No Regrets (or Complaints) From Dumbo Pioneer
While we enjoyed the piece on Pep Gay’s slice of old Dumbo for nostalgic and voyeuristic reasons alone, we were also struck by the contrast in attitude between the Spanish-born make up artist and the South 11th Street colonizers that generated so much discussion last week. Pep’s had a good run–almost a decade renting the…
While we enjoyed the piece on Pep Gay’s slice of old Dumbo for nostalgic and voyeuristic reasons alone, we were also struck by the contrast in attitude between the Spanish-born make up artist and the South 11th Street colonizers that generated so much discussion last week. Pep’s had a good run–almost a decade renting the 2,500-square-foot space for an initial price of $1,600 a month and recently a good bit more–and is now resigned to the fact that market forces are pushing him out. Instead of suing the landlord, Pep is focusing his energies on building his savings and dealing with the fact that he won’t be able to afford the building or neighborhood he helped colonize.
A Pioneer Knows When to Move on [NY Times]
If this guy is a “Dumbo Pioneer”, what was I doing there in the 80’s? I guess I am just out of touch….
I am an artist and I live in DUMBO/Vinegar Hill. I was able to buy a condo in the area a few years ago, because my husband and I saved our money and focused on the area, buying a small apartment. We knew from experience that the wave of being kicked out of studios to make way for condos was coming, and we wanted to take hold of the reigns. I have to say that in my years of working with artists…alot!…most of us/them do not think about the future much, nor have the resources to be able to save. It’s a question of being resourceful and creative and being an alternative thinker.
In this country, the priorities are not in the arts. Period. If you want that type of priority, move to Europe. I really really hate to be so cynical about it, but in my experience that is the conclusion I’ve come to. This country is not going to subsidize the arts. I can get a grant here and there, but I am highly doubtful that NYC in particular is going to help me pay my mortgage/rent. And I don’t have the energy to change the system at this point.
But then how will the landlord answer for the crime of making money by renting people homes?
anon 10:11
I want to agree with you, but I also find myself conflicted; while it’s true that those early “colonizers” helped make the neighborhoods viable in the first place, it would be naive to assume that they somehow have inalienable rights associated with that. I spent much of my early “creative” adulthood in lower manhattan, in a converted candy factory – built out by us – in little italy. the neighborhood, its shops and its tenants got ritzier and we had to start looking in brooklyn. I didn’t want to go to brooklyn, didn’t want to have my children there, didn’t know many people, etc. Now I’m here, in a neighborhood that is sometimes scary to me, but I like it more each year and have had kids here and my “creativity” hasn’t been affected by location (mostly by small children…). I’ve made friends in the community too. long story short – and I’m no capitalist libertarian – i think it may be how the cookie crumbles, or rather, how demographics of neighborhoods shift. Unless you’re willing to do some serious squatting, ala east villagers, you may just have to move on. I would love to see some amazing program where the city subsizes artists as well as welfare moms, but unless you go to scandanavia, i doubt it’s going to happen. In the meantime, squat or get off the pot, i guess…
We hear you, Anon, and certainly understand why you feel that way. And we are certainly sympathetic to the pioneers who are displaced. And we are not against the idea of we as a society deciding to subsidize the living expenses of certain groups (the elderly, poor, artists, etc.), we just don’t think individual landlords should be forced to take the hit. Maybe you and others who don’t want the South 11th street folks to get kicked out should offer to make up the difference between their current rents and market rents. Oh, and kick in the last year of back rent while you’re at it.
I think I “pioneered” west chelsea in the late 80s and early 90 and was forced out finally by $$ in 2000. Somehow, I doubt anyone is going to give me any “recognition”. That’s the way love goes!
Brownstoner…. I’ve been reading your site for the last year, and have found it a rich, often inspired resource. That is why I am shocked at your cavalier, wall street inspired stance on the “colonizers” of South 11th. Without their entry, the warehouses along that stretch would still be littered with burned out cars and vacant lots. To give free reign to landlords to evict on will because zoning laws have not caught up to current urban development [that is, until the spaces reach enough value to “allow” them to be zoned residential] without any recognition of value the tenants have brought is a true crime. Capitalism and free-market economy may dictate the laws of our land, but they do not give license for immoral and unethical profiteering based on the sweat equity of the artists that initially created the “value.”
Is it wrong that I love this person based solely on his name?
Pep seemed like quite a likable guy.