Grace Chung, Dee Raymond
April 21, 2017 By Christian Murray
A group of about 75 people gathered at Bliss Plaza in Sunnyside last night to rally against the gentrification of Queens, specifically targeting three major proposals put forward by the mayor that would affect the livability of Astoria, Long Island City and Sunnyside.
The rally, although organized by the Queens Anti Gentrification Project, brought protestors from all over New York City. The protesters represented an array of anti-development groups including Queens Is Not for Sale, Queens Neighborhoods United, Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, NYC Against Trump, Greater Astoria Historical Society and Take Back the Bronx.
The protesters came out to express their opposition to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s massive Sunnyside Yards proposal that would bring more than 20,000 units to the area; the mayor’s plan to bring the Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX) streetcar that would run through Astoria and Long Island City; as well as the administration’s plan to up zone the Queens Plaza/Court Square section of Long Island City to incentivize developers to build office buildings and affordable housing.
The leaders of the protest claimed these projects would result in the massive displacement of residents and result in the continued gentrification of Queens.
Dee Raymond, a Woodside resident who led the protest and was the main speaker, told the audience that the City is working with giant real estate companies at the expense of the working class.
“In New York, we see giant real estate companies driving City policy while the people are disregarded by sell-out politicians like Bill de Blasio who tells us lies about their appreciation for diversity and inclusion and their new-found love for immigrants in the age of Trump.”
Raymond claimed that gentrification is the result of institutionalized racism.
“We see white-supremacist City Planning policies that protect the richest neighborhoods while specifically targeting working class communities of color for luxury real estate in what can only be accurately described as ethnic cleansing,” Raymond said.
Raymond claimed the NYPD and Department of Homeland Security also played a role in this through broken windows policing, massive gang raids and deportations.
There was a large police presence at the event with at least 10 officers on hand.
Crowd
Sunnyside resident Grace Chung, the other main speaker, took on more of a sober tone when she spoke, focusing on the three proposals.
“We are here today because there are three developments that threaten our community,” she said. She argued that the Sunnyside Yards proposal and the LIC rezoning plan would lead to increased rents in surrounding areas and would put further pressure on an already-stretched infrastructure.
She said that residents would get little in return.
“The affordable housing the city proposes is minimal and won’t make up for the displacement of remaining small businesses and artist studios,” Chung claimed, referring to the proposals.
She said the BQX trolley, which would traverse the waterfront communities of western Queens, is not the answer to this region’s transit problems. She said an express bus system would be just as effective without causing gentrification.
“All three proposals are supported by the current administration, by the mayor and big real estate. These are powerful forces in New York City but they are not as powerful as us—neighbors, families, small businesses, factory workers and working people of color who care deeply about our community.”
The protesters called on Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer to state his opposition to the three proposals, arguing that they need his help to nix the projects.
There were signs at the rally saying, “Say No JVB,” which the protesters later chanted.
Raymond then led the group of protestors along Queens Boulevard to Van Bramer’s 47-01 Queens Blvd office. He then led the group through the streets of Sunnyside.
The group finished their protest outside Van Bramer’s Sunnyside Gardens home.
Raymond said after the rally that the protesters went to Van Bramer’s house to make their demands known. “We want to put pressure on him. It’s very clear that everyone doesn’t want these proposals.”
Van Bramer was neither at home nor his office at the time of the protest. He was in Florida attending the funeral of his father-in-law.
The councilman, in a statement, said he had offered to meet with the leaders of the protest prior to the event but they did not take him up on his offer.
Van Bramer said that he shares many of the protesters’ concerns about the proposals and agreed that gentrification is a threat. Nevertheless, he did not expressly say whether or not he opposed the plans.
Van Bramer said that the proposals are a long way off from being enacted and noted that he has stood up to City Hall in the past concerning development and is a proud progressive. He said he opposed the Phipps Houses’ 220-unit project on Barnett Avenue that was squashed and has a track record for supporting a rent freeze.
