As some of you know, I take pride in being born here. New York of the 70's-early 90's was an unsafe, unsavory town, listed among, if not the #1 most dangerous big city in America. Taking the subway late at night wasn't just an adventure, it was a challenge to the thieves and murderers, screaming "Come get me, motherfuckers!!!" like a stray member of the Warriors. Times have changed, and the city is safe. And really fucking expensive.
So as one of the city's old-timey endangered species, I was furious to read this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/12/new-york-brooklyn-williamsburg-gentrification Really?!? Being mad because Duane Reade, a multiple decade resident of New York (granted, a large corporation) is moving into YOUR part of town? That it's too expensive to live here NOW?!?
Ok. Turn back time ten years when the two bedroom railroad I shared on S.2nd was $700. If you're mad that you're getting pushed out of your apartment because your landlord wants to raise your studio rent from $1800 to $2600, you can: a) fight it (you'll lose) . b) realize that this all started with YOU. c) shut up and move to Bed Stuy. Or is it called East East East Williamsburg? Gentrification is not just starting. These changes are the result of the real gentrification which started when Bedford Ave. wasn't safe past Metropolitan, McCarren park was full of glass shards and needles, and the Yabby was still open, and Sweetwater smelled like vomit, not escargot. Don't know what these places are? Then you were a part of the wave. Sorry to break it to you.
Yes, I'm one of those "You hipsters changed my neighborhood!" guys. It did change. And yes, it's better to live here now than the past, when I was afraid of being shot in my bathroom by my landlord (true story circa 1994). But please don't complain because the gentrification didn't stop with your triumphant arrival. Now it's your turn to get priced out of Williamsburg. Now, I'm gonna go watch The Warriors on repeat then prance around dressed like a Fury.
Well... I'm only a 12 year New York resident so mayhap I don't know what the frack I'm talking about.... but!
ReplyDeleteYeah, you're right.
The complaint I have with Duane Reade, isn't that its gentrifying, it is that is using its corporate bulk to muscle Kings out of business. Do they really think they will turn a profit off of 2 stores within 5 blocks? Maybe. Is saturating that 5 block radius with advertising and stores that Kings can't hope to compete with also a god strategy to capture the entire market of the neighborhood? Definitely.
But hey, I moved to Bedstuy or as the realtors are calling it, The Promised Land.
Oddly, the things Kings Pharmacy could have done to help itself:
ReplyDeletea)Not charge significantly more than their competitor.
b)Here's an easy one! Kings never sold DIAPERS. No kids in Williamsburg? I think not.
Kings is a poorly run pharmacy. They could have done a lot to protect themselves, instead they chose to complain, appealing to their misguided hipster masses. Why is no one complaining about the couture shops that have opened all over Bedford instead?
I HAD NO IDEA I WAS THE PROBLEM!!!!!
ReplyDeleteand props for a sweetwater shoutout.