Rosie and Nelson Redux
Did any of you just listen to Rosie Perez and Nelson George discussing the impact of gentrification on the neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill? We find Nelson’s nostalgic but realistic take on things quite interesting to hear; he’s clearly thought through a lot of these issues. Rosie’s relatively un-nuanced views, however, rubbed us…
Did any of you just listen to Rosie Perez and Nelson George discussing the impact of gentrification on the neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill? We find Nelson’s nostalgic but realistic take on things quite interesting to hear; he’s clearly thought through a lot of these issues. Rosie’s relatively un-nuanced views, however, rubbed us the wrong way. Her main point seems to be that she doesn’t know as many people when she walks down the street but (1) she’s a movie star now, which impacts how people view and interact with you and (2) we don’t get the sense she’s even around very much. In the four years we’ve been taking our kids to school just a few houses away from hers, we’ve never laid eyes on her; in fact, we’re not sure we’ve ever seen the shutters on her house open! (Her house also has the obligatory-for-a-Brooklyn-celeb attached garage.) She was complaining about how people fight over tennis courts in Fort Greene Park now–and then a caller reminded her that she used to have bricks thrown at her by local kids when she was playing tennis. We get how people can miss (and idealize) things from the past, but Fort Greene and Clinton Hill have to be some of the friendliest, most neighborly, streets to walk down in the entire city. How about a little love!
I’ve lived in Brooklyn my whole life and some of the things I’ve seen in recent years have been very disturbing.
There was an incident a few years back with some newly arrived yuppie woman. She started making complaints to all the local websites, papers, law enforcement, etc. the moment she arrived in the neighborhood. Some things she actually complained about and wanted eliminated were the people that hung out by certain old school bars, black kids in white t-shirts, the Puerto Rican social clubs, the 99 cent store, the noise at the basketball court, etc, etc. She whined and bitched that gentrification wasn’t happening fast enough for her arrival.
She immediately set up a “community watch” group. The first order of duty was to petition the closing of the (black/hispanic youth) basketball court in the park. This court has been used by schools and summer leagues for many years and she thought her opinion was holy enough to wipe it out. That didn’t work. She then wrote into a local paper saying that her “dog walker noticed blood on a street near her home” and immediately wanted more police. She even admitted to video taping a Puerto Rican guy next to his broken down car all day long as he tried to fix his engine. She considered this suspicious behavior. She also admitted to the paper that she would drive around the neighborhood looking for suspicious youth (black/hispanic) and take notes on them. Meanwhile, she can’t find time to even walk her own purebreed.
Now I thought she would be dismissed as a racist nut, but no, many of these pompous transplants in the neighbrohood sided with her and her little yuppilante group. It’s truly amazing that these yuppies cry in orgasmic joy when they hear Obama speak, but continue on with their racist/classist objectives.
today coming out of choice, i opening the door for a white woman and her baby in a stroller, she didn’t even say thank you….wonder why people complain about the change in the neighborhood. remember all most people want is a little respect and this rude woman couldn’t even say thank you….
Just heard another Nasal Rosie’s promo for the show – is WNYC planning to make it a weekly thing? Yikes – need to schedule something for that hour so I don’t come across it even by accident.
It’s not even “gentrification” and it’s not even just here in Brooklyn. That’s way oversimplifying it. It’s in every city in the U.S., a migration from suburbs to city that’s been taking place since the mid-90’s that picked up speed in recent years. People concerned with the environment consider it a really good thing because it reduces suburban sprawl and cars on the roads in areas around densely populated cities. I get what upsets them about the changes but Rosie and Nelson did not take a very well-informed, larger perspective on this issue.
I heart Park “vomit” Slope – have lived there for seven years, plan to live there for god knows how many more – and thank the Supreme One every day that we don’t have douchebags like Ramona and Rosie Perez waxing poetic about the ‘good old days’.
And this is besides the point that NY is an immigrant city – and that includes Brooklyn, and the neighbs in it. Unless you want to live in one of those dusty rooms at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, get used to change. The city is *SHOCKER* dynamic!
“It does freak me out that EVERY SINGLE BABY I SEE ON THE STREET IN FT G OR CLINTON HILL IS WHITE.”
Can you imagine if someone posted this but replaced the word white with black? Why does it matter what color a baby is? Talk about racism.
Oof, we made the mistake at eating at that horrific Viennese place across from BAM last week–worst excuse for a meal I’ve had in YEARS. The “big salad” was a series of glops that were each dispensed with scoops. The salmon was triple-overcooked. It felt like everything on the plate was made out of mayonnaise.
And yet, I’m kind of glad even that awful restaurant is here. The room has character. The beer is good, if you like German beer. Maybe if you order the right thing–weinershniztle? [spelling?] you’d be happy?
Whatever–I still think the people griping about this neighborhood are crazy. What, you’d rather live in Murray Hill? Harlem? UES? Yeesh. Knock yourself out.
“But man, do they make themselves look like total clowns. Hate and xenophobia looks so goddam stupid. I know it’s fear and resentment and I symbolize change, but to let it dehumanize you like that . . . it’s just sad.”
Amen iz
RF – i understand perfectly.
The gentrification in Fort Greene isn’t just “upper class” white people. I know just as many wealthy, successful non-whites that live in the FG/CH area as white people. So when Ramona singles out “white people, I take exception.
When a certain socio-economic group moves into a neighborhood, the cafes, restaurants, bars, etc will follow. It’s a fact. Do people move to these places with this insidious plan to change and ruin what made the neighborhood great? I really don’t think so. They just were looking for a nice place to live for a good price.
I understand and respect both sides of the argument. Unfortunately I didn’t have an opportunity to live in FG back in the day, and it may not be as great as it was, but it’s still a pretty freakin’ amazing place today and it seems silly to be posting crap on a blog about how the amount of white babies on the streets.