He thanked the protesters for making their stance known early and said: “I look forward to sitting down and talking about our shared goals in the near future.”
Van Bramer’s office building
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97 Comments
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These “anti-gentrifcation” geniuses could stand to learn even basic economics before demanding that they “be provided” housing. They could even try earning some money – the main guy here looks young and strong, I don’t know what his excuse is. The fact is that the Sunnyside Yards represents an enormously beneficial opportunity – it will massively improve Sunnyside. The key is that housing prices are too high in NYC because the population grows, yet we don’t actually increase the housing supply. This is a simple concept, yet it seems to escape the “anti-gentrification” posers, who are ostensibly educated. The reason extremely high-end, luxury property is able to be sold for so much money is the tight supply. It would follow then that the primary beneficiaries of restricted housing development are… those same developers of luxury housing. The same kind of people who can afford to fund groups like this quietly… With that said, the solution to “gentrification” is to build more housing, plain and simple. Build it all over the place and people won’t be compelled to move to find new housing, thereby reducing the demand in YOUR neighborhood, which is behind the changing character you label as gentrification. Capping Sunnyside Yards and going total gangbusters on nice, dense, high-rise development is a great idea. Significant infrastructure, landscape, and other improvements will arise. You can also bet on getting a large urban park finally – it’s obvious to include such a thing in this kind of huge development and will be an easy victory to win, because it actually helps the developers of the new property, too. Place it along the northern end of Sunnyside and you also create an natural barrier to the “gentrification” forces coming from LIC. To be honest, the north side along the EMF is where the real development boom is going to happen outside of the Yards area itself. Sunnyside will improve with infill, the bulldozing of a few more dirtshacks with garbage businesses in them, a few more higher-profile buildings, and enough new residents with disposable income to actually sustain quality restaurants and other local businesses.
All of this is obvious to a person who actually knows something about this city and the country and the world, but no, let’s have a big old crybaby party with stupid signs and be total puppets of the people we think we oppose. And don’t forget to blame whitey!
Yeah sure. We will have 3 more train lines to accommodate all the new residents and workers in the area.
where were these protestors at the town hall meeting on April 27, 2017 — ?
When neighborhoods change, some families do get pushed out. But my own experience and research I read shows that longtime residents aren’t more likely to move when their neighborhood gentrifies; sometimes they’re actually less likely to leave (in part because of the improvements gentrification can bring). What distinguishes gentrification is not who moves out; it’s who moves in. In a gentrifying neighborhood, new residents are more likely to be well-off . As a result, the neighborhood’s poverty makeup can shift, even if no one leaves. Of course, some people don’t want to see their neighborhoods change. But often, residents appreciate certain aspects of gentrification. In many neighborhoods, middle-class Asians, blacks and Latinos are part and parcel of the process. Millennials and young professionals of all races appreciate the attractions and conveniences of city living. While some attention must be paid to minimize displacement, the latter is the only sustainable way to go. Go gentrification!
Anonymous- you sound jealous. Are you my remnant? Your 5% increase is due soon. Need my pool open for the summer.
Couldn’t attend this rally,& saw no other coverage of it.Special thanks to whoever detailed that realtors’ luncheon- boy oh boy. Sincere condolences to Mr. Van Bramer, & all , on their loss of a loved one. I lost my younger sister a few months ago,& found the Sunnysidepost while trying to pay some attention to community.Reading the comments does my heart good..Anyway- from the comfort of an armchair- do I dare say let’s give some credit to some of the people taking the time to organize,print fliers,and actually get out there to voice real concerns.I agree that some of these posters,rhetoric& going to people’s homes is too much. But no worries- Sunnyside commenters will certainly let them know it! So I hope organizers& concerned people are reading,listening& learning, because it’s NOT too late for Sunnyside to make even a small difference in how some of these plans go.Dont know if the same can be said about the unfortunate Court Square situation- people there are now scrambling against the clock to see what if any last scraps of “undeveloped” land the owners or the city may care to use as open air/ community space.I don’t know why,but somehow I don’t think it will reach that point here.Sunnyside will find a balance- seems you all have enough heart,,wit& just enough loco-ness to do so..A local paper announced”Qns Excellence in Real Estate Development 2017: A networking& awards event recognizing the top performers in real estate& development in Queens”…So while some of us pontificate, developers are congratulating themselves for themselves..Blessings to all..
