Whose house? Whose dream?

After a failed attempt to find a coffee shop near Long Island University, it was a pleasant surprise to find myself at Fulton Mall.

Fulton Street & Adams St / Brooklyn Bridge Blvd

Last year, I watched a documentary on the WORLD Channel where the director explored the changes occurring in Downtown Brooklyn as a result of the influx of gentrifiers like herself.

After my initial amazement (at finding the subject of a documentary that got my brain making connections between concepts in my urban planning coursework), I began to notice the mix of architectural styles in the buildings that housed Fulton Mall’s businesses.

Fulton Street architecture

As I walked along the mall, I also began to notice a clash between the businesses. There was a Dr. Jay’s sharing a wall with a Banana Republic Factory Store; Nordstrom Rack and H&M near a Modell’s Sporting Goods store; Aéropostale a stone’s throw from a pawn shop and a bargain jewelry store; and an Armani Exchange store holding down Albee Square Plaza.

Some of the stores along Fulton Mall

Immediately, I wondered if the core customers of these different stores could get along on the same street? My mental image of the typical Nordstrom customer doesn't just hop over into Modell’s or Dr. Jay’s. I was immediately proven wrong as my mental stereotype of a male Nordstrom customer walked confidently out of the ‘mens’ door at Dr. Jay’s. Although I was immediately reminded why stereotypes can be unreliable and possibly harmful, I couldn’t help feeling uneasy about the changes I was observing.

In my urban planning studies at Boston University, my classmates and I have discussed the impacts of development led by wealthy real estate interests targeted at land with untapped earning potential: the displacement of lower income and working class families; reduced demographic diversity; severe changes to the historic character of neighborhoods; and increased tension between socioeconomic classes as small businesses are replaced by big franchises and boutique stores.

I could see the signs on Fulton Street: after all one Starbucks or Shake Shack probably begets another.

• A trendily-branded local development corporation and business improvement district partner (dwntwn brklyn)
• A sign at Albee Square that prohibits unreasonable obstruction of passage and sitting areas, camping, storage of personal belongings, and lying down — policies that target homeless individuals and families and empower law enforcement officers to evict them
• Signs promoting brand new apartments with no signing fees
• A cornerstone project that proudly advertises GQ Magazine’s declaration of Brooklyn as “the coolest city on the planet” alongside photos of young, trendy & multicultural men and women.
• A quote from one of the cool people bemoans having to go into Manhattan to shop. The developer promises that things are going to change.

Signs of the time — and it’s definitely chnaging

The photos of the young and hip were cool but other faces were missing:

1. Where are the photos of the older residents of the neighborhood?
2. Where are the ‘suits’ that will eventually buy up the condos?
3. Where are the boomerangs, the baby boomers moving back to the city to start the next chapter as empty nesters, in search of the excitement of city life?
4. Where are the people who actually shopped in Albee, on Fulton and Livingston, before they became hip?

The Macy’s Garage

I was particularly struck by the art around the Macy’s garage that had quotes describing the neighborhood that I assumed came from long-time locals and were remixed into poetry around the structure. One in particular stood out to me:

“Every street carries us home.”

My question:

“Whose home?”

Whose dream is being pursued and whose dream is likely going to be accomplished? The developers? The gentrifiers? The long-time residents? The local business owners?

Thanks for reading. Please leave a comment or some feedback.

I recommend watching Kelly Anderson’s My Brooklyn, the documentary that inspired this post.