Gentrification of East Harlem

[Ridgewoodallday]

You wanted my answer... you got it... go ahead respond now...

[Ridgewoodallday]

Even LES is still only 22% white and the rest are working class minorities... But you dont hear crap about them the only thing you hear about is how that neighborhood has become completely gentrified and it's all hipsters and yuppies now... That is my problem and that is the problem that alot of people have with this movement... The lack of respect it gives to the black and hispanic, and the overwhelming attention given to people that have lived in this city for less than a year...

[Ridgewoodallday]

Perfect example, the neighborhood next door to mine in Glendale... That area used to be KKK town for the longest... now its about 35% hispanic mostly puertorican and the crime rate over there has never been lower but guess what... hispanics barely have a presence over there if you read any recent articles about Glendale... If the opposite was to happen and a neighborhood would go from 95% minorities to 65% minorities and the rest transplants it would be labeled as Williamsburg 2...

[Ridgewoodallday]

the blatant issue this city has with racism... when have you seen a neighborhood that has an influx of upper middle class black folk become labeled as up and coming... when does a working class neighborhood that starts becoming more diverse get so much publicity... cause as far as im concerned whenever black or hispanic folk move into a neighborhood, doesn't matter if the overall pattern is crime reduction, ppl try to cover it up as if its a bad thing...

[Ridgewoodallday]

MOVE THE HELL OUT THEN... ITS that freaking simple... It's amazing the nerve these people have to do what they do and complain like they do when they have lived in these areas for six months meanwhile the locals have lived here there entire lives... its extremely arrogant but whats worse is that the blatant disregard for minorities and the obsession with bringing transplants (no offense but mainly white transplants) to the hood highlights a deeper problem...

[Ridgewoodallday]

Finally, 90% of native new yorkers wouldn't have a problem with these ppl if they just kept there mouths shut and just lived there lives in the neighborhood... but they can't... the hood environment is too much for them... they need 76 organic stores on one block and 205 art spots within a 3 block radius because that is what you makes you hip... and then they complain about block parties and barbecues in the park that have taken place for years because they are too noisy...

[Ridgewoodallday]

there is nothing cute or nice about living in the hood and the fact that these people come in to get that thrill from living in the hood when the people that are living here have struggled for generations with poverty violence and crime... it is extremely disrespectful never mind ignorant to choose to live in these areas simply because they are whats trending at the time

[Ridgewoodallday]

there was no opportunity because the neighborhoods were **** compared to what they are now... fact is and i want to tweak what my issue was before... my problem is not with the broke hipsters or other broke folk that are just looking for cheaper neighborhoods to live... my problem is with the ppl from the midwest and the transplants that are bored out of their skulls in their boring neighborhood so they want to experience that hood lifestyle that everyone glorifies in the movies...

[Ridgewoodallday]

It would have been better if you didn't read my comments cause at least then it would've showed you had an ounce worth of comprehension on your part... but the fact that you read it and still posted that comment only confirmed my suspicions about you... so lemme enlighten you briefly... When all these majority minority neighborhoods were going to **** in the 80s and 90s there was no investment because noone had any money...

[Ridgewoodallday]

schools are torn down... restaurants and businesses that have been a part of the culture of these neighborhoods for years are replaced with art spots, cafes, and condos and all of this money and investment only happens when whitey shows up to clean up the neighborhood... cause before whites came in, Bushwick was still dropping 80 bodies a year right... I guess my question is, where was all this investment where crime was really rampid back in the mid 80s to early 90s...

[MontCLE]

@Ridgewoodallday I Feel you on that 1 in the 80s & 90s when shit wuz outta control that wuznt tryna do none of this SHIT!

[1XMarksSpot]

@Ridgewoodallday LOL My question is: Where was all this investment from the folks living there in the mid 80's to early 90's? None. Whitey saw an opportunity and took it. Think about that for a second.

[Ridgewoodallday]

@1XMarksSpot Not even gonna value that post with a legit response because you obviously didn't read anything I wrote and 2 have a clear agenda in mind so theres no point talking to you...

[1XMarksSpot]

@Ridgewoodallday Actually, I did read your post. So regardless of any "agenda", you should be able to answer any question posed to you if your position is strong and foolproof. If you can't, then you're just being stubborn and in denial about certain realities.

