The Times of London Singing Bed Stuy's Praises
It sounds like London Times writer James Doran got quite a deal on his Bedford Stuyvesant brownstone. Given how well-preserved all the details were, $600,000 sounds undermarket to us. And what a great provenance! The story he tells of the former owner, a brewery heiress, is great stuff. The Heath Ledger angle might be a…
It sounds like London Times writer James Doran got quite a deal on his Bedford Stuyvesant brownstone. Given how well-preserved all the details were, $600,000 sounds undermarket to us. And what a great provenance! The story he tells of the former owner, a brewery heiress, is great stuff. The Heath Ledger angle might be a bit of a stretch but, hey, Doran’s at least setting the newspaper-reading public straight about the neighborhood which has caught more than its share of bad press over the years:
Bed-Stuy is more than just an incredible investment opportunity for an adventurous property speculator: it is one of the most fascinating neighbourhoods of New York, steeped in history and close to Manhattan’s sleepless streets, yet no tourist ever sets foot here.
Local blog Bed Stuy Gateway had this to say about the article: Is The Times doing a Lenten penance for the smackdown of an article it published on June 25, 2005 in which reporter Dominic Rushe called Bed-Stuy “a horrible and inconvenient area of Brooklyn with some lovely buildings and a nasty crack habit”?
Big Apple’s Core Appeal [London Times]
The Brits Are Coming [Bed Stuy Gateway]
I do agree and (my neighbors have said as much too) that the community in Bed Stuy has to pull together to fight the crime. We all think something has to be done.
James – I sort of get that we (I) came down on you a bit considering you were probably only writing a community interest puff piece – but I have to say that just because you’ve lived in Bed Stuy for a few months (down the street from the pct right?), doesnt make it any less distateful that you appear to be blaming the victims of crime for the problem in the 1st place.
Every time I try to get out they pull me back in…
re anonymous about the house prices
1) a really weird tiny garage just sold in Bed Stuy for $1.49 million. Not saying thats a good thing but you know, people and their money. A neighb of $3million houses is not necssrily a good thing though, despite the rewards for home owners.
2) The neighbourhood has not stayed the same and will continue to change for the better in terms of facilities, services etc I would hope and suspect.
There is a lot of service industry job creation in and arond Bed Stuy, and more to come in Red Hook and downtown Brooklyn soon, this is a much more positive economic outlook than Brooklyn has had for generations. There is a broad recovery ongoing in the borough that is fuelled by more than property speculators, which is very positive.
‘The remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statisticsâ€.’
– Mark Twain.
See also: ‘Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy’
I moved into the Fort Greene/ Clinton Hill neighborhood sixteen years ago, straight out of college. My mom had a fit because the area was so shady, gun shots, crack vials, drug dealers (one right in the brownstone I lived in; nicest guy actually :)). My roommate and I used to walk around the neighborhood and admire the beautiful brownstones while at the same time watching our backs. After three years we moved to Eastern Parkway across from the museum; less gunshots, more vandalism and car theft; tons of homeless people, same beautiful buildings.
In those sixteen years both these neighborhoods have evolved slowly into havens where people feel comfortable; crime is reduced; and folks start to brag as if they are personally responsible for the sweetness in the air. I now live on Washington Ave (six years and counting) and it is wonderful, but it has only really been in the last three years that I would say we really have achieved bragging right status.
The same energy that I witnessed in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill is now hovering over Bed Stuy. It is the anticipation of change and the hope of something better. The more people that move into Bed Stuy believing in that hope the better it will become. We can create and control our environments. Sounds hokey, but it’s true, I have see what share force of will can accomplish. It just takes enough people willing to swing the pendulum in the opposite direction.
Thanks to all who brightened an otherwise run of the mill day on the Times New York news desk.
When we moved in here a very wise lady from across the street called Cathy Arline, our block president who has lived here all her life, came across to welcome us. After volunteering us for the Police Community Board and several other committees Miss Arline imparted a rare piece of wisdom. “This neighborhood has had a bad rap from all over,” she said. “But not my block. The people that live on this block, we are the neighbourhood and we keep it respectable.”
her comments hit home and I now truly believe that simply by being here and loving every minute of it, making new friends and hearing new stories we repel the bad elements.
