Ayana+Pringle

Ayana Pringle Lucy & Jeffery 904 June 4th, 2013

What is gentrification ? According to Merriam Webster Gentrification is the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents. Over the past the 15 years, a neighborhood in Brooklyn , Bed Stuy has adjusted according to gentrification. Bed Stuy has changed economically, racially and historically.

Bed Stuy is a neighborhood that has changed drastically over the past 15 years economically. [|In “Striking Change in Bedford-Stuyvesant while white population soars “]Author Sam Roberts states that from 2000 to 2010 the white population soared 633 percent. Which is the biggest percentage of any racial ethnic group in any New York City neighborhood. But while the neighborhood was becoming more diverse crime dropped drastically. In [|“Transplant of Bed Stuy Mosque Forces Members to Reflect on Gentrification.”]Author Murray Cox says that “ In 2011, an owner raised the rent on Abdul Aziz who was the man who had owned the mosque. Because Abdul was unable to afford to pay the rent he went to another location. Abdul Aziz was just one example of Gentrification. Bed Stuy as a whole has changed drastically over the past 15 years, because economically rent has went up on many properties making it unable for people to sustain their properties. == = = = Bed Stuy as a whole has changed drastically over the past 15 years, racially also. In the article [|“White People Are Flocking To Bed] [|-Stuy, Black People Are Leaving”] author Sam Horine says that according to the last census around 60,000 new Brooklynites moved in between April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012—and it seems the majority of those were white people. The biggest change in demographics over the last decade in Brooklyn occurred in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where the white population grew six fold and the number of African-Americans dropped by 14.6%. In another article “Big Demographic Shift In Bed-Stuy as the whites move in “ a New York Times author states that 2010 census numbers for Bedford-Stuyvesantmedia type="youtube" key="5F-VvQTmPO4?feature=player_detailpage" height="360" width="634" Stuyvesant and reports that the neighborhood has shifted from 75 percent to 60 percent black over the past decade, while “in the older Bedford section west of Throop Avenue, according to the 2010 census, blacks have recently become a minority of the population for the first time in 50 years.” The white population in this part of Bed-Stuy was up 633 percent from 2000, according to the story, accounting for the biggest racial or ethnic group increase in any area of the city. The article sounds familiar notes of gentrification: One resident compares the changes in the neighborhood to “what I saw happen in Fort Greene starting in 1997,” while John L. Flateau, a professor of public administration at Medgar Evers College, says “there are also a number of white families and single hipsters moving into Bed-Stuy, as renters and owners, who seem to be disconnected from, unaware of, and oblivious to Bed-Stuy’s rich, historical legacy of social capital, community networks and its politics.” Henry L. Butler, the chairman of Community Board 3, says that the increase in real estate values has been a boon for homeowners but pushed some renters out. Still, he says: “You’re getting new money, new people, you get different types of services and stores, and you get more police protection.” This shows the big difference that has happen in Bed Stuy the past couple of years. =

Bed Stuy has changed much over the past 15 years not only racially but socially also. In the article ”[|As Brooklyn Gentrifies Some Neighborhoods Are Being Left Behind”] author Joseph Berger states that In Williamsburg and Greenpoint, the proportion of residents holding graduate degrees quadrupled to 12 percent; in East New York and Starrett City, it remained 4 percent.Assemblyman Hakeem S. Jeffries, who recently won the Democratic primary for a Congressional seat that serves gentrifying Fort Greene and Prospect Heights as well as Brownsville and East New York, said: “The poorer neighborhoods were devastated by the collapse of the economy and have not meaningfully recovered.”In Sunset Park, a neighborhood bustling with Chinese and Mexican immigrants, there has been bitterness that the city has not until this year heeded complaints that four-day-a-week street cleaning forces car owners to endlessly circle blocks looking for parking spaces. By contrast, the more politically muscular residents of southern Park Slope next door have had two-day-a-we s. ek street cleaning for many years.

According to Merriam Webster Gentrification is the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents. Over the past the 15 years, a neighborhood in Brooklyn , Bed Stuy has adjusted according to gentrification.