In larger cities that are always undergoing some form of change, gentrification is always linked in the conversation. Gentrification is just one of the things that comes with diversification of a growing area, however at a certain point it becomes difficult. At a certain stage, the influx of new inhabitants and revitalization often sacrifices the current residents and lifestyles of a community for private benefit. Gentrification can happen anywhere with change but is more common in areas with low income communities.East New York is one of the places currently getting prepped with  new development for new consumers. While gentrification has the ability to increase the amount of housing available for people in East New York ,the displacement of minority communities is the consequence of  zoning laws, private housing management, and a lack of stabilized housing.

Gentrification in theory can contribute to the beautification of a neighborhood. It’s usually one of those things that  works only on paper. Talk of the plan to change East New York development was a part of Bill de-Blasio’s 2013 mayoral campaign,Tale of two cities. His pledge was to bridge the gap between both parts of New York, referring to the incredibly wealthy and poverty stricken neighborhoods. East New York was one of the 15 places  pushed to be rezoned along with East Harlem. The rezoning had received some pushback from East New York residents and advocates as the new housing that was supposed to be below market is actually higher than the current market price of Brooklyn rent which is $2,594/month. Rezoning had brought more than just “new homes” but new private home management which would push out small home owners as they won’t have the money to go against larger real estate companies that try to buy all the properties in the area. The plan was approved in 2016 and since then many private owners have started the rendering and construction of  new affordable apartments and open spaces.

However, gentrification might be one of those scenarios that can only work in theory. Since the private management sacrifices the natives to make more money, it displaces them to make room for higher paying tenants. Private ownership also erases stabilized housing as the city no longer owns the property so private housing can increase the prices of the housing. Since there no longer needs to be a stabilized price, the house flippers and new owners can charge more steep prices to fit the growing neighborhood demand as newfound beautification of the area would bring in out of neighborhood tenants.

This is a  problem that affects people so it’s a people problem to fix. There’s different ways to advocate for better living conditions for tenants and you don’t have to be a tenant to support the cause. Some people may find it hard to get started advocating or they might not know who they need to reach to get their voices heard however there’s governors who are the voice of your area. Since East New York is apart of district 5 you can try and reach the government chair person who is  Alice Lowman and the district manager who is Melinda Perkins. Brooklyn community board 5 is the district off of East New York and their job is to assist in resolving community complaints as it relates to municipal services. You can get in touch with Melinda Perkins through email which is, [email protected]. The board members constantly discuss issues as they meet every third Thursday.