Flatlands, the forgotten Brooklyn neighborhood
I have lived in Brooklyn all my life, way before Brooklyn was considered cool. Slowly but surely, I have watched practically the entire borough experience some form of gentrification. Flatlands is one of the few that hasn't succumbed. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we are nowhere near a subway line and not at all convenient to Manhattan (or even other parts of Brooklyn). A trip to the Upper West Side or Washington Heights can take a huge chunk out of my day. I can easily spend three hours traveling, and taking four different modes of transportation. Even going to Northern Brooklyn (Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, etc.) is not exactly around the corner.
Flatlands, at least the part I am in, is largely residential, with some national chain stores coming in in recent years. I am within walking distance to a Rite Aid, a Walgreens, a Dunkin', a Staples, a jerk food restaurant, two dollar stores, and all the terrible fast food you could ever want to eat. Let me just say that if you want to be a vegan, you've picked the wrong place.
When I tell people where I live, I get blank stares and this annoys me. People tend to think of Brooklyn as being Park Slope, Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy or Bushwick. They don't understand that Brooklyn is so much bigger and richer than just these four gentrified areas. They've probably never been to Sheepshead Bay, or Midwood, or Boro Park. Why would they? It's not cool. It's not in a travel guide. Why meet people different from you and experience different cultures? What's the point, right? (I'm saying this sarcastically, in case it's not 100% clear.)
I have mixed feelings about gentrification. I love a good cupcake place. I'll never deny that. I enjoy the cutesy stores and restaurants and bars that pop up as gentrification gallops along into a new area. I like gentrification when the queer folks get there first and establish themselves, right before the rich folks take over. But I don't love that gentrification displaces poor folks and populations that have established themselves there over decades. And I don't love that it sucks the originality, the authenticity out of an area. I am addicted to the blog Vanishing New York and the Facebook group Manhattan Before 1990 because I love what New York was then even if I barely remember it. It was purer then and now it is becoming spoiled. Most of New York is not for the poor, or the middle or working classes. It is for the wealthy. I am not original for saying this, but it needs to be said as often as possible.
I don't always love where I live. Ungentrified areas sometimes suffer from high crime rates. My father got mugged twice in Flatlands/Canarsie, once with a gun to his head. I certainly wish I didn't have to rely on car service as often as I do at night to feel safe. I don't love that I sometimes get catcalled in my area.
But I do like that this area hasn't been discovered. I like that there are no Brooklyn transplants here acting like they own the area and using terms like "hood," as though it's in any way accurate to describe a gentrified neighborhood. I'm glad I don't have to dodge strollers here. I'm glad my family can afford the rent. I'm happy to see certain neighbors who greet me with a smile.
It's possible Flatlands may be gentrified someday. Part of me hopes it is gentrified -- just ever so slightly -- for less crime and some more interesting shopping options. (A supermarket I don't have to hike to would be nice.) But I never want it to lose its authenticity. There is an ice store that's been here since I've been a child. The apartment I live in was built in the 1960s. That bodega on the corner has been there forever. Every time I take the B6 bus near South Shore, I pass Glenwood Projects where my grandmother lived and the most wonderful memories flood over me. There's a sense of security in that. I hate that we live in a NYC where we mow everything down in the name of the all-mighty dollar. We need to figure out a way to preserve what's historic while improving what needs to be improved. It's a very fine line and unfortunately for NYC, we've gone over it far too many times.