Gentrification in Brooklyn

Session Submission Type: Invited Session (90 minute)

Description

Larger than most American cities, the storied and diverse borough of Brooklyn has been shaped and reshaped by people, culture, politics, and capital. For over five decades, Brooklyn has experienced many forms of gentrification from marginal gentrification to brownstoning to luxury development. Creatives and hipsters, urban professionals and aspirational families, real estate developers supported by municipal agencies, and culture, food, retail, tech, and leisure industry entrepreneurs have transformed working class, ethnic, majority-minority, waterfront, and industrial areas into increasingly exclusive and unaffordable neighborhoods. With a distinct aesthetic and vibe, Brooklyn’s style of gentrification has spread far beyond its geographic boundaries. Returning to the site that spawned “Brooklynization,” this session puts a spotlight on the forms and impact of gentrification and responses by local residents, city planners, businesses, and community organizations in Brooklyn. Reflecting on bohemianism and the creative class, placemaking and racial capital, green and resilience gentrification, luxury development and super-gentrification, and anti-gentrification, panelists analyze current developments to shed light on a variety of neighborhoods across the borough that has become synonymous with gentrification. Research-based and community-engaged insights will provide a nuanced understanding of these phenomena and their lasting effects on Brooklyn’s diverse communities.

Sub Unit

• Regional Spotlight Session

Presider

• Judith R. Halasz, SUNY-New Paltz

Individual Presentations

• Gentrification, Displacement, Creative Resistance, and Racial Capital in Historically Black Central Brooklyn Neighborhoods - Amanda Boston, University of Pittsburgh

• Anti-Gentrification Community Organizing in Flatbush - Imani Henry, Equality for Flatbush

• Mapping the Landscape Impacts of Super-Gentrification in Brooklyn - John Lauermann, Pratt Institute

• Artist-Driven Gentrification, Creative Class Industry Growth, and Neo-liberal Planning in Bushwick - Mario R. Hernandez, Mills College at Northeastern University

• Green and Resilience Gentrification around Gowanus and Prospect Park - Kenneth Alan Gould, CUNY-Brooklyn College

Session Organizers

• Judith R. Halasz, SUNY-New Paltz

• Mario R. Hernandez, Mills College at Northeastern University