Gentrification in the Bx

With the latest incidents here in the Bx - vandalism, theft, etc. - I've been feeling on edge. The situation with our super J. is also a bit shaky; he tends to be drunk a lot, has been letting various characters into the building (the basement has become a kind of "clubhouse" for whomever, and many of us feel uncomfortable when we go down to do our laundry), and doesn't really do his job. But if/once our landlord lets him go, I would not put it past him to become embittered and do who-knows-what. All the locks would have to be changed, etc. And he lives down the block and won't be going anywhere.

Lately when I walk the pup around the 'hood, I feel conspicuous and nervous. More so than before. I am more aware of the men's shelter around the corner. I was told by one of our neighbors in the building that a former sex offender lives two doors down (did you know that you can find out by going to sexoffenders.com? Jeez.). I am waiting for the next incident, the other shoe to drop.

On Saturday we decided to be pro-active, spend some time out in the neighborhood. We walked up to St. Mary's Park, which is a nice hill-top park about 10 blocks north. We've been looking for free public tennis courts and found them there. The gates were locked with a padlock, but the Parks attendant told us that they did that to keep the kids from stealing the nets, and that we could use the courts if we wanted to squeeze through the gap in the gates (so much for "security"). So we did that, and we all (the pup fetched balls for us) got some exercise.

On Sunday, I walked the 15 blocks west to find the nearest NY Times. On the way back, I ran into a woman who was opening up the doors at a new art gallery in Mott Haven. She let me and the pup in, and I learned that she lives on a brownstone block nearby, where there are a number of historic brownstones for sale. She owns two of them - lives in one, rents the other to her daughter. The buildings have been in her family for 80 years, she said, from back when the neighborhood was mostly European immigrants (she's White). She told me about a group of historic-building owners who have been getting together, forming a little community; and that a curator from the Metropolitan Museum just bought one of the brownstones.

Is this good news? She thinks so. I didn't get a sense of racial awareness, though. She seemed to imply that White gentrification is good, no matter what. White = safe. Most of the people who run the gallery are White - Brooklyn and Manhattan refugees, or, like her, old Bronx families returning after a generation away. Hmm...

J. and I are going to check out the brownstones for sale. Just to see what's up. I find it all a little troubling, though.