It’s misguided but their anger is valid. Lacking the insight to understand the broader, deeper issues at work that are causing them to be priced out of their homes they instead shoot the messenger and vent their frustrations on the middle classes that are themselves forced to relocate. In essence it’s rampant unshackled capitalism to blame and not the crappy apts. ( and they are all mostly crap, sorry)… It’s the same the world over…
What’s the difference between anti-gentrification protesters and anti-immigration protesters?
Both primarily object to people moving to their area from outside and:
1. Driving up housing costs
2. Competing for public services
3. Changing the character of the area
However, The media loves one of these groups to pieces but despises the other and dismisses them as racists or xenophobes, which strikes me as a massive double standard.
I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new veterinarian in the neighborhood! I love DOGS and CATS.
Man, Trump and in this case “anti-gentrification” is really helping these liberals live a more healthy lifestyle with all the marching. Usual takes about a week to cleanup the mess these dummies leave behind. What happened to being environmentally friendly folks?
Look on the bright side, nobody missed work.
Once the real estate crashes again all you people bragging how much your houses are worth are going to wish you sold when it topped out. I sold one house I owned and made out real well, the other I rent out 2 floors and kept the walk-in for me when I’m in town. Really enjoying making a killing on the rent the newbie suckers are paying me, and the sap that bought my other house for 1.2mil. Thanks newbies. Have a condo in Fla and a beautiful home in bayside. Face it, this neighborhood sucks now, get the money and run.
You are a base, cruel animal. Gloating ill becomes you or anyone.
Funny how the gentrifiers are the ones against gentrification. Look at the pics posted. They are the newcomers, the gentrifiers.
You are delusional. Despite what you think, living somewhere for a really long time doesn’t entitle you to anything. Who cares how long they have been in Sunnyside.
??? This comment is asinine in that it is assuming too much.
You are so right. They came here and don’t want their own kind to invade.
Would you rather have gentrification happen or shelters !!! Choose wisely dumbasses like always sunnyside always complaining and what is this woodsider doing let them destroy themselves
Just keep rents at a rate where people who lived here for years can afford to stay here, work, pay bills and raise a family! That is all we are asking. Nobody wants to be priced out.
That’s the problem oskarr, you are not entitled as a renter to not be priced out. You are actually asking for a hell of a lot.
No. We are not. We are asking for basic human decency, we are not enemies we are your neighbors.
As a homeowner in Sunnyside, I think rising property values are great if you plan to sell, which means you are probably leaving. Otherwise you get stuck paying higher taxes, and these eventually *will* drive you out.
As a longtime resident who immigrated here from Ecuador when I was 8 years old, I have noticed that Queens has not yet developed as strong a response to the forces of gentrification as other boroughs have.Developers
want to exploit that and profit from our diverse landscape. We need to build a stronger culture of tenant resistance throughout the borough. Tenants are already fighting harassment, bad conditions, and mistreatment. We need a movement to connect tenants in different neighborhoods and then, together, elevate the citywide housing movement to stop the city from enabling predatory developers and landlords, and keep ALL tenants, rent-stabilized or not, in their apartments!!
What else are you “entitled” to?
Zing! What’s with people thinking they deserve basic human rights?
Define basic human rights. People are confusing the government with their mommy and daddy.
They’re basic. You need a definition?
If you don’t own it is not yours to sell or not sell. Buy or bye bye.
Limiting yourself to economic truths means you will never understand how the world works. Human beings have rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness whether they can pay for it or not. There is another law you are ignoring completely, treat others as you would like to be treated.
I agree with many of this group’s aims, but I have to say protesting outside someone’s home when you’ve turned down a meeting they offered is a very bad escalation strategy
when was there ever a meeting offered?
