Jeffries v. Broker on Neighborhood Names
Today The Brooklyn Paper ran an op-ed from Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries about why he’s introducing a bill to formalize the process of naming neighborhoods as well as one from a Rapid Realty broker named Lanishia Goodwin about why she supports new neighborhood handles. From Jeffries’ piece: “The consequences of realtors providing misleading information are broad….
Today The Brooklyn Paper ran an op-ed from Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries about why he’s introducing a bill to formalize the process of naming neighborhoods as well as one from a Rapid Realty broker named Lanishia Goodwin about why she supports new neighborhood handles. From Jeffries’ piece: “The consequences of realtors providing misleading information are broad. Working families are pushed out of rebranded neighborhoods as housing prices soar. Newer residents pay more to rent or buy, largely as a result of the deceptive marketing. This is why I plan to introduce the Neighborhood Integrity Act. This bill will require the city to develop a community-oriented process before brokers can rebrand a neighborhood or redefine its boundaries simply for commercial purposes. These new names rarely result from community input and are often disconnected from a neighborhood’s history, culture or tradition.” Meanwhile, Goodwin has this to say, in part: “In Brooklyn, even familiar names are nicknames for other neighborhoods. Prospect Lefferts Gardens was borrowed from a group of buildings in the Prospect Heights neighborhood, What about Ocean Hill and Kensington? They’re really Flatbush. And what about Stuyvesant Heights? Most of the owners of the million-dollar real estate in this historical area grew up there won’t argue that it’s Bedford-Stuyvesant…Brooklyn as a whole has also become such prime real estate—there are so many people moving farther and farther into Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, and Bushwick—that it can no longer defined by just prime neighborhoods.”
Jeffries: Neighborhood Integrity Matters [BK Paper]
Goodwin: New Names Help Brooklyn Grow [BK Paper]
DH, landmarking doesn’t cap supply. Also, in Bed Stuy and Crown Heights the new buildings (the Fedders buildings) are typically smaller and shorter than the old ones — partly because they have lower ceilings but also because they have fewer stories.
I don’t think any realtor is actually trying to trick people into moving into a neighborhood by changing the name. It’s really just about getting potential buyers/renters through the front door. I know plenty of people who think, “there’s no way I’m living in Crown Heights or Bed-Stuy,†based mainly on vague, outdated impressions of crime, etc. stemming from the 1970s. Once you actually get them into the neighborhood, they’re like, “Wow, this is nice! I had no idea.†So sometimes realtors call neighborhoods something else to get people to take a look. Not the end of the world. People generally figure out what’s what before they make an actual move. And even if they don’t move there, visiting those neighborhoods at least helps them get over their stereotypes.
Mopar Stuyvesant Heights was the new Choice Bedford Section replacement… All the rich Germans lived there.
“People seem to think that only rich white folk care about landmarking- Crown Heights is proof that’s not the case. Same in Bed-Stuy. It isn’t “gentrifyers” who are pushing landmarking there. It’s long time, mostly Black homeowners.”
I didn’t say that. But to push for something that caps supply and then complain when prices go up and ruin the “working class” feel of the neighborhood is silly.
But I doubt homeowners are complaining about the silly neighborhood name thing. They are the ones who stand to benefit from it.
And why is this made out to be the brokers faults? Landlords and homeowners are just as responsible for misleading ads and charging high rents.
This is just a big political game.
I can’t believe Jeffries is getting this much press out of this stupid, stupid idea. I’m rapidly losing respect for him.
Look, go to the interactive census map on NYTimes.com and plug in 11238
http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/map
Check out Census Tract 305, which encompasses most of what people are now calling “ProCro” or whatever other abomination they come up with. Population change in the last 10 years? Still a plurality African-American neighborhood, but black population down by -29%, while the Asian population is up 316%, and the white population up a whopping 1,173%. The change he thinks he can prevent with a stupid law has ALREADY HAPPENED.
If anything, I would argue that “ProCro” is in some ways a gentrification compromise – I remember five years ago getting a mailer from Grandspace (Bergen & Grand) that described it as being “in the heart of Prospect Heights.”
DH- Crown Heights isn’t that well served by mass transit. The A train is in Bed-Stuy, running along Fulton St. The others on Eastern Parkway, leaving quite a swath open. And it has been working class for many many years now. Landmarking is not the issue- in fact, it was longtime working class residents who wanted and went for landmarking to save their neighborhood. People seem to think that only rich white folk care about landmarking- Crown Heights is proof that’s not the case. Same in Bed-Stuy. It isn’t “gentrifyers” who are pushing landmarking there. It’s long time, mostly Black homeowners.
Now I am jealous, Amzi, that I don’t live in “Choice Bedford Section,” I like the name so much. Maybe we can change “Stuyvesant East” to “Choice Stuyvesant?”
As for Retlaw’s comment about white people replacing criminals and crackheads, I’ll have to assume he’s just some troll who’s never been to “Choice Bedford.”
I think people do buy in NYC to say they live in a certain neighborhood. It is almost like a status symbol to say I live on the UES or Brooklyn Heights. I call it the designer neighborhood syndrome. Park Slope and Williamsburg has increased in size over the past 10 years because people want to say they live in… People who live between Bedford and Classon in Bedford Stuyvesant are quick to say they live in Clinton Hill which is not true. If you read the Brooklyn Daily Eagle 115 years ago Bedford is all was called the Choice Bedford Section even then these people had the designer neighborhood syndrome. North of Dekalb was another neighborhood all together called Tompkins Park or the older name East Brooklyn. Today the US Census have Bedford and Stuyvesant Heights as two different neighborhoods. Bedford and Stuyvesant Heights do have different and vibes in my opinion, one more urban than the other . Just like Bedford and Clinton Hill or if we want to really go back I should call it simply “The Hill having different feels.”
Neighborhood names are adopted by common consent. Some were invented by real estate developers – Prospect Park South, for example – but realtors don’t have the power unilaterally to impose names. This is just ridiculous.
Equally ridiculous is the idea that this has anything to do with consumer protection.
Clueless buyer: “The realtor told me it was Brooklyn Heights, but my new neighbors say its Brownsville. She also said it was a four-bedroom, but I can only find two. There oughta be a law against these unscrupulous practices.”