[Ridgewoodallday]

so basically whites left these areas for greener pastures and now that its hip to live in the hood, they want to flock to these neighborhoods once again, and kick the locals that you bunched in here in the first place to a worse hood and we're supposed to be okay with that... oh wait it gets better, then they complain about the neighborhood that they didn't have to move to in the first place and the elected officials do whatever they can to appease the new folk...

[Ridgewoodallday]

My final point on this is that minorities DO NOT have the power to kick anyone out in this country... unless you're ignorant and you can do some research on this... when Blacks and hispanics began moving into these areas and became the majority it was because of "White Flight"... in other words whites scared of blacks and hispanics ruining their neighborhoods...

[Ridgewoodallday]

I just finished reading all the comments... Its amazing how sensitive hipsters and artsy transplants can be... i remember reading a comment about how the get out of here comments by a kid who is probably 12 and looks 8 is incredibly racist... not even gonna try to respond to that one... funny thing is you're probably one of those people on another video telling these people too bad if you don't have the money, neighborhoods are always changing; like that makes kicking locals out any better...

[100mickeyrivers]

lmaooo i miss isaac newton :3

[carizzi64]

You're kidding right? East Harlem was mostly Italian American, until Vito Marcantonio and his socialist band of brothers decided to build the projects and convert a once wonderful neighborhood into a ghetto.........I hope it turns back to a neighborhood made up of upwardly mobile immigrants and doesn't remain a symbol of urban blight........

[Ridgewoodallday]

@carizzi64 fact is though and you know it even though you probably won't admit it... it will not turn into a neighborhood of upwardly mobile immigrants but rather an area filled with artsy transplants that will continue to impose their changes within the neighborhoods such as stopping barbecues (search on city-data for Downtown Brooklyn local barbecue and see what you find), complaining about people living their lives their way as if they are the ones who rule over them... etc.

[lunhil12]

There are few improvements until people with money start moving in, then the city cares. The neighborhood gets lost and the original inhabitants cant afford to live there anymore. It's all for the developers and nothing for the long time residents. see it in E harlem, Loisada and Washington heights is next. Gone are the neighborhoods we grew up in, replaced by generic atmosphere comfortable for the newcomers.

[delf124]

i hate what their doing to our neighborhoods.

[Truemoderate]

People should look into the history of this area. It was NOT originally a black sub. People are afraid of progress. Neighborhoods change because people change. This is why you'd want your children to succeed further than yourself, generation wise. People that refuse will be left behind and out. Educate yourselves and prosper.

[Nappitude21]

@Truemoderate shut the fuck up

[krazy1luv]

When people are protesting thatss when you know its too late. These yuppies are taking over and we cant do nothing about it.

[ursa41]

@krazy1luv Yes you can. Bring back the Black Panther Party (BPP) and fuck 'em all up. See how fast they'll get the fuck out!

[DanielStanfiield]

I had to learn to speak Chinese to improve my circumstances

[purvivora]

So who is this??? A student of mine? :)

[shesastarx33]

@purvivora Emily, lmao,

[purvivora]

@shesastarx33 Oh Emily!! How are you? What are you doing these days?? Its so good to hear from you :)

[shesastarx33]

Wow... I didn't know you put this up here. I remember this.

[Kell1295]

Clearly the people who have the most problems with being in MY neighborhood are the people who do not belong here. All are welcome, just many don't know how to act. I wouldn't walk into your mother's house and act like a fool, don't do it here. Stop trying to change things that you can not.

[m015094]

The people that made this video must be for stagnation and squalor. They also must be against what Jeffrey Canada is doing to the school system in Harlem, because he is finally improving the schools and sending Harlem residents to college. If you do this, the property values will increase accordingly. You cannot have one without the other, that's not how capitalism works.

[philosopher1976]

this video depicts youth that have been brainwashed. it's sad that these same youths who are smart and curious will one day be gentrifying some other poor neighborhood but are now being puppeteered by some guilty white masochistic school teacher to put this crap together. these kids will go to college and if they return to nyc will only be able to live in a poor neighborhood thus gentrifying it. anyway i heard there's still a problem with black bloods gangs and mexican gangs

[soupstyles]

Good video, kids. I'm trying to learn about gentrification as it starts in my mid-sized industrial city. This video helps. What would be helpful is info on how communities have resisted or taken control of this process.

