The Times of London Singing Bed Stuy's Praises
It sounds like London Times writer James Doran got quite a deal on his Bedford Stuyvesant brownstone. Given how well-preserved all the details were, $600,000 sounds undermarket to us. And what a great provenance! The story he tells of the former owner, a brewery heiress, is great stuff. The Heath Ledger angle might be a…
It sounds like London Times writer James Doran got quite a deal on his Bedford Stuyvesant brownstone. Given how well-preserved all the details were, $600,000 sounds undermarket to us. And what a great provenance! The story he tells of the former owner, a brewery heiress, is great stuff. The Heath Ledger angle might be a bit of a stretch but, hey, Doran’s at least setting the newspaper-reading public straight about the neighborhood which has caught more than its share of bad press over the years:
Bed-Stuy is more than just an incredible investment opportunity for an adventurous property speculator: it is one of the most fascinating neighbourhoods of New York, steeped in history and close to Manhattan’s sleepless streets, yet no tourist ever sets foot here.
Local blog Bed Stuy Gateway had this to say about the article: Is The Times doing a Lenten penance for the smackdown of an article it published on June 25, 2005 in which reporter Dominic Rushe called Bed-Stuy “a horrible and inconvenient area of Brooklyn with some lovely buildings and a nasty crack habit”?
Big Apple’s Core Appeal [London Times]
The Brits Are Coming [Bed Stuy Gateway]
It “wouldn’t be bad for them (white people) to go out of there way to talk to black people as if to say ‘I know you’re not a hoe. See I’m talking to you.'” Because you never know a friendship might develope, and maybe we might end up liking each other. But it seems that you are too ignorant to understand that.
Did you not read the earlier posts where people wrote about how their black neighbors would greet them into the neighborhood with pies and cookies. They really didn’t have to do that. Why is it so hard for you to understand that?
No doubt.
Is this thread an example of why Crash won the Oscar?
🙂
I’m calling some white people ignorant. Their ignorance may cause them to do or say racist things.
Alyndea,
I was hoping to avoid this topic, but here I go. I wonder how much of that can be attributed to the color of your skin? Seems to me you’re intent on calling white people racist because they are not friendly to you. Yes, racism exists, but maybe those same white people aren’t friendly to anybody!
Wouldn’t it be almost as bad for them to go out of there way to talk to you as if to say “I know you’re not a hoe. See I’m talking to you.” Talk about patronizing. Your relentless emphasis on skin color only makes an honest dialog impossible.
I also think you are kidding yourself if you think nobody opposes white people buying in bed stuy. a lot of people do. there was an article in time out last year about it.
I don’t think anyone opposes white people buying in Bed Stuy. I think that if the story were about a black British couple buying in Bed Stuy, no one, white or black would warn about pimps, prostitutes or crime on the streets. They would assume that cause your black it’s normal for you to buy there.
For me the crazy thing about some of these threads is just the perceptions that some people have of black people and neighborhoods. Certain people (mostly white) don’t realize that you have a whole bunch of people (of the same race) of all different classes and ethnic groups put in one space.
All that is a result of white people abandoning the area when blacks of the same class as them moved in. The drug dealers and bad elements came later. I know you all know this. But some people seem to ignore this point for some reason. What you see in Bed Stuy now is the result of neglect, racism and drugs; it was not always like that.
That is why some people are optimistic that the neighborhood will change. I still believe that if one plans to move into any neighborhood, you must talk to your neighbors and be engaged with the community. Stop looking at black people as pimps, hoes and drug dealers, even though you might see some people acting that way.
I can’t live around people who in their heart of hearts look down at me because of my race. Or see me as a pimp, hoe, criminal or rapists. It’s OK to smile, say hi, or ask me a question I won’t bite.
my final thought tonight is a hopeful one.
there are bigots of every colour race and creed on earth, which is funny, because their very existence proves them wrong. We are all the same, good or bad, whether we like it or not
g’night
Question: Would those of you who appear to oppose white people buyng houses in bed stuy thought any differently of my move into the neighbourhood had I been a black journalist from England?
Well- at least we still have a dialogue and I find that hopeful. I have always loved the diversity of neighborhoods and peoples in NYC. I grew up in it and I came from a family who believed passionately in the melting pot. I never took that to mean we become a homogenous, monchromatic all purpose mass of humanity and I wouldn’t want that. I always thought it meant that we could all live side by side. One of the nicest things I ever saw was an old Jewish bakery on Jerome Ave. in the Bronx. For years the same people ran it and made the best cookies and cakes. One time I went back, they were still making all the same kosher baked goods but it was now owned by Asians. I’ll never forget the salesperson’s smile when I told her it was still the same.I always thought it was one of those wonderful little stories that make up NY.
10:39
Its funny how different people interpret the notion of social improvement. I understand social improvement to mean the eradication of poverty, crime, poor services, bad living conditions and ill health in a given neighbourhood by building a sustainable economy with good jobs, a decent standard of living and a healthy property market. Why anyone would think that any colour of person would be excluded from such an endeavour is beyond me.