T/Here in Williamsburg

Please join me as I narrate the cultural history of Williamsburg's gentrification beginning en los Sures "in the Southside" 1968-1982, serialized by Cultural Weekly in five parts.

Part 1: "Block 2399" We begin on a seemingly quotidian setting in the Southside, a gas station at Grand St Extension, and go over biker gangs, Operation Bootstraps, Mayor Abe Beame, the first of the Martinezes in Williamsburg, and the geography of gentrification https://www.culturalweekly.com/there-in-williamsburg-part-1-block-2399/ 

Part 2: "Dis/Possession" Domino Sugar, adverse possession, demonic possession and demonizing 'Williamsburg back in the day,' religion, the Young Lords and the biker gangs, and the OPEC oil crisis https://www.culturalweekly.com/williamsburg-part-2-dispossession/

Part 3: "A Spark of Impenetrable Darkness" The 1977 NY Blackout and Bushwick Riots, Ed Koch and the '10-Year Plan," HPDs and HDFCs and more acronyms for agencies, sweat equity, DIY, the history of punk rock in gentrification and the history of gentrification in punk rock https://www.culturalweekly.com/williamsburg-part-3-spark-impenetrable-darkness/

Part 4: "Love and Death." The early history of the white artists in Williamsburg's gentrification, the difference between 'hipsters' and 'white artists,' the difference between 'Williamsburg hipsters' and earlier hipsters, skinheads, hating on the NY Times, gentrification film reviews of The Warriors and Alien, and the erotic alienation of whiteness. https://www.culturalweekly.com/williamsburg-part-4-love-death/

Part 5: "Let Me Die With the Philistines." The series concludes on Loft Law, but looks ahead to the Williamsburg Warehouse and Waterfront Events, Dinkins, mainstream consciousness of 'gentrification,' and the fate of the murderous and mystical Martinezes.

https://www.culturalweekly.com/williamsburg-part-5-let-die-philistines/