[m015094]

Oh, by the way, the only people that care about gentrification are people that RENT and are at the will of their landlord/ property manager.

Take some initiative and OWN your property and stop bitching about the rent going up.

[m015094]

So let me get this straight... Fixing up delapitated buildings is a bad thing?

I guess you'd prefer to live in a broken down shack or in a neighborhood filled with crackheads just because the rent would be cheaper.

Grow up.

[sharingon13]

immortal technique grew up here and so did 2pac

[LoveTruth86]

Most people throw out the very sensitive issue of the breakdown of SOME, SOME black familes as means to score political points without ever looking into the history of the black family in the United States and how issues like migration, social instability and economic deprivation played a role which started the cycle.

Of course when people come to such videos, they come with the desire to attack black people not to discuss NY or gentrification which is a multicultural concern.

[ldfmeile]

Your making excuses for the abandonment of children (primarily by their fathers). Where is your sense of ethics? This is the problem with your points, you seek to make excuses rather than to demand a certain level of behavior and decency. Its always someone else's fault. Being poor doesn't give you carte blanche to shirk your responsibilities. There are impoverished nations around the world with extremely low divorce rates. Most of these same nations have had political instability, migration etc

[LoveTruth86]

It never ceases to amaze me how people in this country have such a simple understanding of how thing develop and disintergrate overtime. They just talk based on racist assumptions.

I volunteer at a NYC public school where the population is all black and Latino, to make the generalization that black people don't care about education is wrong and I am tired of it. Its those attitudes that teachers are hired with why so many children become disillusioned by 4th grade (this is a fact).

[LoveTruth86]

Many of these children whose parents went through a worse predicament are unable to inspire there children in this respect. That is what I mean by generational disadvantage. In 2009, more black people are graduating from high school, college and graduate school than ever before so to behave as if black people don't care about education is wrong.

[ldfmeile]

I have many friends who are teachers in majority black schools and on parent teacher night they say that they are lucky if 9 parents out of the 160 kids they teach show up. I'm not saying all blacks in anyway. But there is a 30 percents rate of children living in a 2 parent home in the AA community. You don't think this has an affect at all on the chances for the success of their children?

[ldfmeile]

All black Afro-centric schools have been tried numerous times in the past 30 years and the results are the same. They have tried changing curriculum, they have tried increased funding and still there is close to a 50% drop out rate. Its not the teachers with racist assumptions its a lack of emphasis on education at home. Fortunately, AA females have begun to buck some of these trends

[LoveTruth86]

THIS IS A CLASS ISSUE.

[Ismarc23]

Mr. Ramos hahaha motherfucker taught me Spanish

[american1476]

ok so if we promise not to move into black neighborhoods will you stay out of ours?

serious question...

[LoveTruth86]

Its not about black/white. I am black and moved into a high priced high rise and I am considered a gentrifier.

This is a class issue.

[haitianzoezoe]

i was in east harlem yeserday shit look look ghetto to me

[jujifina]

oh and johanbourn heres da rest of the message! if u dont undastand dat 2 bad! u a bitch ass niggah!

i had enough replying 2 u its a waste of my life cuz i will never get this time back!

like i said fuck gentrification stop moving in places ur not wanted wats da point of moving into a place u will never understand u dumb poeple dont socialize with the real people dat live there and most of u walk scared and shit 4 dat move 2 where u are accepted!

[johnbourbon]

great, you're teaching subversive separatist philosophy.

did white working/middle class neighborhoods such as washington heights that were run out by the welfare-state get to refer to the process as "DEgentrification?"

[jujifina]

gentrification! what it means is white people moving in on something the once denied! and then pushing out the original people that live there

white people moving in a fucking everything up!

u kicked us in there and now u wanna kick us out!

fuck that

[johnbourbon]

Hi, racist! let me just talk some sense to you for a sec. a neighborhood like washington heights which is now all black and dominican USED to be entirely white middle and working class. it was the WELFARE STATE that moved in and DEGENTRIFIED their neighborhood! so really, white people moving back to WH is a natural transition.

think of it this way, if you don't own your home, it really isn't your neighborhood. you're just a guest. even if you've been a guest for decades.

