Context

As a native New Yorker, I am very familiar with the topic of gentrification. Growing up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, known very well for the gentrification happening in the neighborhood, I have witnessed the many transformations that gentrification has brought to the area. This has made me interested in exploring the impacts of gentrification, specifically as a result of Polytechnic University's plans for redevelopment in the MetroTech area of Downtown Brooklyn around the 1980s.

The “Northside” of Williamsburg, with a population of mainly working class immigrant part of Polish, Hasidic, and Hispanic communities, has experienced much of the gentrification Williamsburg is known for. The area has undergone significant change, with gentrification gaining traction in the 1990s, as artists and students began moving into the neighborhood, bringing in trendy stores and upscale restaurants, cafes, and apartments (Martucci 92). This wave of affluent residents established themselves in Williamsburg and completely changed its reputation. The neighborhood’s cultural identity was being lost as established businesses in the neighborhood felt the need to cater to these new “hip” residents in order to keep their businesses alive.

An example of this was when a Polish restaurant, “S&B,” changed the appearance of their restaurant to adapt to the changes in the neighborhood. The building originally had “the colors of the Polish national flag, and included the Polish word for restaurant” (Martucci 95). However, to fit in with the new aesthetics of Williamsburg, the restaurant switched to “minimalist decor” and removed the Polish words from the storefront. While minimalist decor can be pleasing to look at for some, it can be seen as cultural erasure, especially as longtime residents fall into the shadow of newcomers.

The pictures above show another example of major transformations in the area of Williamsburg. In 1994, the area was an Auto Body Service garage, but now, it is replaced by an Italian restaurant called Lilia, where even major celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson have dined.

While the area has seen significant improvements since 1994 that have established the area as more optimal for pedestrians, it also reflects the gentrification of the area over time due to projects to revitalize it. The reputation of the neighborhood has shifted drastically, and now caters to a demographic of those who are wealthy and young, instead of to working-class residents like back in the day.

Growing up in a different part of Williamsburg is not much different. The building I have lived in for most of my life, was once considered an affordable income restricted unit. However, over the years, this label was removed on vacated apartments in the building, and the rent for incoming tenants skyrocketed to over two times what long term residents like my family were paying. This was my first direct introduction to gentrification and my realization that the area would be undergoing many transformations over time. With the neigborhood becoming more desirable and more expensive to live in, it highlights the pressures on longitme, lower income residents as they are faced with issues like displacement.

This desirability of Brooklyn as a whole has also led to new construction projects sprouting up throughout the different neighborhoods. It has led to many modern, minimalist looking buildings that look so out of place in constrast with the rest of the neighborhood. On a cultural level, many traditions that have taken place in these neighborhoods have also gradually faded. In my neighborhood, composed of a mainly immigrant population and Puerto Rican and Hasidic communities, there are many events that would take place to celebrate important days or religious holidays, or just for fun. Being born to immigrant parents, there was a need to keep our culture alive in any way possible. While we did not have any big events, we always understood the importance of them.

The weekly parties and the gathering of families and neighbors in my neighborhood, which were once very common, became rare as the demographic composition of the neighborhood shifted. Gentrifiers promote cultural erasure in these areas by complaining to authorities and putting pressure on them to create restrictions on how often these events can take place or how loud they can be. In a neighborhood with a mainly immigrant population, these events are significant for people to express their culture and build a community outside of their homelands, and eventually the community of the neighborhood begins to deteriorate.

These experiences are just some of the impacts of gentrification that I have witnessed, but the effects go deeper than this, making it a topic worth exploring.

But first, it is important to define these terms around gentrification, because they can be understood differently by people in different positions.

Gentrification

Gentrification is the process of renovating urban neighborhoods that usually lead to the arrival of a demographic consisting of wealthier and younger residents, as well as more upscale businesses. This happens in low income neighborhoods and those with marginalized communities, which results in changes of a neighborhood's culture, demographic, and infrastructure, leading to implications such as displacement for these residents.  

Urban Renewal 

Urban renewal refers to the planned redevelopment or revitalization of urban areas to address issues that have to do with housing, transportation, sanitation, etc. New buildings are built or old ones are renovated, which is often done to make an area more desirable for people to live and work in. Urban renewal focuses more on entire neghborhoods that are wiped out for larger scale projects.

Urban Redevelopment

Urban redevelopment refers to projects that build new structures and land on an already existing area. This is done to improve the conditions in those areas by constructing new buildings or renovating them, similar to urban renewal. However, urban redevelopment projects vary in scale and severity, but are more focused on specific changes in a neighborhood.

Displacement

Displacement is when residents of a neighborhood are pushed out of their homes or businesses due to gentrification or other urban renewal/urban redevelopment projects. Their homes or businesses may be demolished to make room for other structures, or rents may become too high for them to afford.