BROOKLYN:
THE YEARS OF GENTRIFICATION
Vanesa Husic
The gentrification of Brooklyn is an issue of enormous importance. Patrick Dougher`s poem “Days of the Gentri-fire” depicts Brooklyn`s gentrification through the point of view of a Brooklynite. Dougher performed his powerful poem during a poetry slam, which was published on facebook in 2016. Take a look:
Patrick Dougher
born and raised in
Brooklyn, NY
picture exists in public domain
video exists in public domain
Days of the Gentri-fire
By Patrick Dougher
First came the Hipsters to tame the land/ to pacify the natives/ the original man and then the settlers and homesteaders/ brought their cavalry to stop & frisk me/ making it safe for the yuppies
Now I don’t recognize the block where I was born/ they’re coming from places with backyards and big lawns/ like West Bubblef**k Michigan and Okie Dokie Wisconsin/ moving in like their SLUMMIN’/
They keep coming now my culture’s been rezoned/ my house ain’t my house and my home ain’t my home no more/ they brought in their money and moved out the poor/ raised up my rent changed the lock on my door / and now I’m not welcome in the corner store…no more
On my block…what the f**K??/ now we got a yoga spot, pet grooming and a Starbucks/ since when did the so-called Ghetto get trendy? /
They making me homeless and smiling all friendly/ (sung) “they’ll smile in your face- all the time they wanna take your place”/Gentr-fire/ Is a liar who will conspire to take you home your earth, wind and fire/ you wonder why your rents raising higher and higher?
‘Cause these are the days of the Gentri-fire…
Gentri-fire got this thing on lock/ my home/my zone/ my hood/my block
Gentri-fire in complete control/steal your land/ steal your style/ steal your street/ steal your soul
It don’t tale the Jefferson’s to figure this out/ we ain’t “movin’ on up”/ we getting moved on out/ no doubt/you see to them its like Monopoly/ all they want is your…property/
Shit I shoulda bought Park Place/ but now it’s too late/ this used to be the Ghetto/ now its prime real estate/ And where the hell am I supposed to go?/ I can’t afford their coops/can’t afford their condos/
They doing us like they did the native Americans/ And NYCHA housing are the new reservations/ fixing up the block and the train station/ building high rises…Gentrification
All the little Mom & Pop shops bought by big corporations with no connection to the community…Gentrification
And my whole damn hood lookin’ like colonization/ less brown skin more white skin…Gentrifcation
(sung) now they look at me with scorn on the block where I was born/ it happened so fast didn’t see it coming on? Now there’s new maps/ new lines being drawn…
‘Cause these are the days of the Gentri-fire…
Gentri-fire got this thing on lock/ my home/my zone/ my hood/my block
Gentri-fire in complete control/steal your land/ steal your style/ steal your street/ stole my soul
Pretty impactful, right?
Brooklyn in bits and pieces
Brooklyn is one of New York`s five boroughs. The borough, also known as Kings County, is the largest out of the five with 69.5 square miles. What you might didn`t know, until the late 1800s, Brooklyn was an own city. In fact the third largest city in the U.S. after Los Angeles and Chicago.
Compared to the other four boroughs, Brooklyn is not only the most populated borough, but also one of the most expensive places to live in the U.S.A.
While Brooklyn is now a place full of colour and light, the city looked different 30 years ago. Driven by racial tensions, the decline of the industrial sector and a high number of crime cases, Brooklyn was seen as a dying borough.
A Brooklyn Brownstone was valued at $28,000 in 1962. In the mid 1990`s the same building increased its value to $640,000. After 1 year the home was sold for $1.75 million.
view from Dumbo, Brooklyn
picture exists in public domain
Brownstone, Brooklyn
picture exists in public domain
Want to rent an apartment in New York City? Think again...
We can now understand why rents in Brooklyn until the 1990`s were considerably low compared to the heart of the city: Manhattan. This is what happend and both areas became really expensive for the average person. First, rising rents in Manhattan developed the trend of many young aspiring aritst and professionals looking for housing across the bridge. In a vast urban space, the rise of rent in one area pushes people to move to another area, because in the beginning it seems cheaper. But these people are middle class people, move in big numbers and change the socioeconomic and cultural status of the new neighborhood, causing big rise in housing and rents.
Patrick Dougher says it better...
"now we got a yoga spot, pet grooming and a Starbucks/ since when did the so-called Ghetto get trendy?"
