fuhgeddaboudit.

The topic of gentrification has been appearing in my life very frequently lately. As a born and raised new yorker who comes from a family who has lived here for decades I'm no stranger to this topic. Although growing up I and those around me didn’t have the vocabulary to call it that. Neighbors and family friends would sit around and ‘bitch’ about how the city was changing. Little things that affected their lives or jobs. Unwelcome changes yes, but never enough to leave. Because regardless of these changes, New York city was home. 

However those minor changes began to have larger consequences on New Yorkers. This has prompted a whopping 6% population decrease from 2020 to 2023. You may be thinking to yourself, that makes no sense. With what seems like a rise in influencers moving to NYC how has the population decreased? Well think of it this way, for every wealthy individual moving to New York, 2 natives leave.

Lots of folks hear that and their first thought is, who cares. Many assume that the more wealthy folks who live in a certain place, the better off it is. And while yes, money talks, it's not always beneficial. In most cases, the beloved cities and towns people travel to wouldn’t be what they are without the natives, and the working class. Those people are the heart and soul of New York.

Unfortunately gentrification as a whole is wildly complex. It varies depending where and how it’s taking place. In NYC's case, very wealthy people and corporations move or force their way into low income neighborhoods. This displaces original residents and small businesses that have often been there for decades. One of the largest factors on New Yorkers minds, rent. As a whole prices have been skyrocketing nationwide, but New York’s median rent price is $3,425. This is over double the national median of $1,753. This has forced many families to relocate.

Alongside this issue is big business. With the finances to afford sky-high rent and the power to force out local establishments, many small businesses are feeling the pressure. Local restaurants beloved by residents are forced out by these large corporations. These corporations use predatory tactics to get their way, often involving the exploitation of their financial and market standings. When small businesses can’t pay the rent, they are forced to either sell or move. When that happens, these businesses are waiting in tow ready to jump at the chance to acquire these spaces.  This has been happening in NYC on an uphill climb since the early 1990s. Unfortunately the people who bear the burdens of these issues are the low income New Yorkers who’ve lived here their whole lives. When those people are forced out, the city changes.

My family’s lived here since my great grandparents immigrated here in the 1930s. My grandparents were small business owners who ran a kosher butcher shop. They worked day in and day out. My mother worked in the medical field. She's been an employee at almost every Brooklyn hospital. My father was a Police officer. He spent many years climbing the ranks of the Manhattan precinct. He was a Lieutenant during 9/11. He spent 3 days digging through the rubble of the towers looking for his best friend. His body wasn’t identified until many weeks later. My father retired only a few months later. He went back to school and became a specialty nurse. My brother would later follow in my parents footsteps becoming a NYC paramedic. 

All this to say, my family has a long history of working class individuals who busted their asses to raise their children. Now even if we follow in their footsteps it won’t be enough. My brother was the first to leave. It wasn’t long after he moved into his first apartment that his wife and him realized they'd never be able to raise children here. Now I'm not far behind. The bills have tripled in these last months. And while I'm no stranger to scrimping, there's no amount of it that would get me by. Only purchasing the most basic necessities still has me spending a fortune every month just to survive.

It took me a very long time to accept this, because I don’t want to leave. I love my city so much, despite her many flaws. I thought of a career change, getting a job in something I hated as long as it afforded me to stay. But deep down, I knew that would only make me miserable. I scoured the internet looking for cheaper areas, or ways to decrease the bills. However no amount of desperation would change the inevitable. I can’t afford to stay. 

Every time I leave the house I find myself feeling homesick for a place I've yet to leave. I mourn the food. The smell of my favorite pizza place down the block. The sweet girls behind the counter who know my order by heart. The deli by my old high school. The old Hispanic man behind the deli counter who I'd befriended over the years. My heart aches when I think of the memories I've made with my family in this city. My summers were measured in hours spent at Coney Island. Days walking the boardwalk and admiring the view of the city from the wonder wheel. Winters brought me to Dyker Heights to see the Christmas lights. Snow days in the park. Memories of my brother carrying me because I was so tiny the snow swallowed me up play in my mind like an old roll of film. 

Millions of creative folk have written poems, stories, and songs of New York. People who've never stepped foot in the city will listen and reminisce on the warm feeling of nostalgia it brings them. I could only hope to create art one day that can so strongly emulate my feelings for this city. Until then, it will live in me. The way I walk and talk, the way I give and receive love, and most of all in the way I treat others.

Take care of yourself, with love, Ally.