Last week
NOT TRUE –
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/video-anti-gentrification-protesters-disrupt-queens-developers-conference-9188162
Yesterday morning some hundred bankers, investors, developers, and other people intent on making money in Queens real estate had gathered for a breakfast conference at the Gantry Loft, a restaurant in Long Island City.
When Maria Torres-Springer, head of the New York Economic Development Corporation, took the podium, she barely had time to celebrate the mixed-use waterfront projects catalyzing growth in Queens before she was interrupted by protesters who had infiltrated the audience in business-breakfast drag. “That’s not true!” one woman in the second row shouted. “Working families cannot stay here! From Ridgewood to Corona, Queens is not for sale!” Farther back, another woman stood up, and a third: “From LIC to Flushing, Queens is not for sale!”
Here’s what the kerfuffle looked like:
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Minutes earlier, Jamie McShane, a senior vice president at the Real Estate Board of New York, had given some opening remarks, as had New York City Council majority leader Jimmy Van Bramer and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. “It’s been just an amazing accomplishment over the last few years in this borough,” Katz had said, “and all of you being here today just shows that it’s onward and upward. People want to come here, live here, play here, make their money here.”
Robert Knakal, the chairman of New York Investment Sales at Cushman & Wakefield, had told the audience how his longstanding fondness for Queens began when he lived in the borough for a year after college, before moving to Manhattan, and how that relationship grew in 2000, when his firm had “filled up all of our territories in Manhattan [and] we were looking for another place to do business, and we opened up our Queens office.”
The morning’s schedule included panel discussions featuring prominent developers, bankers, and Business Improvement District executives, as well as the executive director of the Friends of the BQX, the developer-backed group advocating for a streetcar route along the Queens and Brooklyn waterfronts.
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But throughout these proceedings, a steady din could be heard from outside the restaurant. Across the street, a group of about twenty people calling themselves Queens Is Not for Sale had unfurled banners and were chanting into megaphones.
After the disruption a lengthy and awkward tussle ensued as the event’s organizers, including Josh Schneps, the publisher of a chain of community newspapers, attempted to force four protesters to leave, and the protesters noisily declined. In a spirit appropriate to the occasion, organizers correctly pointed out to the protesters that they were on private property. The protesters did not find this information persuasive.
Some joker briefly played the Jeopardy theme song on the sound system, then switched to the Twilight Zone theme. It was threatened that the police would be called. The police were called. Eventually, the four women were squeezed out the door, but remained noisily in the stairwell outside. An attendee who identified himself as a retired lieutenant offered his advice: “Just lock ’em up.”
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As the noise in the stairwell continued, Torres-Springer resumed her remarks, “When I hear those kinds of comments and frustration on the part of New Yorkers,” she said, “what that tells me and what I hope it tells you trying to build the city to do this work, is that we need to…make sure we’re pushing forward an agenda of inclusive growth.”
Outside on the street, the protesters were undeterred. “Maria Torres-Springer, you said you would work hard to create livable neighborhoods through your position as head of EDC,” read a statement they handed out. “But livable neighborhoods can’t be created as long as real estate developers sell off our neighborhoods.”
The group also said it is unimpressed by the mayor’s affordable-housing plan, arguing that the threshold of “affordability” is still far too high for many Queens residents. “I had the rent go up 30 percent on my apartment in Jackson Heights two years ago,” said one protester, who declined to give her name. “These people are making a profit off of turning our own neighborhoods into places where we can’t afford to live.”
THIS WAS IN THE VILLAGE VOICE – 10/6/16 at 12:23pm
Chung….and…Raymond, take your crass leftist middle finger and please leave our City..Its the same old SO CALLED..concerned PHONY New York Transplant who really think ,us true New York born and raised CITIZENS buy there crap…For God Sake…Middle finger poster.. Why..HEY MORONS…CAPITALUSM IS THE BASIS OF THIS GREAT CITY…YEAH I SAID IT..NOW LETS START THE DISCUSSION… PURE B.S.ARTIST..HIPSTER DISINGENIOUS IDIOTS..WE GOT YOUR NUMBER..P.C.UNEDUCATED CRY BABIES..RICH KIDS FROM THIER LITTLE ENCLAVES
George, you seem upset. Consider looking to the Bible for solace.