[jujifina]

loook u fucking dick go kiss an ass ur a racist fuck u! and fuck u and white people movin in a place dey kicked people in2 bitch ass niggah suck a dick

[johnbourbon]

wow, the only thing i understand in your comment is that you're a total racist. oh, and illiterate.

nice life!

[jujifina]

listen right now ur just a waste of time lol! me illeterate nt at all i will be graduating from college ! speaking correctly isnt a problem but you see hunny im versetile unlike u i can communicate with many people! because most of the world speaks formal anyway u fucker! so like i said kiss an ass and yes i will continue 2 have my nice life unlike u u dumb fuck! this is da last time i reply 2 u bitch ass niggah!

[johnbourbon]

LOL You can't even spell illiterate. wow!

[jujifina]

go suck ur moms dick bitch!

white dick head fuck u! and stay da fuck out of neighborhoods ur scared of!

[johnbourbon]

sooo...illiteracy, racism and now threats of violence!?

great job. nice life!

[PhoenixOfNight]

john you are a tool, new york was a major immigrant center. Most of these white neighborhoods you speak about were immigrants trying to escape the city FAR BEFORE the projects came in. The projects were just kind of speeding up the inevitable. Furthermore, so if you don't own a home it's not your neighborhood. Considering the economy right now, half of of our country doesn't own their houses, so there must not be much neighborhood in the country.

[johnbourbon]

phoenix, you are an idiot. the notion that NYC has always been entirely immigrant is just retarded. my parents generation grew up, as american citizens, in NYC. their neighborhoods in queens and manhattan were working/middle class white in the 50s. then came the projects and DEgentrification.

of course there are neighborhoods. however, they're not defined by their guests. if you do not own your own home, that's just what you are.  a guest.

[haitianzoezoe]

your a dumbasss, basically your argument is for whites to take their land back??? you mean the land they ran away from and gave to us black and latinoes right???

[johnbourbon]

I'm a dumbass, huh? Well, you're the one who can't properly use a possessive pronoun. Dumb fuckin ass!!

And guess what real estate genius...unless your name is on the title, YOU OWN NOTHING!! that's right, nothing belongs to you in the first place!

you're fucking visitors, so show a little respect.

[haitianzoezoe]

u obviously didnt read what i wrote so try again with your lame ass comment

[johnbourbon]

i did and sorry, but i'm done with you. too stupid.

have a nice life ass.

[haitianzoezoe]

um no u didnt , my comment was about race , and you write to me a story about rent , im speaking of race, you keep talking about white ppl this white ppl that, but gentrification effects all races, greenpoint is the leader of all gentrification and last time i checked that neighborhood was polish

[LoveTruth86]

Thank You.

[LoveTruth86]

Its a tradition. America was built on displacing people of color.

[johnbourbon]

don't be such a pussy.

[ldfmeile]

Yeah, this is an awful example of people moving into a community bringing money, tax dollars for schools, roads, social services etc. If a white person made a video about getting pushed out of neighborhoods by black people, which happens everyday across this country in a major way people would be screaming racist. This video is a shameful example of racism. People can live where they want in this country.

[LoveTruth86]

You are a shameful example of ignorance. I refuse to engage you because you seem to know very little about the politics of New York.

In addition, there is a difference between white flight and gentrification. Look it up.

[ldfmeile]

LoverTruth= I certainly understand the difference between the two concepts. However, if you watch videos about the gentrification of East Harlem there are unfortunately racial undertones. My main point is that in most major U.S. cities the tax base is disappearing and city services (police, fire, educational staff) are disappearing with them. Tell me honestly; if it was wealthy African Americans moving into East Harlem would there be such an uproar...? No, so you CLASS ISSUE is fictitious.

[LoveTruth86]

Of course there are racial undertones, due to generations of economic inequality in this country. Wealth and class happen to fall heavily on racial lines.

In addition, when middle class, upper middle class and wealthy black people live in these communties (and there are many that do) they are apart of the community and community upliftment. When wealthier whites or white from out of town move in, they begin to redline and displace what it there.

[ldfmeile]

You mention redlining which is somewhat ironic because this whole anti-gentrification argument is reverse de facto redlining. What uplifts the community more than people paying taxes to send kids to school, paying for social services or keeping firemen employed?? NY is somewhat of a wealthy city but gentrification in cities like Philly, Baltimore etc. does more for minority kids, in terms of schooling, social servies et. al, then all the "community upliftment" you can think of.

