Prologue: The Tale of Sludgie the Whale

Most sea animals can’t even survive more than 72hours in the Gowanus Canal and Sludgie the Whale was proof that the Gowanus waters is inhabitable. This propose a threat on how New York City had neglected cleaning up the Gowanus for decades. As I look deep into the Sludgie the whale story, you tend to have a heavy heart for the whale because every time the whale would reach the surface, it would be this black sludge on it’s face and mouth area. No mammel should ever go through swimming with pollution like Sludgie the whale has done, this was the result of a storm starring the whale in the direction of polluted Canal. Gowanus is the primary example of polluted water that should be a world wide clean-up in other polluted bodies of water due to horrific results of what pollution has done to life globally.

This movie is a motivational film. Politicians have citizens believing that they don’t have any say of what goes on in each other neighborhoods. Jane Jacobs had proving that theory wrong and she was no politician, just a neighborhood citizen. Robert Moses has been a threat on tearing down neighborhoods, “slums” is what he called it and built massive freeways to build the city around the automobile, relocated Minorities with low income in those teared down neighborhoods and created a fantasy better place to live which is called the “Projects”, and ripped apart families from one another by profits and greed. Jane Jacobs grew aware that the idea of community in neighborhoods were vanishing before her eyes rapidly. The separation of people, families began to emerge and she vowed to fight for others who felt that they didn’t didn’t have a voice. Stopping Robert Moses from causing more damage to the city then he already with investors, etc. is one of the most accomplished movements of the city. Not only because it was wrong, it was flawed to certain cultures that greatly effects the economy is the long run.

Reading chapter 6 of “The uses of city neighborhoods”  by Jane Jacobs, about her strong ideas on how city neighborhoods should function around the community and for people. Not how much income you have. She explains how a successful city neighborhood thrives on solving problems within the community by taking necessary steps. An unsuccessful city neighborhood would shy away from solving anything and at that point, problems and issues will consumed the neighborhood.

Having family that grew up in the Rockways has been known to be very dangerous back in the 90’s and early 2000’s. My family wanted out like many others as well. Even families that were so far into crime did as well. Everyone who lived their had a dream of getting out of the projects because of the horrible living conditions and isolation on the island. Reading this article opened my eyes on why it was so bad including why it took so many years to get help right after Hurricane Sandy destroyed most homes and businesses on the Rockways. The Rockways is considered to be the most poorest part of the city which is called “The Slums”. People like Robert Moses had the idea and build Project Houses to relocate poor minorities, in which is most identified as Black and Latino families  in areas that would isolate people from the rest of the city  such as the Rockways. The Rockways has turned into one of the worst places to live in New York City. I feel that once everything is set for mass gentrification, the argument will be that minorities, mostly poor Blacks and Latino’s can’t live with each other and that is simply untrue.

After watching the film “My Brooklyn” I have came to a better understanding on how gentrification works. It is very hard to live through the process of gentrification when you grew up in a place that you adapted too and consider it to be your home. It is easier to come up with plans and new activities to an environment you never were part of, because you see it from an outside view. In “My Brooklyn” is it easily to state that raise plays a big role when is come to city planning and development. That their is a preference to who the city wants at a certain locations and how it will benefit those who they choose to be there. It is very shocking also on how Zoning plays a big part of gentrification. I feel that the big issue isn’t the change to newer buildings in the neighborhood, that is it the fact that the city is pushing those who have live their whole life there by raising prices that only upper class can afford. And the saddest part is that we are all human and care so little for each other, but care more of material things such as money.

My Brooklyn gives a brilliant examination of gentrification, utilizing individual reflections, authentic foundation and a glance at the mind boggling procedure of open strategy making. It is an effective apparatus for starting talk and open deliberation.

My Brooklyn is a narrative about Director Kelly Anderson’s own adventure, as a Brooklyn “gentrifier,” to comprehend the powers reshaping her neighborhood along lines of race and class. The story starts when she moves to Brooklyn in 1988, tricked by modest rents and bohemian culture. By Michael Bloomberg’s decision as chairman in 2001, a monstrous theoretical land blast is quickly modifying the areas she has come to call home. She looks as a blast of extravagance lodging and chain store improvement goads sharp clash over who has a privilege to live in the city and to decide its future. While a few people see these improvement designs as at last reviving the city, to others, they are deleting the mixed urban texture, monetary and racial differing qualities, inventive option culture, and special neighborhood economies that attracted them to Brooklyn in any case. It appears that no not as much as the city’s spirit is in question.

After watching this short film I got a sense of this whole class and what we are trying to raise awareness of. Seeing downtown Brooklyn as community being manipulated and destroyed by developers who seek to gain riches at the demise of the poor. Many small businesses are being displaced and put out of business leading to owner not providing for their families. Another essence of Brooklyn that is being lost is the cultural aspect of the community. Rezoning has introduced many new multi level high end housing which brings a new community to the existing. Although It might seemed like a great idea, the new residents didn’t support commerce at the Fulton mall. Instead they frowned upon the people who sold there. Streets that usually was busy with people buying and selling now feels like a ghost town. The only people benefited from these new developments were the developers who walk away with millions of dollars totally turning a blind eye to the people it truly affected.

This film made me think long and hard about the city I live in. It kind of hit home because I see something similar happening in my neighborhood today. Racism had alwaysys been an issue innthis country but gentrification is used as the forefront to allow it. Fulton mall was like a haven for the African American population that lived in Brooklyn during the 70’s. It was a way of life that many people adapted to and even more thrived. That was destroyed when city developers believed that capitalizing on something that was going well needed to be “fix”. I feel strongly about the way the city seems to always push this one specific demographic down whenever they are rising. They were pushed into an area and made it work for them and adapted to their environment. Now thatbtheybare making an unknown place profitable developers feel they can just come and take that away from them. They already weren’t getting good places to live or work and now they have to move because of someone’s habit of being greedy. The developers and city officials included might say that they were trying to make the Fulton Mall area more profitable but to me it only made things worst because now that neighborhood has lost its identity and flare it once had. Gentrification is doing more harm than good and those that aren’t directly affected by it couldn’t care less because at the end of the day they will still have what’s theirs. That’s was evident in the film when they asked white folks about their thoughts on the mall and the only responses that were received was negativity. New York will lose its fame and identity sooner or later because all these empty condos being built won’t have any residents residing in them due to high rent and non affordable living.

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8:30-10 Review of Terms and Concepts

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