This Pretty Much Speaks for Itself

August 13, 2007 by
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic 

Greenpoint Avenue 8/13/07

These guys were busy taking a nap as I was running errands this morning. It was 11:00 a.m. I think. The real estate industry likes to package the garden spot as being hip and chic— and that may very be true. If one considers paying $500,000+ for a condominium and turning a blind eye to the serious social issues around him (or her) to be “cool”, Greenpoint is RED HOT.

I do not wish to suggest that my humble burg is the only neighborhood with problems such as homelessness, displacement*, un/underemployment, alcohol and narcotics abuse: it isn’t. Not by a long shot.

Call me naive, but I cannot for the life of me reconcile the glowing rhetoric I read about Greenpoint with this image. It reminds me of something Marie Antoinette once said:

Let them eat cake.

Miss Heather

*I love this term. It likens human beings to so much water thrown asunder. Nice.

Comments

3 Comments on This Pretty Much Speaks for Itself

  1. mark elliot on Mon, 13th Aug 2007 1:21 pm
  2. I’m a fairly new greenpointer who is strongly anti-displacement , but I also recognize my part in the gentrification of the area and said displacement. Do you know of any local organizations to get involved with? Maybe you’ve mentioned these types of groups before, and I just haven’t noticed, but I, and maybe other readers, would like to know what I can do to maintain the affordability and character of my neighborhood, not just for me, but for the folks who were here way before me and will probably be here longer than me. Thanks!

    ps I think your blog is aces

  3. missheather on Mon, 13th Aug 2007 1:41 pm
  4. EXCELLENT QUESTION! I’ll try to put up a post this week about advocacy groups, etc. Might take me a few days to organize my thoughts, tho, so be patient.

    Thanks for the kind words.

  5. Jay on Mon, 13th Aug 2007 3:56 pm
  6. I couldn’t say for sure that these are the same guys, but if so they had a good night’s sleep. I saw them there at about 9 pm Sunday night.

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