[LoveTruth86]

No, because you must understand the politics, social issues and neighborhoods of New York! Its is of no use to people if certain services in a community (which still depend on their zone, the city is clever) gets benefits from particular taxpayers if they can no longer afford to live in the area. They are being displaced to other areas. That is the point. They cannot still live there. I don't think you get even the most basis reason why some are opposed to the way things are unfolding.

[LoveTruth86]

I live in Fort Greene Brooklyn. I used to live in Harlem when I was in undergrad. I moved here from a wealthy suburb. I became a part of these communties. I cannot say that for may of the others that moved there when I did.

Do you live in NY? If you do where?

I find that ppl should not comment on this topic if they do not.

[ldfmeile]

I don't live in NY but gentrification is a country wide phenomena that is going on in my city so I'll comment on whatever I want. I've seen it first hand and people have a right to live wherever they want and gentrification brings desperately needed money and tax dollars to U.S. cities. Yeah rich people are out of touch dicks but get over it and walk it off. Do you hold those poor people who fuck up the communities ( I know its not all of them but some do) to the same standard as the rich?

[LoveTruth86]

Poor people that fucked a community or people who were neglected by society for generations? This is why I refuse to take people like your seriously because you equate poor and working class people with rich people. This country supports class apartheid and they know what they are doing when they make sure a community's services can only be provided when their are people of a certain income bracket (and color).

I will say it again, those "poor" people will no longer be able to live there.

[LoveTruth86]

This convo is going no where because I think you are under the dubious impression that the poor and working class residents in some of these communties can remain there. They cannot so even if taxes by certain "wealthier" individuals may in some way trickle down, they can't take advantage because they will not be there to. Get it. It not about saying who can and cannot live in a community. Its realizing that you are being displaced.

THEY CANNOT BE THERE ANYMORE!

[ldfmeile]

Its not a question of trickle down, its a question of who is generating wealth via businesses, real estate taxes, city wage tax etc. These people can move 2 other neighborhoods if they want. There are numerous neighborhoods (Bronx/rent control etc.) for them 2 move. How many middle class families in NY, Philly, Balt. etc. are driven out because crime, property neglect + their children being intimidated at schools? U know how many cities would die 4 the kind of wealth generated by gentrification?

[LoveTruth86]

I said this to you already and I will say it again, you are not a New Yorker. You must read: Jane Jacobs "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" to see that historically as well as today, it is not only poor and working class minorites who sees corporate domination of the city as a bad thing.

Also, you mentioned the Bronx but failed to mention that the same thing is happening in the Bronx. Remember it was greeding corporate people like Robert Moses that destroyed the South Bronx.

[LoveTruth86]

It is people like those who always think about wealth and money rather than the residents and then nothing ends up working in anyone's favor.

I am a native New Yorker. I know my city.

Crime, property neglect and failing public schools are the result of something much larger than I am sure you are able to wrap your head around.

Have you studied urban studies, sociology or are you just talking?

[ldfmeile]

I've studied urban studies, sociology, urban history etc. I've received full inculcation into the modern collegiate liberal excuse industry, trust me. I know u are a native New Yorker, u have told me this often, but these issues are in every major city. I've heard the failing schools schtick a million times, why is it that Asians coming to this country don't seem to have a problem with these "failing city schools." In regard to property neglect there is no excuse not 2 mow ur lawn/pick up trash

[LoveTruth86]

Many Asian Americans in New York (I grew up with many) were not happy with the school system either. Go to any public school meeting in NYC. I went to Catholic school where many prefered to send their children. It depends on what part of the city they live in. In addition, many are lucky to have had parents who came to this contry with education like mine did from the West Indies. Many black natives of the United States have been disenfranchised for years causing generational disadvantage.

[ldfmeile]

My point about the Asian population, specifically Koreans, Chinese and Indians, is that even in the worst schools their children excel. They rarely protest. East Asian have the highest household incomes in the country (greater than whites) and many of them came here not knowing the language, working class or poor. What they do maintain are traditional 2 parent households and a great emphasis on academic achievement. This is the major problem in my opinion in the AA community and not racism.

[LoveTruth86]

I am deeply offended by this comment. Its the whole model minority myth that continues to be rehashed though the complexity of it has been exposed. I live in NY, Asian Americans are always protesting and upset about something. Whether its in regards to protect Chinatown from gentrification or something else.

