User:SunriseInBrooklyn/sandbox/Gentrification of New York City

The gentrification of New York City has been an ongoing process source of contention between renters and working people who live in New York City and real estate interests. A subset of this opposition has been an emerging antagonism between longtime working-class residents of the city and the influx of new residents. The gentrification of New York City neighborhoods began in the late 1990s in Williamsburg, and it has continued, at varying levels of intensity, into the present. New York City is a common example of gentrification, especially when it comes to discussions about rising rents and low-income residents moving out. In 2004, Lance Freeman and Frank Braconi of Columbia University found that low-income residents are actually less likely to move out of a neighborhood that had the "typical hallmarks" of gentrification than one that did not.

Manhattan

East Village

In the 1970s, rents were extremely low and the neighborhood was considered among the last places where many people would want to live.

Tensions over gentrification resulted in the 1988 Tompkins Square Park riot, which occurred following opposition to a proposed curfew that had targeted the park's homeless. The aftermath of the riot slowed down the gentrification process somewhat as real estate prices declined. However, by the end of the 20th century, real estate prices had resumed their rapid rise. About half of the East Village's stores had opened within the decade since the riot, while vacancy rates in that period had dropped from 20% to 3%, indicating that many of the longtime merchants had been pushed out.

Harlem

Harlem is currently experiencing a gourmet renaissance, with new dining hotspots popping up uptown around Frederick Douglass Boulevard. At the same time, some residents are fighting back against the powerful waves of gentrification the neighborhood is experiencing. On October 17, 2013, residents staged a sidewalk sit-in to protest a five-days-a-week farmers market that would shut down Macombs Place at 150th Street.

East Harlem

At the beginning of the 2010s, East Harlem has begun to feel the effects of gentrification. In February 2016, an article in The New York Times about "New York's Next Hot Neighborhoods" featured East Harlem as one of four such areas. A real-estate broker described it as "one of the few remaining areas in New York City where you can secure a good deal". The article mentioned new luxury developments, access to transportation, the opening of new retail stores, bars and restaurants, and national-brand stores beginning to appear on the outskirts of the neighborhood. Primarily, though, it was the cost of housing in comparison to the rest of Manhattan, which the article noted as the major factor. Beginning in 2016, the New York City government was seeking to rezone East Harlem "to facilitate new residential, commercial, community facility, and manufacturing development". The residents of the neighborhood generated a suggested zoning plan, the "East Harlem Neighborhood Plan", which was offered to the city in February 2017, but in August 2017 residents and the Manhattan Borough President, Gale Brewer, complained that the city had ignored their plan almost entirely. As of 2017, the median household income in Community District 11 was $36,770. In 2018, an estimated 23% of Community District 11 residents lived in poverty, compared to 14% in all of Manhattan and 20% in all of New York City. One in nine residents (11%) were unemployed, compared to 7% in Manhattan and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 48% in Community District 11, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 45% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, Community District 11 is considered to be gentrifying: according to the Community Health Profile, the district was low-income in 1990 and has seen above-median rent growth up to 2010.

Hell's Kitchen

Though in the 1970s, Hell's Kitchen has its gritty reputation had long held real-estate prices below those of most other areas of Manhattan, by 1969, the City Planning Commission's Plan for New York City reported that development pressures related to its Midtown location were driving people of modest means from the area. Since the early 1990s, the area has been gentrifying, and rents have risen rapidly.

Brooklyn

Bedford-Stuyvesant

Bedford-Stuyvesant is traditionally the largest black community in Brooklyn.

Beginning in the 2000s, Bedford-Stuyvesant began to experience gentrification. The two significant reasons for this were the affordable housing stock consisting of brownstone rowhouses located on quiet tree-lined streets, as well as the marked decrease of crime in the neighborhood. Many properties were renovated after the start of the 21st century, and new retailers began moving to the neighborhood. There was a belief that neighborhood change would benefit all residents of the area, bringing with it greater neighborhood safety, more local jobs, and retail demand on major commercial strips. As such, both the Fulton Street and Nostrand Avenue commercial corridors became part of the Bed-Stuy Gateway Business Improvement District, bringing along with it a beautification project. Through a series of "wallscapes" (large outdoor murals), the campaign honored famous community members, including community activist and poet June Jordan, activist Hattie Carthan, and rapper The Notorious B.I.G. The campaign sought to show off the area's positive accomplishments.

