Politics

OPINION: Speaking Plainly About Gentrification

Over 2.6 million people call Brooklyn home. There are just as many, if not more, opinions on gentrification and its impact on our borough’s future. As I travel from neighborhood to neighborhood, it is at the top of nearly everyone’s list of concerns. Yet, while I hear many of us talking about gentrification, it has been difficult to generate constructive dialogue, one where we honestly identify the issues at the core of our complaints as well as potential solutions to those challenges. With Brooklyn’s focus squarely on our affordable housing crisis—and the need for us on both an economic and a moral level to build and preserve tens of thousands of units for low- income and working-class families— now is the time to speak plainly about gentrification and how we can combat its negative effects.

In my estimation, there are four factors that exacerbate these effects, the first of which being the harassment of tenants by bad-acting landlords. I have begun holding a series of tenant harassment hearings around the borough, highlighting the predatory landlords that are playing games with the health and safety of their tenants. After our opening hearing at Brooklyn Borough Hall, our office had gone through an entire box of tissues from speaker after speaker pouring their eyes and hearts out, retelling their nightmares. Denying someone heat, hot water, sanitation or other basic services is not a negotiation tactic; it’s a crime. Not only are we actively tracking potential criminal cases to direct to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson where we see actions are violating laws like criminal mischief, we are working with civil rights attorney Norman Siegel and legal advocates to pursue patterns of bad behavior that may lead to civil suits. Concurrently, legislators in Albany should revisit in the next session how to strengthen the penalties attached to these statutes. Leadership on the state level is needed to deter this behavior, keep tenants in the communities where they have lived for decades, and end the massive hemorrhaging of affordable housing units in Brooklyn.

The second factor is the lack of integration of new arrivals into neighborhoods deemed to be gentrified or gentrifying. When many people speak about gentrification, they lament a loss of community in the abstract sense, the close-knit feeling of collaborative spirit. Community, especially in a place like Brooklyn, is not something we view as a luxury, but rather a necessity for a thriving, prosperous place that looks out for its own. Some new arrivals embrace that energy head-on, and they are to be lauded. Others have taken a more caustic approach, failing to practice what I call “Brooklyn common courtesy.” We can foster and strengthen these bonds through activities like block parties, street fairs and sidewalk sales, which bring communities out to engage with one another. Highlighting common spaces like community gardens and parks, as well as building capacity for community-based organizations, are also great tools to fostering relationships and understanding.

The third factor is a partner to the second, and that is the challenge that existing community residents face in dealing with what many believe to be “missed opportunities.” Back in the bad old days, long before neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Prospect Heights were deemed anything close to attractive, parents would tell their children to buy the home down the block, to invest in the community. Many chose to find opportunities elsewhere. As these neighborhoods experienced their renaissances, property values went from accessible to astronomical, making a return home difficult. Soon enough, we will see this same story play out in neighborhoods like Brownsville and East New York, areas where real estate values were once rock-bottom and are now rising at a staggering rate. There are strategies we need to explore to get existing residents to invest in their communities, creating opportunities for homeownership, such as the land bank program that has turned around vacant and abandoned properties in other parts of New York state.

Finally, the most basic fear we face around gentrification is the fear of change, or metathesiophobia, as it’s called scientifically. We must remember that the history of New York City is the history of change. East New York, which is now a heavily African- American and Latino neighborhood, was once a Jewish and Italian bastion. Sunset Park grew up as an Irish, Polish and Scandinavian community, evolved into a hub for Latino immigration, and has recently evolved into one of the fastest-growing Chinatowns anywhere. Populations shift for a variety of reasons; the important thing is that no one is forced out or kept from coming into any community. We should not be shouting down two- and three-story affordable housing opportunities on one street, and then be standing idly by while five- and six-story storage facilities shoot up on a nearby avenue. Brooklyn belongs to every Brooklynite, newcomer and community cornerstone alike, and it is our shared responsibility to combat the affordability emergency at our doorstep as neighbors, hand in hand. 

 

Eric Adams is the Brooklyn Borough President. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.