I would also like to remind you that in NY one of the largest populations of poor and working class people are Latinos not blacks. I doubt they would be generalized in the same way.

[LoveTruth86]

You took nothing that I said into account but you did what you wanted to do all along stereotype and make assumptions about a group of people you know nothing about. South Bronx, East Harlem (which this video is about), Bushwick, many parts of Queens bordering Brooklyn, Washington Heights, Lower East Side..Latino. So why don't you include them in you baggering?

[LoveTruth86]

Now since you only chose to limit this analysis to the binary of Asians and Blacks socialized and oppressed in this country then I will limit it to that forgetting those not from this country and the hoards of Latinos who make up the largest minority population in NYC. I will do this by simply repeating what I wrote in my last comment because you need to read it again and think about it!

[ldfmeile]

Asian society consist of many diff cultures, so to refer to it as binary in relation to AAs is somewhat misleading. Indian, Paki, Korean, Chinese etc. In this same regard many blacks from Haiti + West Africa have bucked the trend that many AA have followed. You're promoting a culture of victimhood + when TELL SOMEONE THEY ARE A VICTIM ENOUGH they will ACT THAT WAY. This victim culture doesn't exist among Haitian immigrants, W. Africans, Asians etc Although they all could make those type claims

[ldfmeile]

I'm not baggering nor am I racist, my main point is that many of these issues are cultural and not based on the little real racism that exist today. The same problems regarding single parenthood and a lack of emphasis on education exist in Latino communities 2. If anyone in the black or Latino communities brings this up they're called sellouts (ex. Bill Cosby) + if whites bring it up they are called racist. I grew up working class in a racially mixed neighborhood so I'm not pontificating blindly

[haitianzoezoe]

i know right and sadle many people do this

[LoveTruth86]

I remember you saying you are not from NY, NY is different than most other American cities. If you are not a NYer you cannot talk as if you know.

[ldfmeile]

I know this doesn't fit into the classic liberal anti-corporate storyline but it was the reinvestment by large corporations into NY that saved the city in the 90s. Their money+ aggressive policing brought by Bratton, Timony, Giuliani, saved the city + dropped the murder/crime rate. They created tons of jobs for people + did more than all of the community activist + protesters ever. Many of those jobs went to poor + working class people.Moses city planning also created jobs via infrastructure.

[LoveTruth86]

Some of what you are saying is right but you are also missing the much larger picture. As I have said, things may start off one way but the end result is not always in the best interest of many. In addition, NYC has seen a loss in jobs. I read this every morning.

Now you are attacking my ideology with the whole "liberals are this and liberals are that". Yea typical.

[LoveTruth86]

I forgot to pick up something in your argument. Community activist and protestors often times do not possess the power to change things on their own. They are pushing for those in positions of power to help make changes. In this country, many fail to understand that most of the time, people in power would rarely take steps to make changes unless agitated. The little that was changed and occured from abolition to civil rights was because of activists and protestors regardless of who signed what.

[ldfmeile]

I don't have a problem with community activist and protesters. Many serve a legit function (although many are self serving opportunist). The answer for many activist is "oh lets tax the rich". Historically, when we have thrown money at a problem, for ex with Lyndon Johnson's Great Society prog and the expansion of welfare, it has actually created more people on welfare and in poverty. Is when they limited welfare that the numbers shrank.

[LoveTruth86]

The Great Society did not create more poverty. That is a lie that has been debunked.

The Great Society reached no maturation and lost its way due to our society's then preoccupation with war.

Would you say that about the New Deal which helped white America and basically built the suburbs that we see today. That was the gov't throwing money at a problem. I find that it rarely gets the same treatment.

I take MLK's stand on this one, I am sorry.

[ldfmeile]

If you look at the welfare reform of the Clinton era and how the rate of poverty/number of people on welfare lowered after limits were enacted. Most major economist agree about the Great Society I hate to break it to you. Very few economist argue that the New Deal worked (other than the TVA). The New Deal was not just directed at whites BTW Mary McLeod Bethune was an integral part of FDRs team in this regard.

[LoveTruth86]

I think many people especially those on the right have no idea what community activists do. It became obvious with this past election.

[ldfmeile]

I agree with you on this point, I thought the way they attacked Obama, in regards to community organizing, was shameful.