Several long-time residents and business owners expressed concern that they would be priced out by newcomers, whom they disparagingly characterize as "yuppies and buppies [black urban professionals]", according to one neighborhood blog. They feared that the neighborhood's ethnic character would be lost. However, Bedford–Stuyvesant's population has experienced much less displacement of the black population than other areas of Brooklyn, such as Williamsburg and Cobble Hill. Bedford–Stuyvesant saw more foreign-born Afro-Caribbean and African residents as well as upwardly mobile middle-income African American families, as well as immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean. Surrounding neighborhoods in northern and eastern Brooklyn have a combined population of about 940,000 and are roughly 82% black, making them the largest concentration of African Americans in the United States.

After a large decline during the 1970s (mirroring the citywide decline), the population in Bedford Stuyvesant grew by 34 percent between 1980 and 2015 (faster than the citywide growth rate of 21 percent) to reach 150,900 residents. The population has increased by 25 percent in just the past 15 years, more than three times faster than the citywide rate. The ethnic and racial mix of the population has undergone dramatic changes in the past 15 years as the neighborhood has attracted new residents. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, three-quarters of the residents identified as black or African-American in 2000, but this share had declined to less than half of the population by 2015. In 2015 (the latest year for which census data are available), one-quarter of the residents were white and nearly one-fifth were Hispanic. By comparison, in 2000, less than 3 percent of the population was white (the Hispanic share of the population has remained relatively unchanged). The Asian population has grown, but remains relatively small, making up less than 3 percent of the neighborhood According to the US Census Bureau, in 2016 the population was 49% Black, 27% White, 19% Hispanic, 3% Asian, and 2% other or from two or more races.

Bushwick

Median rent in 2007 was $795, about one in six rental units is subsidized, and greater than one in three units is rent regulated. 4% of renters live in severely overcrowded conditions. In 2007, the neighborhood had an 18.7% homeownership rate while roughly 1 in 20 owners of 1–4 unit buildings received a notice of foreclosure. Between 1990 and 2014, rental costs in Bushwick increased by 44%, the fourth-highest rise in New York City.

As of 2016, the median household income in Community Board 4 was $50,656. In 2018, an estimated 25% of Bushwick residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. One in eight residents (13%) were unemployed, compared to 9% in the rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 55% in Bushwick, higher than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, Bushwick is considered to be gentrifying.

Williamsburg

Main article: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

In Williamsburg, low rents were a major reason artists first started settling in the area, but that situation has drastically changed since the mid-1990s. Average rents in Williamsburg can range from approximately $1400 for a studio apartment to $1,600–2,400 for a one-bedroom and $2,600–4,000 for a two-bedroom. The price of land in Willamsburg has skyrocketed. The North Side, above Grand Street, which separates the North Side from the South Side, is somewhat more expensive due to its proximity to the New York City Subway (specifically, the L train and G train on the BMT Canarsie Line and IND Crosstown Line, respectively). More recent gentrification and the route of the M train (whose route was modified to go from the downtown BMT Nassau Street Line to the midtown IND Sixth Avenue Line in 2010), however, have prompted increases in rents south of Grand Street as well. Higher rents have driven out many bohemians and hipsters to other neighborhoods in Brooklyn farther afield.

In 2005, the New York City Council passed a large-scale rezoning of North Williamsburg and Greenpoint waterfront. Much of the waterfront district was rezoned to accommodate mixed-use high density residential buildings with a set-aside (but no earmarked funding) for public waterfront park space, with strict building guidelines calling for developers to create a continuous two-mile-long string of waterfront esplanades. Local elected officials touted the rezoning as an economically beneficial way to address the decline of manufacturing along the North Brooklyn waterfront, which had resulted in a number of vacant and derelict warehouses in Williamsburg.

