New Macro-Nabe Trend Launches with "Tri-Hood"
We hadn’t read anything in the press yet about a movement to merge the neighborhoods of Bedford Stuyvesant, East New York and Brownsville into the appropriately named “Tri-Hood”, but this tag-up on the walls of the Louis Armstrong Houses on Lexington and Throop may be the start of a new macro-nabe trend. Remember, you heard…
We hadn’t read anything in the press yet about a movement to merge the neighborhoods of Bedford Stuyvesant, East New York and Brownsville into the appropriately named “Tri-Hood”, but this tag-up on the walls of the Louis Armstrong Houses on Lexington and Throop may be the start of a new macro-nabe trend. Remember, you heard it here first!
Triple Threat [Flick’r, photo by Kevin Mason]
Anon @ 6:13 says -The funny thing is that most of the bloggers on this site don’t know any black people, especially educated ones and they have absolutely no idea who we are or the fact they we live among them or can be happy living in a predominantly black community.
No offense but you have no idea who the posters here are and making statements like this (w/ no factual basis) make you sound like an ass.
As for this revisionist history that Bed-Stuy et al… were these stable family neighborhoods w/ just a couple of pockets of crime and poverty is truly the most ridiculous spin ever posted here.
In 1990 Brooklyn North had FIVE HUNDRED homicides (116 in 2005 and in 1990 Brooklyn South had 260)- that is a FACT.
In 2004 over 25% of the census tracts in Bed Stuy show a median income of UNDER TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS – this too is a fact.
Please, Please, stop the spin – we get it you live in Bed-Stuy and you are proud, you are Black and you defied the odds and have achieved success that is all wonderfull (truly) but by every OBJECTIVE measure the Brownstone nabes we are talking about (Bed-Stuy, Clinton Hill etc…) were absolutly crime-ridden and still contain MAJOR sections of abject poverty.
No one is saying that everyone was criminal (far from it) or that poor people are “bad”, but please dont try to sell the concept that all was fine in these neighborhoods until the gentrifiers came.
great contribution to the discussion, miss priss – NOT! 😉
don’t mean to be annoying, but a few things to help people make their points, black or white:
it’s GALL, not GAUL
and it’s utmost, not up most.
i know there are big issues going on and approciate everything people are saying, but I do think one’s argument is often undermined by bad spelling or grammar – excluding accidental bad typing by virtue of impassioned argument…; )
I’m Anon 4:40pm; 9:55pm and 6:31am. Point of clarification. No is negative about the neighborhood, the “newcomers”, or the fact that things have change. I embrace change. I too was once a “newcomer” (aren’t we all?). I was simply pointing out the fact that the fast majority of Fort Green, Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy, as the previous poster correctly stated, has always been majority good and stable, despite the small percentage of people who engage in irresponsible, socially dysfunctional and pathological behavior. Further, I think that when bloggers on this site incorrectly brand communities and ethnic groups in the most negative light imaginable, that the rest of us who know far better are obligated to defend the truth and provide a more balanced interpretation of the facts. We can’t allow ignorant people on this site to consistently refer to people of color as “crack whores”, “hoodlums”, “drug dealers”, etc., with impunity and reckless abandonment for the truth or the social and economic reality of urban life in this city. Perhaps my reality is different from most but like another poster correctly states, black people know far more about whites then whites know about blacks. I’m not advocating for a comprehensive indoctrination into black culture and life, but perhaps if SOME whites took a little bit more time to look beyond the surface and made a sincere effort to understand other ethnic groups that live squarely among them that they wouldn’t be so paranoid or suspicious of those who look, sound and act differently, whether your paths happen to cross on the trains, street corners or on major commercial thruways. It is ignorance that separates and continues to polarize us along racial, class and ethnic lines.
i’m a “newcomer” to Fort Greene and I have not felt the negativity from the previous poster in my real life experience. i have the up most respect for the people who have lived here before me. this is the most diverse place that i’ve ever lived and i love that. what else do you feel the “newcomers” have done to disrespect the neighborhood? i think this feeling of “newcommers” vs. long time residents happens frequently in ny- neighborhoods change and it’s hard to accept. I moved here from the West Village- which has been invaded by “bridge & tunnel” and “uptown” people- and there was a huge amount of negativity towards the “newcommers”…
I nominate B2B and CHP as the most sane and rational people on this board.
I lived in Ft Greene about 17 years ago. I don’t feel like doing the research, but when people say FG was “bad”, when was this? I remember the area being full of well educated middle class folks who took great care of their homes. I know there were parts of FG that were bad (Myrtle) as there are bad Bed Stuy areas, but was Stuy Heights and the western part of BS ever really that bad? Just curious, because I live here now and it seems like it has always been stable.
I’m happy that folks are finally speaking out on the issues of race and class and finally acknowledging that yes crime and poverty is indeed a very real problem in areas like Bed-Stuy but also the fact that Bed-Stuy is indeed a strong and thriving community with a significant black population of hardworking, educated, successful and family oriented people.
