I was born, raised, and still live in the South Bronx. I was away from home for a while as I was at school, then gone for most of the summer for work. When I returned, there were a few things brought to my attention. My neighborhood gift shop which was around since ‘92 was replaced by a furniture store and the only Latin-x restaurant on the block completely changed its venue to give a more “modern” vibe. Modernity isn’t the issue but did I mention that the people that run it are no longer the Dominican couple that I grew up buying from? It might be a stretch for me to call these changes on my block a part of gentrification, as certain parts of the Bronx are the last to be affected by this wave, but it made me think about what other parts of the borough look like. I am convinced that I live in one of the most impoverished parts of the South Bronx, but still, we see changes like this. I continued to pay attention and noticed that the Bronx is being affected by this and I can’t say that I am happy about it.
So, the gag is that the founder of the real estate firm, Somerset Partners, Keith Rubenstein announced the construction of “luxury towers” in Port Morris. He even tried to rename this part of the Bronx “The Piano District”. This is something for me to laugh at because anyone from the city knows that the Bronx is usually referred to as the “dirty borough”. But now that money was invested into it, people want to call it the piano district to offer some artsy feel that wealthy people love. This rebranding of the Bronx has been and will continue to be followed by local stores and restaurants being closed, and replaced by pet shops, organic food places, boutiques, pizzerias, cafes, and huge chain corporations like Starbucks. Before you would barely see white people on the trains past 125th street but now I get off at the same stops with faces that I would have never guessed to see five years ago.
There are so many things I have to say about gentrification and none of them are good. As a result of gentrification, local businesses like my old gift shop, suffer as large competitors start opening shops. Close-knit communities thrive on socially conscious business practices that benefit everyone. Local shops and bodegas often allow people to shop on a tab and use food stamps without shame. When there is an influx of newcomers that do not understand or relate to the culture they are surrounded by, see existing residents as dangerous, and don’t support local businesses, is when things get rocky for everyone else.
Now I am not saying that everyone in my neighborhood was a friend, that isn’t the case, but there was never really much discomfort. There are many problems within these communities being gentrified, but they are communities, with all their imperfections. When wealthier residents move into low-income neighborhoods, the businesses around them will change to cater to the interests of wealthier folk, raising the rent, therefore, making it impossible for natives of the area to afford to live in places they have lived in all their lives. I see gentrification as an effort to erase the history and culture of a community. It is a sad reality that most Bronx residents pay a huge percentage of their income on rent and the city needs more affordable housing, not the other way around. Many people like to argue that gentrifying is only trying to do good by bringing money into the area and people affected by it fear change. Well, I come from a standpoint where I am not afraid of change, change is good. The concern that stems from gentrification is displacement, which is all it does to those people in those communities.