Problems

Limestone Kid ROCKS and really said all there is to say to this troll. Awesome!

Subject: Oh Please...

One of the posters above is missing my point. We were never "new" to this neighborhood. I was born here, as were my children. The amusing thing i read on this board is how indignant some of you folks get when you don't see/recieve the level of service you expect/are accustomed to. Your white priviledge has really colored your outlook. Welcome to our neighborhood. How absurd you sound when you come here, buy a brownstone for $500,000 or get an apt for $1200, and then complain how the crime/life quality is not what it is in Park Slope. If you were back in Park Slope, you wouldn't be able to afford that brownstone or that rent. Get over it,. That is how it is here. We have been living with this our entire lives. Dont come here and try to impose your yuppie standards on our community. Because foolish white people with money to burn drove up the rents/home prices in other areas, now you displaced outcasts all come here and drive up our rents and home prices. Everywhere i look i see dudes who look like Shaggy from the Scooby-Doo cartoons. If you all go back where you came from tomorrow, it would be celebration time here.

Where do I begin, the subtle but racist "countless others feel this way" or the ebonics statement by or perhaps the snitching comment? No, I will start by stating that I think beenhereawhile is insincere with his commentary, and if not that he is absolutely incorrect on every count. His comments then are worthless and harmless. The greater issue is the veiled racism by many of the responders to his nonsense. I have four generations of my immediate family living in the "nabe" or the "hood" and we have been active in improving the quality of life and amenities in our community with many others long before I knew what gentrification was. The idea that new tenants to this area are providing services is inaccurate and can be easily proven by visiting the many shops that are owned and operated by people familiar to Bed Stuy. Many of these people own several properties and have far more resources than the "newbies" and they are college grads as well. I hesitate to indulge in these "threads" but I think it is necessary to expose or identify racism as an individual who has a five year old grandson to protect and fear for his safety because of the color of his skin as well as the fact that he may be perceived to have more than his peers. The attacks on both sides are palatable, dangerous and useless. Learn to live together and create value. Support the local businesses that look good and make a good impression. Report all criminal activity immediately. Call 311 for traffic lights, sanitation problems and any nuisance you see fit. The last thing is when you need help try not to discriminate because a life might depend on it. Thank you, and please don't take it personally.

Subject: unity brothers and sister

i believe that being black white ,rich or poor won t make bedstuy better but instead being involved is the secret for the hood to shine
let s make the difference and make it happen
peace

Anonymous wrote: Most interesting among the troll's posts was the idea that all newcomers to an area with money are white. Not so. My family was getting too big for our apartment in the City, and we found a deal in the neighborhood that we just couldn't pass up. I make no money myself, but my husband is a college educated strong black man with a successful career- I'm certain he makes more than any white "Shaggy" living within a 2 block radius of us. He is the FIRST person to call the cops on someone acting the fool.

Thank you for addressing the sweeping generalizations that people seem to be working with here. We seem to be satisfied with narrowing it down to the notions that all whites that are moving into these neighborhoods have money and hope to improve the neighborhood before taking it over, while the blacks are the resentful natives that want to keep them out & maintain the crime-ridden drug infested status-quo. This is madness, and unfortunately the original poster fed into that by failing to articulate whatever true concerns s/he may have had and instead just ranted. There are a lot of whites who do not have money who have moved into these neighborhoods (and understandably so....why else would they be here?)..and many of them are passing through and couldn't give 2 shits about community building...and while we may not have to worry about them committing the kinds of crimes we see committed by the city's most indigent (i.e., selling crack on corners; etc.), I've already seen a few 'copping some weed' here and there. Similarly, there are tons of solid black families in these neighborhoods that have weathered all kinds of storms and work tirelessly on improving the community. While I'll be the first to admit that police protection will increase with the influx of white residents, I certainly hope that no one leaves here with the impression that it will come only as a result of greater vigilance on the part of newer residents. (Oh, btw, for the likes of Gustav...I'm not daring to suggest that new residents haven't done a lot for the community too, because many have...I'm just focusing on the misconceptions right now).