I wish I was rich like george kelly. I heard he has houses all over the state, even in Tannersville. Must be nice
Affordable housing never seems to be taken seriously w all this greedy looking development. So glad JKson Hts is out of the trendy loop!
De Blasio will likely win a second term. City is safer, stop and frisk has decreased, many homeless are off the streets, no one outside a hotel/shelter neighborhood cares where they are located, preschool for all, he is anti trump, he is for keeping NYC a sanctuary city, his wife and children appeal to minorities, etc….
This week in a defiant defense of the New York Police Department, Mayor Bill de Blasio challenged Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to look into the eyes of the city’s police officers and assert their claim that the department is “soft on crime,” I am so proud that he is our Mayor! He cares about all New Yorker’s! Even those that once turned their back on him.
New Poll Shows de Blasio Beating All Other Candidates in the upcoming election!
https://poll.qu.edu/new-york-city/release-detail?ReleaseID=2418
so you invite black lives matter to the event and you get a comment about white supremecy running city planning.
You guys had a good chance to make a statement – you came off like a joke.
75 people?? Wow JVB and deBlaz must be so scared.
The organizers did not have the resources that politicians have, like paid staff, huge email lists, and the ability to summon mayor De Blasio for a town hall. Despite that, the vast majority of the people spoken to that day, including those living in Sunnyside Gardens, fully supported the protest demands and over 500 have signed a petition stating the same. Plus 75 people aint bad for a political rally about projects that aren’t even being considered in city council yet.
There’s a town hall in a couple of days.
And did they agree with your wacko white supremacy and ethnic cleansing conspiracy platform? Did they support marching on JVB’s home and threatening that they will return to his home (and my block) again and again? You are clearly one of them. Shame on you. You people lie all the time about who you are and what you are about.
Easy with the “you people” stuff, laura
Well, me and my old friends are safe. Grandfathered in. We pay $120 a month rent. Six rooms and not going anywhere.
There should some kind of Town Hall to voice concerns such as this?
I took their fliers yesterday as they passed. I share concerns over development and there are many valid points this group makes- HOWEVER I just hope they have some solutions or a list of concessions they want from some sort of deal – as I didn’t see any. The solution I get from this group is: keep things the same. I don’t think “same” is very progressive or good for low income families. If they marched with a clear goal such as: “increase the number of affordable units per building” or “increase the amount of public green spaces and facilities” or “no more development without new transportation infrastructure” then I would be more happy to support them. Instead I get the sense from this group that they are saying a big NO to possible affordable housing over railroad tracks (which displaces NO ONE) and also a NO to a new transportation option that I think this city could use (and that runs right by the largest public housing unit in the entire USA – Queensbridge – so spar me the crap about this being solely a “luxury train”).
I say this all because I think it would be a shame if these people who have their hearts in the right place were actually being duped into some pretty big NIMBY tendencies that actually don’t help the solution at all. By saying NO to all these proposals you are indeed sticking it to the man- but you are also sticking it to the poor and middle class. Saying “YES WITH MAJOR CONCESSIONS” would be the way you could really make a difference.
Neziah! you have used too many well-reasoned, grammatically-correct sentences for the Sunnyside Post comment section. Please stop making so much sense. You need more hyperbole and generalizations in your comment. Also maybe make a few racist/ignorant jabs at non-whites…. you might also consider using the word “hipster” as you describe the downfall of our lovely, diverse neighborhood.
Queens Anti-Gentrification Project argues for a city-wide rent freeze (beyond simply rent controlled apartments) and the full-funding and expansion of NYCHA. They have also argued for an express bus service instead of the BQX. This protest was not about NIMBY-ism and, in fact, Queens Anti-Gentrification Project has taken many positions that reject this tendency, i.e. fully supporting the existence of homeless shelters/hotels and their inhabitants until a better solution can be found.
