Ok, I have to ask Cal, how so?
I moved into Greenpoint before there were any hipsters. Being an Asian with a ponytail I was not welcomed nor embraced by the Polish immigrant community there and pretty much was unwelcomed there in a rather hostile manner. The rents went up and the people who profited were the banks, landlords and the developers.
Next was Williamsburg. I lived on the Southside where during the day you did not see people on the streets because it was not a safe place, meanwhile on the Northside there were hipsters. I lived in an area that was rather rough and definitely not safe. On one occasion I heard someone empty a magazine on a handgun target practicing, separately on my way to work I saw a shell casing from a 45 on the sidewalk just outside my gate, and if it was after 9:00 PM Maggie would call me and wait for me to meet her at Grand Street and Bedford before entering the no-man's-land known as the Southside. Again my rent went up and the banks, the developers and the landlords made mucho money. I forgot to mention that I only lived a block away from a running sugar refinery which is like living next to a bomb factory. Also the new building next to where I lived was a vacant lot when I lived there, and the excavation and the resulting mice and other disturbances is why we moved yet again.
Next was Long Island City. My neighbor told me that only a few years earlier there were street walkers that would patrol right in front of our houses. Nearby in Queens Plaza the Crips and the Bloods had turf wars over the prostitution there during that time. Rudy G. cleaned all that up, but then again I helped stabilize a foresaken neighborhood and made the banks, landlords and developers lots of money. Even though I was just one stop from Madhttan if I needed a drug store I had to take the subway to Madhattan because there were no CVS or Duane Reades in LIC. I walked with a wagon like a homeless person to do food shopping at Costco in Astoria because the local supermarket was like a glorified bodega. Long Island City was rough because it was kinda uninhabited.
Now I'm in Spanish Harlem...
The real insult is that I pay taxes to take care of the poor, but the problem I have that makes me crazy is subsidizing the wealthy with 421 ten year tax abatements that the wealthy do not need that you should know applies to all the new luxury buildings that are being built that people like you and me can't afford and are priced out.
I'm not counting that I think I'm a bit of a tourist attraction, and one reason why people from all over the world come to New York. The rich people moving in are kinda entitled, rude and boring.
Know that I was also part of this process back in the late 70's when I was making lofts in SoHo livable that were just raw space. It was like camping out.
Like I said over the decades I have made banks, developers and landlords lots of money, but even though I worked hard to redevelope this city I have to ask if I got a raw deal.
Cal
