Ashley Jean-Francois

New York City is a place that’s well known for diversity. Food and entertainment. There are a lot of people from different backgrounds so its very hard to stay close minded in a city thats very in-your-face about all these different kinds of cultures. However, there are many juxtapositions in place, like an old building being right next to a new cafe. In New York City, gentrification isn’t actually a good thing and could ruin the lives of many who aren’t able to keep up with these changes.

The juxtapositions also lie in City Point’s popular, Dekalb Market. Usually, on Fulton street there are a lot of old, slightly run-down buildings that are mom and pop shops that the people around the area could afford. Compared to the rest of the neighborhood, City Point sticks out quite a lot because it’s in the makings of being tall luxury residential buildings with many amenities. Compared to the other old tenements that’s near by it’s a big juxtaposition. City point is a large food, shopping and entertainment destination. On Willoughby Street which is just near Dekalb, that one street is very dirty and is always crowded with a mixture of people white-collar workers and students. The food places around there are very tiny, and old but they have prices that are affordable for everyone. The socioeconomic status of people moving into Brooklyn versus the status of people who already live in Brooklyn is the biggest juxtaposition here, because City point has now become a ‘trendy’ place and as all trends do they push out the ‘old’ for the ‘new’ to have space.

While Brooklyn is now becoming a “little manhattan” the construction of City Point could be the potential downfall of all the other businesses surrounding it. City Point has a luxury food market that the majority of minorities in the area cannot afford, juxtaposed to Mcdonalds which isn’t too far and is always overflowing with people because they can afford it. Dekalb Market for the most part is very spacious as only a few people are able to truly enjoy it if they have a higher income. Of course most people will not see the problem because what’s on the surface is much more appealing and fun to talk about, it’s fun to go and explore the new luxury buildings and it’s fun to go to your favorite shopping stores that’s now new and available to Brooklyn thanks to City Point. However, there are and will be the unfortunate people who will both figuratively and literally be pushed out of the equation and it isn’t fair. Colson Whitehead opens up with, “the New York City you live in is not my New York City”(Whitehead). This is true for most people. Because their view of New York was much simpler and affordable juxtaposed to the other New York that younger generations see, they see the new cafes and stores opening up right near the old and rundown buildings that were those same shops before time eroded them into nothing.

Although, some people may say that City Point is a great addition to the neighborhood as it could bring in new people, more entertainment and more popularity which means more money would be put into the area to make it better. However, the migration of these new people will be the downfall of the locals who already can no longer afford to live in Downtown Brooklyn. The racial demographic of the area is 58.7% White, 23.8% Black and 16.3% Latino/Hispanic as of 2016 according to Macaulay.cuny.edu. The area has changed drastically where minorities are left with the lowest paying jobs and insufficient housing. Will Self of Charles McGrath’s article about him concedes that, “There is a deep sadness to American poverty, greater than the sadness of any other kind.”(Self/McGrath). This statement further supports the previously stated thesis statement because there is a large meal gap in the community where people have to cut down on the amount of food that is bought because of housing costs. Dekalb Market’s expensive food market will only become a useful amenity for the people who can afford it.

In Conclusion, Gentrification does more damage to people than helping. Property values may go up, new people may move in and the overall aesthetic value of the town may go up. There are people who are suffering because of those juxtapositions, although old and new can coexist that doesn’t mean that they should exist.

Works Cited Page.

• 1) Website Title: The Real Gentrifiers of NYC.GENTRIFICATION PAPER #1.
• 2) Website Title: The Gentrification of Downtown Brooklyn
• 3) Website Title: The New York Times.: Brooklyn’s Food Gap.September 09, 2016. Ginia Bellafante
• 4) Lupton, Ellen. “Why Collaborate.” Ellen Lupton. Elupton.com. October, 2009. Web. Originally published 2005.

5) McGrath, Charles. “A Literary Visitor Strolls in From the Airport.” The New York Times, December 6, 2006.