[LoveTruth86]

One more thing, there needs to be both jobs and housing. If there are jobs but no place to live in the vicinity then it cannot work. Many end up moving down South or upstate where job growth and opportunity are much, much slower. You are not looking at the full picture.

[ldfmeile]

In the late 1990s (and through much of 2000-2008) the unemployment rate was at 4%, interest rates were low. In regards to the South that's were the most job growth occurred and the housing was the most affordable. The Marxist explanation of the "have's" manipulating the "have nots" doesn't really hold up under the scrutiny of the numbers and the facts.

[LoveTruth86]

I am reading you comments I do not think you are getting what I am trying to say.

[LoveTruth86]

I should also reiterate, that I am speaking on behalf of poor and working class people and was never one myself. As I have told you, I moved to the now heavily gentrified Harlem then Brooklyn while in college.

I am in the West Village a lot and many of my friends and associates (in the fashion business as I am) hate what is becoming the new New York. There is a saying that one my friends likes to shout  "Save it for Midtown" if you are from NY then you will know what that means.

[ldfmeile]

I understand clearly what you mean. That the essence, culture and uniqueness of these neighborhoods is being replaced with generic corporate edifices and and shrines to capitalism. That the people who are moving in care little about the true history and spirit of the community. However, you can't tell people where to live and these communities have changed before and will again. If it was a bunch of wealthy whites crying about poor people there would be a national outrage. Its just a fact.

[LoveTruth86]

I am not telling people where to live. I am more attacking developers who are tearing down classic NY buildings to build high-rises.

"Wealthy whites" ? I told you it had more to do with class. My uncle owns a 2.3 million dollar condo loft in Brooklyn. He is not white.

Secondly, why do you continue to equate the rich and poor? Its just as dumb as the reverse racism accusations I see thrown around because it is obvious that those who use those arguments are naieve.

[ldfmeile]

If it was people like your uncle moving in and not white people would there be as much of an uproar in the community? No, so therefore there is clearly an undercurrent of racism. I'm sorry you think so lowly of poor people that you are unwilling to hold them to any standard. I'll put it like this if it was poor whites making a big deal about poor non-whites moving in the media would have a field day.

[LoveTruth86]

Actually there was dust-up. He acknowledged there being a tension around his presence though he is a Native NYer. His loft building not only sent many residents packing but shut down neighborhood small businessed that could no longer pay that sky high rent. So how are you going to say "no" when you don't know the situation.

[LoveTruth86]

Poor whites complaining about poor non-whites, means that the poor whites do not want to live with the poor non-whites on the basis of color. Outrage? yes. If poor whites were angry about wealthier whites then it would be class.

My issue is mostly economic. It so happens that we live in a society where race and class so often coincide because our society's history and current social order. Something few people know about or have cared to analyze.

[LoveTruth86]

Now imagine Harlem without Sylvias in favor of a sushi bar? Or Harlem without the Apollo?

Imagine Jackson Heights, Queens without Bollywood theatres and Indian cuisine and dancehalls?

This is also what many are fighting for. They don't mind living near new residents but when high rises threaten neighborhood businesses and residents, it becomes a problem.

[LoveTruth86]

My emphasis on it being a class issue is to remind ppl that class is a major element that many are forgeting in this whole thing.

[ldfmeile]

My guess is that you wouldn't care as much if it was the gentrification of Greenpoint which is a Polish neighborhood in NY.

[LoveTruth86]

And yet again this confirms that you are not from NYC where the anti-gentrification movement is a multicultural movement. Prior to being in Fort Greene, I was in Willamsburg. I am an artist. I worked along side white artists to try and save the artist community of Willamsburg which was being taken over by higher rents and planned high rises. Willamsburg and Greenpoint are right next to each other to the point that its called "Willpoint".

[LoveTruth86]

I have a friend named Anupa from Jackson Heights Queens which is a South Asian neighborhood. They are seething about what is happening with their community. So are the Latinos in the East Village, LES, parts of Brooklyn and the South Bronx. These people like the blacks in Harlem and neighborhoods in Brooklyn know that when they people move in they cannot stay there and their communties are distrupted. They would not mind living next to these newcomers.

