A Department of City Planning report that examined 24 commercial neighborhoods across the five boroughs found a small increase in storefront vacancies over the last decade — but says the uptick cannot be blamed on rising rents alone.
In the 83rd precinct that covers Bushwick, there were 77 murders in 1990, 44 in 1993 and 20 as recently as 2004. Last year, there were eight. This year the 83rd is on pace for six homicides.
Bushwick feels like it’s changing by the minute, and storefronts that seem to herald demographic change are a point of increasing friction.
‘The climate emergency demands densification. The Left must put forward a vision for maximizing density as part of its commitment to social justice.’
‘How do you reconcile 30 years of change within the Bushwick community? How do you make sense of development and the subsequent displacement that occurs?’
‘To compete in this environment, the city must offer an attractive affordable housing alternative, define the neighborhoods where it is available, and implement individual deals on a timely fashion.’
‘De Blasio and Cuomo are introducing a giant mechanism for displacement into communities that government already fails so shamefully.’
The Block Watcher program was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The program was revived in 2013 across several neighborhoods, including Bed-Stuy and Astoria, and then halted again in recent years.
The activist turned developer pitched a community land trust based not around collective ownership of affordable housing but private owners with deep roots in gentrifying areas. Not everyone loved the idea.
A city grant to the Washington Heights Business Improvement District and a group of Inwood arts organizations is part of the city’s Inwood Action Plan aimed at shoring up local firms. But some see BIDs as agents of gentrification.
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