If your street is a mess, clean it up. If you see prostitutes and crack heads call the police over and over and over again until something gets done. If your neighbour’s house is falling down report it to the dept of buildings, to the mortgage company and to the housing board until it gets fixed up — or god forbid ask them if they need help fixing it up.
Neighbourhoods are as good or bad as the people who live in them.
I used to live in an ara of Birmigham in central England called Balsall Heath. Balsall Heath is pretty much like bed Stuy except it is predominantly a Pakistani neighbourhood.
Prior to the influx of Asian families, though, it had always been Brirmingham’s heroin and Red Light district. There was a brothel on either side of the terraced house I lived in as a student — which is not as good as the fantasy some of you reading this are doubtless concocting right now.
One day on my way to class I ran into the Pakistani guy who owned the corner store, he was lying on a couch on the corner of the street dozing, with his feet propped up against a brazier. I asked him what the hell he was doing. “Reclaiming the streets” he said. “These bloody curb crawlers wont come near here if they see a bunch of Pakis (to use his own pejorative) hanging about. We will chase them all away and then the brothels too will go.”
The phenomenon was expertly written up in the Birmingham Evening Post by a keen wannabe reporter whose name escapes me now.
But his tactic worked. Whole families camped out on the streets for months. They stood up to pimps, drug dealers, corrupt police, angry prostitutes until they had a respectable neighbourhood to bring their kids up in.
Many people have done the same and more around here and all power to those who continue the tradition as I intend to.
So you can take part, or you can shut up, thats my view.
Hope to hear from you all again
J
JD,
Maybe we are being unfair in pointing out the crime we’ve experienced living in Bed-Stuy. That’s obviously not the intent of your “room of my own” piece. I think I also live in a nice corner of the nabe (81st precinct).
I would say my experience has been much the same as yours: great neighbors, nice block, incredible digs, close to subway, have friends in the neighborhood now, etc. etc. This sadly has been tainted by my previously mentioned experiences.
My friends warned me about moving to Bed Stuy and I brushed it off. I don’t think it’s wrong to say that stuff happens everywhere, but it happens more in some places than others.
I would guess that the territoriality of the posters is rooted in how neighborhoody the borough is.
If somehow in the future BedStuy and Fort Greene cost the same to rent or to own will people still choose BedStuy?
The main draw to BedStuy is the low cost.
There is great architecture all over NYC.
If your budget was 600,000 for a house you would be restricted to a handful of areas.
If you had a budget of 3,000,000 for a house would you buy in BedStuy?
Great architecture does not guarantee high prices. Williamsburg ugly yet expensive. BedStuy attractive yet relatively inexpensive.
James Doran –
I dont really see anyone here (this thread at least) being territorial about “their corner of Brooklyn” except possibly you…
Despite what others have said, crime rates are not subjective, nor does anecdotal evidence chage those rates (either way). Statistics do not tell the whole story for sure (if you are a drug dealer in Cobble Hill you probably have a better chance of being shot than a school teacher in East NY) nor do the Statistics matter if you are the mugging victim who gets stabbed on the UES BUT statistics (if accurate – which is why I only use Homicide Stats cause there hard to fudge) are truly the only accurate way to judge if you (law abiding annonymous person minding own biz)are at risk of being victim of random (i.e Domestic Violence not random) crime like murder, assault, robbery etc… or if you are likely to experience quality of life problems like drugs, prostitution etc….
I personally think people should be accurate when they say things and this is especially true when it is a journalist – so when you state that Bed Stuy shared equally in its crime problem with its neighbors or you minimize a still significant issue based on your subjective experiences I feel I must call you on it – because it is not objectively true.
Every one of those stats is a person and ignoring them based on your subjective experience minimzes the horror of being a crime victim. Now does that mean Bed Stuy cant be a great place for you to live – no; does it mean your house isnt beautiful – no; does it mean that it doesnt take you 12 minutes to reach (the tip) of Manhattan – no – it just means that sometimes reality is beyond our own subjective objervations