I happened to see that the blog Uptown Flavor had linked to a post of mine about how Harlem is not for sale. In that blog post of mine, I in turn was referencing a post on NYC Indymedia about the protests and rallies that recently occurred in Harlem concerning gentrification.

In the post on Uptown Flavor where they link to me, they also have the above Youtube video featured as well. The video is really informative and shows what people in Harlem are up against. One thing they’re up against is the Halliburton of Harlem and the Bechtel of the Bronx, the Pinnacle Group. I’ve written about the Pinnacle Group before so I won’t go into them too much again. The reason I associate Pinnacle with Halliburton and Bechtel is to describe the executives of Pinnacle as sociopathic and therefore interchangeable with any of these evil corporations. They could even go work for Wal-Mart, Blackwater, Monsanto or ExxonMobil!

In the video there is a scene where a woman who is currently paying $700 a month in a rent controlled apartment is now constantly pressured to leave by Pinnacle. Now, with the cost of rent skyrocketing over the past few years in NYC I can understand the animosity that corporatists like Pinnacle would hold towards people living in rent controlled units, but the reality is that even $700 a month can be a lot for people! Not only for low income people but even for middle class people! Where would you have this woman go? Of course that’s not Pinnacle’s problem. What do they care that they ride the wave of creating two New York City’s or even two New York States? One where all who can afford it, live in luxury housing in areas that are now considered to be “the place to be” while those who can’t afford it, are tossed out to make room for more of those luxury apartments.

Of course to be fair the Pinnacle Group is but one of many developers and real estate firms looking to bring in the wealth and get rid of the rest. I actually think that another person in the video put it best when they said that they really need to ensure that the plans for the new developments in Harlem aren’t just gentrification in disguise and “a plan to remove us sending us nowhere”. No matter where gentrification is done whether it’s New York or DC the problem is that there will be many people removed with nowhere to go. Sure the Pinnacle Group must look at that woman as a “freeloader” who is getting a nice apartment for seven hundred dollars a month, but she has to live somewhere and she’s been there for a long time. She also has to be able to buy food too! There’s a reason rent control was implemented in the first place.

What’s also another troubling scene in the video is the fact that three New York City council people that represent Harlem voted for a rezoning plan (I believe for 125th Street) that does nothing to really help the current residents, but does a lot for the developers. It was initially said that half of the new housing would be available at an affordable price. It turns out that only five percent will be affordable housing. What those three city councilors voted for amount to a crime against the people of Harlem. I think what the people in that area have to do is run primary campaigns against those three city councilors. Someone needs to run on an affordable housing, smart development and progressive platform. Someone also needs to look at campaign contributions and see what councilors are taking money from real estate developers, then publicize it. You also have to organize people and make sure everyone is registered to vote.

Technorati : harlem, ny, pinnacle group

This is what I’ll never understand about development policies that are supported throughout the nation. Why does the displacement and eviction of the current residents need to be associated with “development”? Why does urban renewal involve kicking everyone out? This is happening in Washington DC right now as well. Many long time residents of the city now find it impossible to afford rents and are being forced to leave. This is all just because the “city” is now becoming fashionable to higher income people. So the poor and overwhelmingly minority population is being sent packing to the suburbs or further out.

This happens in cycles actually. There was a time when many communities witnessed flight out of the cities into the suburbs. Now that the cities are being seen as a place to live again the flight is being reversed. Eventually all the poor people will be economically segregated in the suburbs again. They won’t have the public transportation they now have access to either. Then after three or four decades pass we’ll see the “well to do” moving back to the suburbs and pushing the poor out back to the city again!

I like development don’t get me wrong. When I lived in New York I was glad to see Times Square and 42nd Street evolve to what it is now. It’s not that I’m a fan of the chain stores per se, it’s just good to see the area be a place where people can actually feel safe and bring their families and friends to. In DC I must say it’s good to see the Penn Quarter changing for the better too. The problem is development means that you have to make a Faustian bargain and accept chain and big box stores by the boat load. You have to also accept the exodus of the poor. The corporate powers that be don’t seem to feel that mixed income neighborhoods can be successful. They definitely don’t look to include independent businesses enough. There’s no thought about affordable housing either.

Technorati : gentrification, harlem