Luxury condos rise up like giant monsters, shadowing old communities in a new wave of growth within the County of Kings. People stare at the fancy new storefronts, endure the skyrocketing costs of living, and even get uprooted from their homes by development. Some are convinced that this is the natural order of city life, while others fight tooth and nail against this seemly indestructible system. Does this borough really want to be 'gentrified' or is this sometimes taboo word so confusing that it causes hope and fear all at the same time? These issues and the contentious history behind them are laid out in the new documentary mybrooklyn by Kelly Anderson & Allison Lirish Dean. Within the film they talk with residents about the dramatic changes to their individual neighborhoods in New York City's most populated borough, Brooklyn. Root Hill had a chance to sit down with the director and co-producer of the film, Kelly Anderson, to discuss the details of this project and find out what she needs to complete it.
What inspired you to create this documentary project?
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| image from mybrooklyn.com |
I've been making documentary films on social issues for a long time, but I have never done anything that is really…close to home. I moved to Park Slope in '88 and…lived on 9th street and 5th avenue. I came here because it was diverse, it was know as an activist, engaged, multi-culture community, and that's what I was looking for. –And also it was really cheap to live here at the time. Over the years I've moved from neighborhood [to neighborhood] usually getting pushed further and further out from the, sort of, center that is Park Slope [to] Clinton Hill, Ft. Greene, Boerum Hill…. [I've] been here for twenty five years and have seen the communities really change…. I sort of [caught] on to the fact that…gentrification isn't just this natural process that goes on and there is nothing you can do about it…. I've been apart of that first wave many times where you're an artist and you move in, and you're one of the only white people in the neighborhood…. Over time more come and eventually [the community] has become displaced…and you find that you don't want to live there [anymore]. The place has become this rich white enclave.
When i realized there were some things the city was doing to exacerbate that process, it really pissed me off! And it made me realize that this is not some type of natural inevitable thing that we can't do anything about, this is something the city is fostering…. the thing that made me realize [this] was the downtown zoning in 2004, where all of a sudden I saw all these huge luxury condos going up…one after another in downtown Brooklyn…. [This was] very much displacing this commercial center that was the downtown Brooklyn shopping center. While a lot of people, who are more recent newcomers to Brooklyn, might not feel Fulton Mall has much…it was a extremely successful shopping center for the people that shopped there. People don't know that the Fulton Shopping Center [was] the third most successful shopping center in New York City before this rezoning…. It was a real cultural mecca and there was lots of hip hop history there…. The city was just sort of was oblivious and was always talking about how it needed more 'appealment' to these surrounding communities that had…much higher income residents…. [I] started talking to people trying to figure out what was going on. I realized the changes I was seeing were not inevitable and were policy driven. What's even worse is that a lot of it is funded by our tax money…. those luxury condos that are going up, the people buying them are going to have a tax break for 25 years on their property taxes. Now, I am not sure why that is necessary. I have talked to the developers and they say they need those tax breaks from the city to be able to sell those apartments for those prices. So, to me…tax money subsidizing development that's hugely upscale; it wouldn't be able to happen unless 'we' were pouring public money into it. And there is very little affordable housing being build, so the public benefit is low…. what's up with that?!!
Do you think that these issues revolve around race?
Yeah, i do! I think that if you look at the history (which is something our film does)…[of] these neighborhoods, you find out that historically banks and developers have high jacked public policy in all kinds of ways…to use race to make all kinds of money…. One of the ways they've done [this] is by manipulating the housing market for their goals. The film goes deeply into the history of 'Redlining'…. If you take Bed Stuy as an example, it was an integrated neighborhood till the 40's. Then the banks created these 'Redlining' maps where they raided neighborhoods; people use to think that they would give a "D" rating [which is part of the 'Redlining' system] because [the neighborhood] was all black, but that's actually not really what happened. What happened was that any neighborhoods that had any 'blacks' at all got a "D" rating. So suddenly [at the time] white people who had black neighbors panicked because…their neighborhoods were completely without access to any credit and their property value started plummeting…. The whole reason the realtors, developers, and banks were doing that was to push this new housing development in the suburbs…. they were using race to make money…completely, blatantly, and obviously! The legacy of that is something we are still dealing with…
What's the goal for the documentary?
One of my main goals is get 'white' people to recognize that there are a lot of benefits that they reap now because of this history. Being able to move into these neighborhoods that are very affordable is owed…to those same neighborhoods and those old residents. [We] cannot just let [old residents] be just displaced by new development. Everyone wants reinvestment in their communities, but [people] just don't want to be displaced by it…. [And] we all want diversity. My understanding of Brooklyn has a a lot to do with diversity…
Have you had any unique responses that were different from your own assumptions?
…Yeah, I think going into neighborhoods like Bed Stuy, I was surprised by how much the people actually appreciated the diversity that 'gentrification' had brought to the neighborhood, even as they fear the ultimate impact…. I have noticed that a lot of African American's say: "re-gentrification" instead of just "gentrification"…. I think that is good because they have this historical memory of how the neighborhood use to be diverse and much more stable. Then this terrible thing happened in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's [race dividing]…. There's an understanding that diversity in a neighborhood is a good thing, which has been interesting.
I have been shocked about how uninformed the dialogue of 'gentrification' is. I'll go on Brownstoner.com and [see] a lot of the comments that people make are…without understanding of what's going on. I think that is a good motivation for making the film… we can help elevate the dialogue, so that we can talk about these issue…public policy and what we can actually do….
There is a a lot of blaming black people for the fact that these neighborhoods were poor…. I think this is shockingly racist!
…when we made [the] kickstarter film there were a lot of people that came together…. I was amazed…there seems to be this ripeness for this moment...a kinda of multi-racial conversation and coalition…. [The film] feels very rich with possibilities.
A lot of people from the city surprised me…. [They] seem to feel that you can bring all this investment…and not have any protection and that it's not going to have any negative consequences. I don't know if they really believe that or if they are just taking the party lines.
What do you need now to complete the film?
….This has been a labor of love…. I've paid very few people on the film…. I've been editing myself…. and this film is really close to me…it's dense…. I am too convinced that there [are] fifty things that have to be said. So, what I want to do with this kickstarter money is to hire an editor to come in…. And hopefully find money for the post production….
It takes an immense amount of work to bring this intense subject matter to the big screen. If you'd like to help support this project head over to kickstarters and donate today. Check out the kickstarter video below and go to mybrooklyn.com to learn even more about the film.
Interview by Benjamin Aufill
*Root Hill Cafe does not necessarily endorse any of the views presented in this interview.
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