Like I said earlier, New York City has a very large professional black community. I am firmly rooted in that community as are most of my friends (if not all). We work in investment banking, asset management, consulting, medicine, law, education, fashion, entertainment and the media. It’s a very long list and I could go on and on at nausea. But from an employment perspective we are everywhere and doing very well. Further, where do you think we live? Think about this for a second. Where do we live? Yes, some of us have moved to the suburbs, some have moved out to the burbs only to have returned to the City, others never left and continue to live in the City throughout the Brownstone Belt neighborhoods of Harlem, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, Prospect Heights, LPG and to a lesser extent Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens etc. The funny thing is that most of the bloggers on this site don’t know any black people, especially educated ones and they have absolutely no idea who we are or the fact they we live among them or can be happy living in a predominantly black community. Why? Well for the most part we blend in with the majority of black folks; we share the same culture, listen to similar music and to a certain extent dress the same. But we are not a monolithic group and differ from one another in many other respects; much too long to list. The point is the majority of white folks can’t get behind the surface,i.e., the color of our skin, and thus paint our entire community with a broad stroke and lump all black people into the same category. A category largely based on stereotypes, prejudice, bias and racism – yes, it still exist.
I work on Wall Street for the past tens years and have witnessed tens of thousand of black college graduates moving to New York City over the years. Where do you think they live? In the early nineties, most of us migrated directly to Harlem, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy. Yes, there was crime and pockets of poverty but for the most part we felt comfortable living in a black community and welcomed and respected the economic and social diversity. In fact, back then, Essence magazine wrote a seminal article about FG/CH entitled “The New Black Mecca” which centered on the growing and thriving black professional class in these communities. The article, among other factors, resulted in a flood of black college grads (both undergraduate and grad) moving into the downtown neighborhoods of FG/CH and Bed-Stuy. There was no other or greater place to be (again despite the crime and pockets of poverty around us). We were all young, idealistic, educated, professionally motivated and everyone knew each other (hung out at Frank’s, Lucien Blue, Brooklyn Mod, Cellars, Mike’s and other local lounges and eateries). Many of us made more money then are parents could have ever dreamed of and we spent it well. During the summers we headed to Oak’s Bluff on the Vineyard, Virginal Beach and the Hamptons. Though many of us were renters (and some still continue to rent) others went on to own condos, townhouses and investment properties in the neighborhood. When property prices started going through the roof and priced some out, others moved to communities such as Bed-Stuy, Prospect Heights and Crown Heights. Like FG and CH, we didn’t discover these communities, nor did we rejuvenate them in any substantial way, they were already inhabited by black folks and thrived in their own special way. We, like the many whites who came after us, simply respected these communities, the culture, the history and, more importantly, the people.
I can understand the anger and frustrations of the previous poster. For many, it’s not unfounded. I’m all for gentrification because I don’t live in a bubble and expect things to always remain the same. But for those African-Americans who lived in FG, CH and BS in the eighties and nineties, oh how things have morphed and the rate of change is truly note worthy if not unusually spectacular. When the first waves of whites moved in, they were humble, respectful and felt fortunate to be able live in a grand brownstone at a fraction of the cost of what you would find in Manhattan and other more affluent sections of Brooklyn. Despite the economic and social diversity of the community they tried to understand and respect their predominantly black neighbors. They didn’t look down on them and in fact were shocked to discover that so many of us who lived here were educated, family oriented and successful (again, despite the crime and pockets of poverty). But something over the past twenty years has changed drastically and many could argue for the worst. Tolerance, an appreciation for diversity and and a genuine desire to understand has gone out the window. Some African-Americans, especially those who have laid the foundation for white gentrification, feel betrayed and suckered. At first, they welcomed the influx of gentrifiers because with them came a wave of new goods and services to the neighborhood and a certain cache and credibility not granted before by the media and the greater New York area. Now it was cool and hip to live in these communities and they appreciated the acknowledgement that yes, Brooklyn and Black Brooklyn, was a terrific and wonderful place to live. But over time, things have changed and the same humble white folks who moved in, once a critical mass had been achieved, are now thumbing their noses and turning their backs on the very same black folks that they once admired and respected. They now label the “best blocks” those that are whiter and the “undesirable” sections those that are predominantly black. For many long time residents, this is very hard to swallow. I apologize for this long diatribe but it’s something that I’ve been itching to get off of my chest.
People lived here before the “newcomers” had arrived and “black brownstone Brooklyn” was already a community rich in culture and history. Let’s not ignore this fact (yes, despite the formerly and repeatedly mentioned “crime” and “pockets of poverty”). Lastly, the bloggers on this site are from diverse backgrounds. What we share in common is an insatiable appetite for real estate and architect and an undying love and passion for this great borough and its people……
Note to anon 1:17am – the implication was that an area can’t be middle class if it has renters or people making 30,000 a year. I rent and my job salary puts me in the middle class. Middle class encompasses a range of incomes and also refers to a certain lifestyle (chevys instead of mercedes, for example). SO anon at 4:40 can claim it is solidly middle class- he’s not denying the poverty, he is simply emphasizing all the time and work that Black people put into making Bed-Stuy the desirable neighborhood it is today. It always had a strong working class and built on that. By the way, I’m with you on GW. Cannot wait to see him out of office!
Just saw Bunky’s post- and I’m with her. Ron- you are simply and without a doubt, a complete and total jerk. Not only did iyjbukem NOT say “free Mumia” but your rant is so obnoxious and biased, not to mention stupid, that I am forced to believe you must be poorly educated and extremely ignorant. If you think there are actually places in NYC completely free of crime I have a nice bridge I can sell you.