​
To make living interesting for the so called "yuppies", many chain shops opend up in Brooklyn. While Dougher is talking about Starbucks in his poem (which was the more popular chain coffee shop in 2016), it seems as if starbucks is not really the problem anymore. There are 5x more Dunkin` Donuts in Brooklyn (125 in number), than Starbucks. Doesn`t sound much? Considering that the first Dunkin` Donuts in New York opend in 2013, 125 stores seem to be a high number.
Dunkin` Donuts company logo
picture exists in public domain
Beginning with the title of the poem "Gentri-fire", Dougher draws the parallel between the process of changing a city to a more wealthy area and fire, which spreads quite fast. Just like the element of fire, gentrification is spreading around Brooklyn, destroying little shops, causing rise in rents and forcing people to move out from their homes.
NYCHA in Brooklyn
picture exists in public domain
Dougher mentions NYCHA in his poem. NYCHA stands for New York City Housing Authority. This authority provides affordable housing to people who cannot afford living in regular apartments. It was founded in 1935. One out of 15 New Yorkes lives in such housing. NYCHA has esatblished 54,652 apartments in Brooklyn anlone and houses 118,354 residents. No other borough has as many apartments.
_svg.png)
NYCHA logo
picture exists in public domain
"And my whole damn hood lookin’ like colonization/ less brown skin more white skin…Gentrifcation"
​
Coloization describes the process of establishing a new colony in an already inhabited area, often times connected with the loss of the original culture. This phenomena can also be seen in Brooklyn: Statistics show that between 2001 and 2012 roughly 47,000 whites have moved to Brooklyn`s neighbourhoods Bedford, Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, Park Slope and Crown Heights North, while roughly 34,000 POC (Blacks, Latinos) moved away from these districts.
"All the little Mom & Pop shops bought by big corporations with no connection to the community…Gentrification"
​
​
Mom & Pop shops were a trademark of Brooklyn and contributed to the family-feeling in Brooklyns neighbourhoods. But by increasing the rents, many shop- and small buisness owners were unable to keep their buisness running and were forced to close. Many big coporate firms bought the buildings and opend up all sorts of shops, cafes etc. The two photographers Karla and James Murray portayed this evolution in their project "Store Front - The Disappearing Face of New York". Their pictures show small stores and mom and pop shops, which have vanished and the new companies inside them. I recommend you take a look!
Former shop owner in Brooklyn, NYC
picture exists in public domain
Watch this interview from 2017 with Mrs. Loretta McDonald to get an insight on the effects of gentrification from a true Brooklynite.
Finally...
Interview with Mrs. Loretta McDonald about gentrification in Brooklyn
video exists in public domain
Throughout the years, Brooklyn has transformed into the luxurious area as we know it today. Change can be positive and at the same time connotes displacement and loss of cultural characteristics. It is to the 21st centruy viewer`s eye to decide whether gentrification can become beneficial for all the communities that reside in an area or perilous like fire.
Selected online sources and bibliography
Chang, Stephanie, Druckenthaner, Florian. Humanity in Action. “Change or Die?” Gentrification in Brooklyn. Jan 2009. https://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledge_detail/change-or-die-gentrification-in-brooklyn/ [last accessed: 10.01.2022]
Colon, David. "Brooklyn has five times as many Dunkin’ Donuts as Starbucks." Brookelyn. Dec 2014. https://brokelyn.com/hail-king-five-times-many-dunkin-donuts-starbucks-brooklyn/#:~:text=The%20one%20thing%20that%20stands,That's%20a%20whole%20lotta%20Dunkin'. [last accessed: 27.01.2022]
Fregni, Jessica. "8 Things To Know Before Moving to Brooklyn." LifeStorageBlog. Jan 202. https://www.lifestorage.com/blog/moving/moving-to-brooklyn/. [last accessed: 27.01.2022]
Lees, Loretta. “Super-gentrification: The Case of Brooklyn Heights, New York City.” Urban Studies, 40.12, p.2487-2509. Nov 2003. SAGE journals, https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098032000136174. [last accessed: 12.01.2022]
Lewis, Kristen, Burd-Sharps Sarah. “Urban matters. The Pace, and Face, of Gentrification: Population Change in Five Brooklyn Neighborhoods.” 13.03.2019. http://www.centernyc.org/the-pace-and-face-of-gentrification [last accessed: 11.01.2022]
NYC Housing Authority. "About NYCHA." NYC Housing Authority. https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nycha/about/about-nycha.page. [last accessed: 27.01.2022]
Santrone, John V. "Brooklyn Poet Slams Gentrification: 'First Came the Hipsters to Tame the Land'." Patch. April 2016. https://patch.com/new-york/williamsburg/amp/26409337/brooklyn-poet-slams-gentrification-first-came-the-hipsters-to-tame-the-land [last accessed: 27.01.2022]