Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York

A Place Called Brooklyn

JungleBoogie June 29, 2016

This is June 2016 and I, John Macie (also known in the funk community as Jungleboogie), bear witness to a radical social and economic evolution. Urban communities that are straddling between prosperity and poverty are being targeted for gentrification. Slowly and methodically, this initiative has increased property values, displaced people from their homes, uprooted neighborhood businesses, and has created a new form of poverty among the working class. Although I'm a 53 -year-old African-American Caribbean man who is captivated with this borough called Brooklyn; to be specific, Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, holds a special significance for me like that first irresistible love. Nothing neither compares nor rivals it’s intrinsic worth. However, my strength has been tested numerous times. But I find resilience in the eclectic soulful music, the street art, the aromatic blends of foods and the manner people attempt to coexist.

This love story began when I was a child who encountered St. Johns Park. It was my playground for learning valuable lessons. Poverty and race may have been discriminatory factors in other communities, however, in our neck of the “hood “people were judged by an undeniable code of respect. Even the most lawless in the neighborhood had some unscripted principles that governed their street persona.

But the place that may have saved me from many altercations and possibly straying towards the wrong path, were the public libraries and the public schools. By the way, I didn’t consider myself or anyone or any young Black male a punk for developing an interest in a library. It was more than a mere building with rows of books filed in an archaic Dewey Decimal system; I found a quiet space where I developed a sense of consciousness. Within those walls, I visited places outside my purview. I often read about protagonists that looked like me, even when their actions may not have been considered heroic.

Notwithstanding, I’ve been a Brooklynite all my life; I was raised by a single mother who embodied hard work, resilience, pride, honesty and there was no shortage on discipline [the old fashioned method]. In other words, I am as “real” a person as they come. In my attempt to treat people with the same reverence, I give my time and my heart to the plight and injustices of others through my activism and participation in marches and rallies.

Living on a fixed income due to my disability, neuropathy, (a disease or dysfunction of one or more peripheral nerves, typically causing numbness or weakness) continues to be an ongoing challenge. My motivation comes from watching other individuals who live in a state of crisis and obscurity each day. How ironic it is to watch child-hood acquaintances that lived the envious life-styles once upon a time. And now they’re asking random people for some lose change to survive another day.

More and more people are facing the reality that all it takes is the right set of circumstances like a major health issue, job loss or a limited income to find themselves as victims of homelessness.

Even the best laid plans can become suddenly unraveled by mishaps which I am confronted with at the moment. I’ve been a tenant in a 4 story apartment building for eleven years and 1 month and now I am forced to find a new place to call home. Through little or no fault of my own; I’ve been an upstanding tenant, always try to pay my rent on time, help the owner with minor projects when available and have been in good standing during our agreement. Still, circumstances beyond my control have forced me to vacate the premises.

For those of you, who haven’t experienced this form of unrest, let me tell you it’s a physical and emotional test. Hunting for an apartment is compromising my health and causing sleepless nights and creating some very anxious moments. I’ve used social media, contacted websites, been placed on public housing waiting lists and told by realtors to “come back when you have more money”. Everywhere I’ve contacted for vacancies, including rooms, are asking for rents well above my means. I’m currently paying $800 for a one bedroom apartment with a kitchen and private bathroom and the going rate now is $1,500 - $2,000.

It’s no joke people -- I’m starting to feel like Rip Van Winkle (a fictitious character who falls asleep and is awaken 20 years later to find changes in his environment) and wondering how a society can allow such extreme greed to abandon families and further destroy our humanity.

Here it is the end of June, and I’ve already been searching for 9 months with no luck and possibly on the verge of receiving an eviction notice in July. I’m hoping my luck will change for the better. I ask myself, “What did I do throughout my life to deserve this type of repercussion? When I had the opportunity and youth, should I have broken loose from this fascination with Brooklyn and relocated to another state or a suburb that didn’t captivate my psyche and bring me joy? Those who made that exodus out of the city in the 60’s, 70’s (white folks), 80’s and 90’s (black folks) are now flocking back to those same cities in record numbers. The forces behind gentrification is only causing the opposite effect on those of us who didn’t give in nor act on the premise that, “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”. The pursuit of happiness is lost on those of us, like me, who can’t access the basic necessities like affordable housing and accessible community services.

Undoubtedly, my relationship with Brooklyn has yet to cause me to regret and change my decision towards this life-long union. “It’s for better or worst”. All I ask is that anyone on the other side of this correspondence with a beating heart tries to envision walking in my shoes for an instant. And hopefully you can find your way towards performing an act of benevolence. Contact me at jayceemase@aol.com or with any serious leads and or a vacancy. This is appeal from someone who has a vested interest in the existence of human kindness.


Ghost written by a good friend who only wants the best for me

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