighborhood without being overrun by development and national chains. That is a tricky one that even Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights have a hard time grappling with.
As for local residents getting a benefit from the new developments – beyond just being a cashier or stockperson – I don’t know how you do that without investing your own money and taking control of your own future by opening up a business now and being more nimble and adaptable than your bigger rivals. Somehow filling a niche that the others ignore or overlook. It isn’t easy, but it can be done.
I’m not convinved that the paradigm shift on wall street necessarily has to spill over to Bed Stuy. There are just too many other factors at play here.
right now there is a brownstone on Verona PL that is a total shell that is 200K. Banks are giving loans for homes like this, they really want to help this community.
It’s a no secret that Bed Stuy as a whole is experiencing a culture renaissance. The same thing that happened in Fort Greene in the 90’s and Clinton Hill to follow is happening RIGHT NOW. The main reason is because most Families whites and blacks alike are getting pushed back from Downtown. This is still the only place to find an affordable Brownstone as well as friendly educated Families with morals that care about where they live. Never the less the neighborhood still has its edge, crack heads, muggers, and penny criminals roam these streets that they seem to only know. This comes from decades of abuse from Riots in the late 70’s to the crack/cocaine epidemic of the 80’s to the current sub prime crimes that many uneducated folks got caught in the middle off. Bed Stuy has come a long way and still has ways to go.
i don’t think the article gives that impression at all, actually, at least to someone who doesn’t live in the neighborhood. i think the proportion of the article discussing the context of the neighborhood in comparison to the proportion discussing the development opportunities was about appropriate, especially for a real estate news publication. but i do understand that you have a different perspective, and that you may be adding your experience of what you know actually goes on on the street to the discussion in the article.
Tybur6 wrote: That definitely is the price range for most young families and people in the arts. Maybe I’ll get two!
How much cheaper do you think houses are going to go? Even in a collapse of prices I think that you will be hard pressed to find a whole rowhouse in Brownstone Brooklyn for much less than that.