[nate12345]

kid,just dont grow up to be alpo,and you will be alright

[striker126570]

by da way hey ms nelson and mr leon

[striker126570]

who recroded this.... and yes i am 1 of the students in this school ima 7th grader in ms. claro`s class & starsky by da way its my bro`s acc so dont ask

lol...=o

[Izakokomarixyz]

WE NEED THE CRIME BACK HELLOOO!?!?!?

[haitianzoezoe]

for real

[Bronxguyanese]

thats fucked up!

[HighHeelShoes]

hahahah I love when that kid took a sip of his "coffee." Seriously, though, it is a complicated issue. I am a white female who would love to move to East Harlem (as I work there and it is realtively affordable) but I would hate to be a contributing factor to gentrification. At the same time, it would be my race that would make me part of gentrification, which isn't fair to me! I can't help that I am white and that I was raised outside of the city. I still want in. What can I do about that?

[ghostsinthere2008]

white guilt is funny

[HighHeelShoes]

White guilt? Ah, yes. I feel so guilty for all of the terrible things I have done like owning slaves and perpetuating racism. Oh wait. That wasn't me. Thank you for proving my point.

[ldfmeile]

Your West African ancestors never owned slaves? You need a history lesson. Maybe you feel a little guilt. Have you ever witnessed the intense ethnic rivalries of West Africa? There aren't many comparable ethnic rivalries in the world today. Realize that slavery existed in nearly every culture throughout time and Wester Civilization was at the forefront of ending it.

[LoveTruth86]

I was born in the Bronx and then moved with my family to Westchester County. I went to Columbia so I was renting in Harlem. You can call me a "gentrifier" and I am black. It has to do more with class but the issue is that in this country, class falls heavily on racial lines.

[haitianzoezoe]

wait so u ppl dont care about the crime factor?? all you see is cheap rent , damnn now wonder so many many white females get robbed in forte greene , i thought i was being dillusional o well

[HighHeelShoes]

u ppl? nice.

[haitianzoezoe]

U PPL WAT?? WTF ARE U TALKING ABOUT???

[babaracass]

Well now that the housing market has gone bust we can look forward to having more affordable housing.

[vougettex3]

Look @ mr. leon the bestt teacher everrrrrrr !

[purvivora]

Did I teach you?

[vougettex3]

ii qo 2 thiss skool ! :)

[gbien]

i loved this video! you guys did such a great job.

i'm from Toronto, Canada, where the same problem is happening all over the city. condos are popping up everywhere and are actually changing the kinds of people who hang out all over the downtown area. its kind of gross.

good job!

[xCAGx77]

this is such a complicated subject. East Harlem was all Italian until the 50's, when the city knocked down the apartment buildings, displacing thousands of them and built projects for blacks and hispanics to move into. Now, the area is being "gentrified" so in a way its reversing the whole process. It might not seem fair to the current inhabitants, but it is what it is.

[jsanders2004]

Good Work!!! I live in DC and have too express the same concerns. Keep this up

[c0rinne23]

Amazing work, I wish more of the youth today cared about this..

[art72]

only in America.....folks are using all buraucracy not to have other poeple make the place better...whites couldn't walk there b4....that's crazy...it was an ill community...

[AVTPro]

This is pathetic. Marcus X died in Harlem.

[AVTPro]

This was right around the corner from me. I saw those guys working on that building 6 years ago.

[kingeric677]

THIS IS ERIC HEY MS VORA GOOD VID

[purvivora]

Hey Eric,

Haven't heard from you. How are you? Are you still at IN?

[ELEPHANTSRH]

YOU KIDS ROCK!!!

[purvivora]

thank you!

[newyorklost]

vist the New York Lost homepage

[clonushorror3]

I know these are just kids and that gentrification is a very complicated subject, but "go back to where you came from" - to me that sounds like straight up racism. Nearly every neighborhood in NYC is subject to rising rent. There are a lot of economic factors involved; I hope these kids are educated on those as well.

[PrincessPoodlePoo]

Great video! Bravo!!! Time to make a new video interviewing local residents.

[calang33]

awesome movie! Gentrification is a real issue, and I like how you incorporated multiple perspectives. angie

[imacjanet]

Excellent video ...

[Cal1987]

good to see you kids learning about your area..the whole idea of gentrification is something which isnt always a bad idea..but the way its done is pretty terrible..especially in a area as rich in culture as ours..props on this kids..