Tag Archives: juxaposition

Project 3

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New York is known for being the city that never sleeps. There are multiple tall building  where these buildings are beautiful, and even have bright lights surrounding them.It’s hard to bare the fact that you are actually  in New York. Most people see New York for it being similar to Time Square but it’s not. In New York there’s diversity. What usually happens is that people with higher power have the power to build building to an extend where overlapping and gentrification occurs. Certain areas are made to look nicer or even to show the wealth that has been put. In all cases it starts with the little businesses and once it has outgrow, that place will be turned into an expensive property in which the prices will increase. With the property that  was bought many properties will be brought around the area.Juxtaposition can be a positive or a negative impact based on the location. In most cases overlapping can be a negative side just for the fact that it can lead to gentrification and having other building being built for other people’s needs.

The walk near by the school wasn’t very far. Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs that wealthy people are actually moving in.  So what is happening is that there’s  overlapping in the  neighborhoods that are in poverty. Where these wealthy people are making it look better then it was before. If somebody doesn’t really know what overlapping is, it’s when there’s and extend over so as to cover partly. The hotel of Hampton Inn is a good example of overlapping. That area was a project that was in mind for a while and the people who decided to built it took a while to actually built the hotel. If people where to see the area and the walk you will see that there are still old  buildings that are still surrounding  the neighborhood. The hotel was finally built in 2014.It was a long process for this hotel. The fact that there were hotels and other important building before the Hampton Inn shows that the process to getting the hotel took a while.

The juxtaposition of the hotel is that the architecture it different compared to the building connected to it on the left side .Based on the architecture the material of the hotel is actual pricey compared to the building that is connected to it which is built from brick. As well it’s an overlap, the fact that it’s actually pushing the brick building that it’s connected to away which  makes it an overlap. Probably later on that building that it  is connected to it will be apart of the hotel. Reason why is because the building doesn’t look like it’s taken care of. So since the hotel isn’t as big as most hotels the people who own the hotel may think to buy the building that is connecting to the hotel just to create more space and get more people in the hotel. In which the building connecting the hotel was actually removed and build to be apart of the hotel. So from the start the owners of the hotel planned, to take that space all along no matter what. Which can lead to gentrification because if the building next to it was a building of a company of where families stood then the other part of that building was cut off and built into a hotel. So the hotel owner decided that it will  be best to fit that hotel  and make whomever was staying there move out.  Either way the building next to it wasn’t doing great business anyways.

Hotels such as the Hampton Inn in Downtown Brooklyn are usually overlapping others. Based on an article “How Gentrification  Powers New York City’s Tourism Industry” a good point that stands out to the fact hotels being a project where a lot of expenses are put in which states” Since then, the hotel has seen its clientele switch over from international visitors to domestic as currency values have made it more expensive to visit New York”.  What this gives is  that with Manhattan being the craziest borough it’s also where a lot of action occurs. As well of New York being the city that never sleeps, owners want to be able to build hotels so that outsiders can enjoy the experience and also spend money. With that can connect back to how in all areas there has been overlapping. Which can conclude to Manhattan looking the way it looks because of overlapping. Another piece of information from the same article is that “I think there’s people who think of New York City as a separate entity from the U.S., because it’s very different here than the rest of the country,” which is a true fact for many reasons. A reason as to why it’s a big deal is that people are being pushed out of there homes for theses hotels to be built. With the hotel next to City Tech the building that was connected to it was something before the hotel was built. Now that the hotel is built what ever was there before doesn’t matter so in most cases everything in New York has been overlapped either for the good or bad.

In conclusion overlapping in New York can be a positive or a negative cause. With the hotel nearby the school the overlap on the hotel was half and half on being positive and half on being negative. With juxtaposition it isn’t all there do to the cause and effect it can create in neighborhoods. Many of neighborhoods have been sacrificed to make a better neighborhood where in all situations it’s for other people. Furthermore juxtaposition can also have a good cause into making neighborhoods better for people who live there and want a better environment.

Work Cited

Hylton, Ondel. “First Look at 22-Story Expansion of Downtown Brooklyn’s Hampton Inn Hotel.”6sqft, 6 Aug. 2015, www.6sqft.com/first-look-at-22-story-expansion-of-downtown-brooklyns-hampton-inn-hotel/.