The rezoning represented a dramatic shift of scale in the ongoing process of gentrification in the area since the early 1990s. The waterfront neighborhoods, once characterized by active manufacturing and other light industry interspersed with smaller residential buildings, were re-zoned primarily for residential use. Alongside the construction of new residential buildings, many warehouses were converted into residential loft buildings. Among the first was the Smith-Gray Building, a turn-of-the-century structure recognizable by its blue cast-iron facade. The conversion of the former Gretsch music instrument factory garnered significant attention and controversy in the New York press primarily because it heralded the arrival in Williamsburg of Tribeca-style lofts and attracted, as residents and investors, a number of celebrities.

Queens

Astoria

Main article: Astoria, Queens

In the 1960s and ’70s, waves of Greek immigrants came to America at the rate of 15,000 per year, settling mostly in Astoria. However, the Greek influence in Astoria started declining over a decade ago. Unofficial estimates reduce Astoria’s Greek population from 45,000 to 30, 000 during the past two decades. However, the Greek influence in Astoria started declining over a decade ago. Unofficial estimates reduce Astoria’s Greek population from 45,000 to 30, 000 during the past two decades. The 2000 census, however, states that the Greeks make up only 8.6% of the neighborhood’s population, a mere 18, 217 people. The Greeks who established businesses and made their fortunes have moved upward in society, leaving Astoria for neighborhoods in Queens or Long Island like Bayside, Little Neck, and Whitestone. The new immigrants replacing the Greeks who left are from diverse backgrounds, mostly Latin Americans, Middle Easterners, South, and East Asians, and Eastern Europeans. On Steinway Street, the influence of North Africans, from countries such as Egypt or Morocco, and Middle Easterners, is easily spotted. They are hookah bars, halal restaurants, and grocery stores and various other businesses relating to their culture. Brazilians, Ecuadorian, Colombians, Indians, Bangladeshis and the Chinese are also among the new immigrants moving into Astoria.

Long Island City

In 2001, Long Island City was rezoned from an industrial neighborhood to a residential neighborhood, and the area underwent gentrification, with developments such as Hunter's Point South being built in the area. Since then, there has been substantial commercial and residential growth in Long Island City, with 41 new residential apartment buildings being built just between 2010 and 2017. A resident of nearby Woodside proposed establishing a Japantown in Long Island City in 2006, though this did not occur.

As of 2017, the median household income was $66,382 in Community Board 1 and $67,359 in Community Board 2. In 2018, an estimated 18% of Community Board 1 and 20% of Community Board 2 residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. The unemployment rate was 8% in Community Board 1 and 5% in Community Board 2, compared to 8% in Queens and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 47% in Community Board 1 and 51% in Community Board 2, slightly lower than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, northern LIC is considered to be gentrifying, while southern LIC is considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

The Bronx

South Bronx

Port Morris

The neighborhood has been experiencing massive revitalization with many historic warehouses, factories and various manufacturing buildings being converted into lofts. The former Estey Piano Corp factory, now The Clock Tower, has the restaurant Charlies Bar & Kitchen operating on the ground level. Port Morris has become a burgeoning community of artists and other young professionals looking for more reasonable options outside of Manhattan. Efforts by the New York Restoration Project are underway to revive the waterfront in an area that historically suffers from high asthma rates. This will create much-needed green space for the community. As a result of these changes, the neighborhood is slowly becoming a hub for upscale eateries in the South Bronx. Additionally, in 2015, Silvercup Studios announced it would convert a 115,000-square-foot warehouse at 295 Locust Avenue for film and television productions. Silvercup North, as the facility was known, opened in mid-2016.

See also

• Gentrification in Philadelphia
• Gentrification of Atlanta
• Gentrification of Chicago
• Gentrification of Portland, Oregon
• Gentrification of Vancouver

References

Category:Gentrification of New York City Category:Economy of New York City