In my opinion, one of the biggest hindrances to learning to live together is failing to understand other peoples on an individual level. This reluctance to apply just a bit more thought and instead quickly throw each other into pre-cut categories is not only damaging, but it actually results in the type of misinformation as I've seen all over this thread. You should be able to tell the difference in your neighborhood between the pimps & the priests, the educated & the ignorant, etc. It might require you to have some small talk with those who were in the neighborhood longer than you, but a small price to pay to avoid ignorance.

Subject: BeenHereAwhile

I suppose I missed the point too. Thank God! It’s a sad ideology to believe that someone wanting to be safe/desires better quality of life is indignant. Don’t you want that for your family? Born and raised in New York, I moved here 6 years ago. What I thought was a simple change of residence has turned out to be such a complicated and emotional moved. I remember walking through the neighborhood one day saying to myself, “where am I?" One of the things that occurred to me that day was that weeks can go by without seeing one single police officer/car patrolling the neighborhood. Is it surprising that crime is high! I inquired as to the local politicians - had to get names off the internet because the residents I asked didn’t know them! People tell me, “oh we are getting pushed out and the police only show up now because White people are moving in.” I am African American, born and raised in Harlem and I have concerns about those same issues. If “that is how it is here” then we have to also accept the responsibility in the lost/lack of involvement in the neighborhood. I have gone to community board and police precinct meetings, expecting large turnouts and only about 100/50 people, respectively, are present and even then, I am sure a percentage of those there are new to the neighborhood like myself. I suppose you are right when you say, that “that is how it is” because with such dismal turnout, that’s how its going to be!!! It would be reasonable to comprehend that the issues that are brought up are going to be those impacting the people who are in attendance/involved. Manyof the attendees at these meetings are elders, who saved and worked harder and for less money than we do, to own their own homes. They can tell you about a time when you could leave your doors open and could relax, as a family, in their homes in the evening without the disrespectful bumping of music coming from a car three blocks down! I feel “privileged” to walk in their footsteps. They will not be here forever--we cannot expect their struggles to carry us through our lifetimes -- we have to take hold of what they have past on to us to do, to insure their “golden years” are peaceful and fulfill our lives so that we have something worthy to past on to our children. Do you tell your children to “get over it” when they inspire to do and be more than this neighborhood? If our ancestors had been as such, there would be no neighborhoods to lose!!! We are living not of our own doing, but what they have made possible.
Celebrate - are you kidding me. No positive effect will occur if people leave the neighborhood. The fact remains that there is a high number of sub-prime mortgages (which threatens the economy fiber) in the neighborhood. Its been reported that on some blocks there are at least ten homes with these kind of mortgages and a fear that a substantial amount of people will not be able to maintain them. Together with what you propose, factor in the normal sells of homes because of death, retirement and other situations, the effect would be a devastating reduction in the existing affordable rentals and you can bet your bottom dollar that the developers that buy up the properties are not going to be dealing with low-income housing. Homeowners will walk away with enough to start there lives somewhere else, but where do you suggest people who cannot afford high rental fees go?
And just as a reference, to this “BedStuy is not Park Slope, go back to Park Slope” mentality. My late cousin brought a house in BedStuy back in the 1950’s. He then brought a second home, which his family has own over 50 years, in Park Slope. When I visited them as a little girl, Park Slope was an influential if not completely/mostly African American community (not really sure of the percentage) so I always laugh when I hear such, because I would love to have an opportunity to go back (and live next to my cousin's house)!
I understand how you feel, this world is full of inequalities and racism - I couldn’t afford to buy in the neighborhood that I grew up in -- it makes you angry, its frightening, the thought of losing ones home, but we have to be proactive, filled with the love of God, not divided. I truly believe that we are living in a time that we have to look at ourselves! Someone once told me, if you are waiting for a leader, look in the mirror.