Shievachman, Andrew. “How Gentrification Powers New York City’s Tourism Industry.” Travel News, Airline Industry News, & Hotel Industry News by Skift, skift.com/new-york-city-tourism-and-gentrification/.

The Before And After Of Barclay’s

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The juxtaposition of the old and the new of gentrification impacts negatively to the community of Atlantic ST- Barclay’s Center. The old and the new creates another juxtaposition which is the poor and the rich. While I was looking up pictures of Barclays Center, I was filled with nostalgia. Seeing old picture of Atlantic yard (before Barclay Center) and the past and present pictures brought back memories. It is astonishing to me because my memory of Atlantic Yard is vivid and the gentrification of this community is obvious to see. There are still brown-stoned buildings that have been in this community for so long, yet the luxury building seems to be overtaking the community at a fast pace. According to the website Merriam Webster defines juxtaposition as, the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side often to compare or contrast or to create an interesting effect. The old and the new of this community is a great example of a juxtaposed community. As I walk throughout Atlantic Yard, I can see that the old and the new is not just about the buildings, but also the people that live there.

The brown-stone buildings that are still left in Atlantic, screams the old Brooklyn. Seeing the luxury buildings being built all around the community, screams gentrification. The brown-stone buildings that are trying to survive in a community that is being renovated, is disheartening. It makes me wonder about the old residents that were kicked out or are in the process of being kicked out of their homes. A community that is no longer bringing them an authentic culture. A neighborhood that is becoming even more hard to survive financially than before. This reminds me of what Mr. Self said, from “A Literary Visitor Strolls in From the Airport” by Charles McGrath. He said, “There is a deep sadness to American poverty, greater than the sadness of any kind. It’s because America has such an ideology of success” (3). This quote can relate to Atlantic Ave because the poverty of the old residents is not being seen and it is being brushed away. The ideology of it, is the success of a neighborhood that is being gentrified. The success of the gentrification would be the amount of money it will make for the privileged.

The luxury buildings are being constructed for it to look modern and is creating a new Brooklyn. This is targeting new residents and bringing them the things they expect to see in a community they are moving into. The changes I have seen are the new shops that have been opened and targeting the pockets of the new residents. In “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead, he said “I never got a chance to say goodbye to some of my buildings” (3). This is a feeling that I share with the author because the New Yorkers that were born and raised here know that feeling of not having a chance to say goodbye to the memories they shared. Old stores are being closed in order for new stores to be open. This is the flow of gentrification and it creates another juxtaposition within the old and the new which is the poor and the rich.

The creation of the juxtaposition of the poor and the rich is once again related to the old and the new due to the gentrification of the neighborhood. The poor are the old residents that can no longer afford to live in their neighborhood. The rich are the ones that are creating new plans for the neighborhood and profiting from it. While the rich profits from their new plans, they create a contrasting effect. It is contrasting the residents of this neighborhood. The effect of it all is the topic of gentrification. It is noticeable that the old residents are trying to fight it, but it is not a successful fight after all. Whitehead mentions in his article, “Maybe we become New Yorkers the day we realize that New York will go on without us” (4).  This is the realization that I made as I walked the streets of the juxtaposed neighborhood of Atlantic Ave- Barclays Center. No matter how hard we try for a neighborhood not to change, it is bound to happen. There is no turning back once gentrification has set their eyes on a certain neighborhood, such as this one.

Nostalgia is a feeling that tries to hold on to the old, but it is not healthy to do so. The old and the new are linked because change is the contrasting effect of it. From this juxtaposition it may create a financial one which is the poor and the rich. Especially coming from a juxtaposed neighborhood that is having a dramatic change every day. There is always going to be mixed feelings when I walk by Atlantic Ave- Barclays Center. I hold dearly to the moments I would pass by there, as a child. These are the memories that I will hold and be able to observe the changes as a spectator. As Whitehead mentioned, “No matter how long you have been here, you are a New Yorker the first time you say, That used to be Munsey’s or That used to be the Tic Toc Lounge” (3). Memories are just memories and there is no way of going back to the old, once the new has started to make a move. Hopefully, I would have a chance to say goodbye to those brown-stone buildings that yells old Brooklyn! And welcome with a broken heart the luxury buildings. The biggest step is to accept the change of Atlantic Ave- Barclays Center.

Cite List

  • Colson Whitehead, “City Limits”; The Colossus of New York
  • Charles McGrath,” A Literary Visitor Strolls in From the Airport”;Books.