Welcome to New York City (Sort Of) - Page 3

Every New Yorker loves to have their say, and the bigotry and mud slinging go both ways. Every resident has a strongly held point of view, and the hot threads proliferate daily due to the unending, eternal controversy over what New York is, who true New Yorkers really are, which citizens represent the backbone of New York, and which symbolize trouble ahead for long time residents.

A perpetual topic of debate is what areas of NYC are “dumps,” which are “up and coming,” and which are too gentrified. Stats and demographics are posted to prove points, but most of the posters, even minorities living in the ghetto, have a tacit agreement: “good neighborhoods” are synonymous with mostly white areas; “bad neighborhoods” are associated with low income, high minority areas.

When posters ask: “Where should I live?” they will often be advised about the racial makeup of an area. People living in different neighborhoods will be questioned about what percentage of whites are currently living or moving to the area to determine if it is "safe," "decent," or “up and coming.”

A minority moving to a mostly white enclave may be warned that they will not receive a warm and hearty welcome. Whites moving to “the ghetto” are warned of the same.

Of course, it is a truism that this city has some of the priciest real estate in the country, not to mention the world, and that the chasm between rich and poor is yawning wider with each passing day. A typical observation is that Manhattan is rapidly becoming a borough of the super rich and super poor, with the middle class being squeezed out altogether.

In rapidly changing areas, public housing projects are cheek to jowl with luxe condos. Long-standing middle and low-income tenants are unceremoniously muscled out to make way for those who can pay more. Unscrupulous landlords in Harlem or the Bronx may refuse to supply essential services while doing nothing about long standing violations - whether it be rat infestations, gaping holes in the ceiling, copious leaks, or lack of heat in the winter.

Sometimes tenants are paid a lump sum to disappear. Others simply continue to exist in the most squalid conditions until they are either evicted or move out, either to another borough or another state. Meanwhile, whites and even some blacks will blame the victim (or debate whether or not they are victims) by noting how run down the poor neighborhoods are, though the often unspoken factor in this equation is how greedy and ruthless the landlords are.

Article Author: Elvira Black

Elvira Black is a “retired” New York writer blogging for her own amusement here on BC. Her passions are politics, the arts, the weird things we do, and New York City.

Visit Elvira Black's author page — Elvira Black's Blog