Stop trying to normalize these wackos with their white supremacist and ethic cleansing conspiracy theories! Call it what it is, radical extremism. And they are stupid to boot. As if marching on JVB’s home and screaming into a bullhorn in front of his empty house and threatening to come back to his home is going to make him agree to their “demands”. (yes, I live on that block too and saw it myself – jackasses all of them)
As someone who actually lives in the area (unlike most of these people), I can get behind being against big developers and gentrification. But why are they against Jimmy??? Hes a great councilman and this is so disrespectful to all he’s done for us.
These people are crazy. I was at the rally and heard them talk about ethnic cleansing – I think Dan Raymond comparing a street car line to ethnic cleansing is really shameful.
Ethnic cleansing is horrific and to compare it to a new street car or a new building is to diminish the suffering of the millions who have died at the hands of tyrants, murderers and nazis.
There are 60 thousand homeless people in this city and everywhere you see luxury projects, you see working class blacks or latinos getting displaced, often illegally evicted, and affluent whites moving in. So we have all these poor black folks living in shelters with millions more at threat of displacement and living in worse than sub-par conditions, while rich landlords replace them with affluent white tenants through government-led housing plans that raise property values and rents. What do you call that? Natural selection? It’s being called ethnic cleansing because it is ethnic cleansing. You can actually go out and look at it as it’s happening and see it with your own eyes. Parts of Williamsburg were literally transformed over a few years into a white neighborhood through the expulsion of Latinos. What the hell do you call that? Natural selection?
Ethnic Cleansing: The mass expulsion or killing of members of an unwanted ethnic or religious group in a society.
I no care
Marching on JVB’s home the day he and Dan bury Dan’s father? Classy, very classy.
To be fair this rally was planned for months. They may not have known about Dan’s father.
Raymond is the class clown in the land of misfits. What an idiot. Don’t like that we have a nice neighborhood? Then move.
Particularly nice touch to protest at Van Bramer’s home while he was at the funeral of a family member.
Shameful.
Who said these people had class? They are ignorant fools who think this protest will make a tiny bit difference. Clean up sunnyside first.
Cleaning up Sunnyside is a great idea for a ‘protest’ against gentrification — go out in the streets and pick up litter and talk to your neighbors. Earn some good will and have a nice conversation.
Mac..that’s a great idea
Protests should be done at the office of the public official — not at their home!!
What about Trump??? Then it’s ok I guess
(Trump “moved on me like a b*tch”)
Trump’s New York home and office are in the same building.
Why do you keep bringing up Trump? It doesn’t even make sense in commenting on this story.
Van Bramer has said many times he opposes the Sunnyside Yards project:
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20151202/REAL_ESTATE/151209981/jimmy-van-bramers-low-expectations-for-a-sunnyside-yards-megaproject
he if fibbing –
Proof? 🙂 🙂
Mac?.is that you?
who put this Bunch of miss fits together? I bet every single one of them are on some sort of gov assistance, and this knucklehed Dee Raymond, whats his story???. And as for the anti White “they get everything” comments, Maybe good old whitey worked hard for what he has
I agree with you, not to mention when I see that middle-finger poster, I want to stick one up their arses, what kind of childish unprofessional rude poster is that. It does not belong to sunnyside, just like these idiots. Go take your protest somewhere where it won’t disturb people or display profanity.
Better check and find out whose pockets these guys are in, someone must be feeding them. Go get a real job and contribute to society!
Oh but pink pussy hats and signage with vulgarity directed towards trump is ok??? Hypocrisy at its finest, you cannot have it one way. Yes and the protests on fifth avenue also don’t disturb anyone?
It is ok actually, because Trump is a vulgarian.
Trump is not Vulgarian. His family originally came from Germany.
The BQX is a vanity project. Some developers and tech people that have never visited Queens had some renderings made and want to see it built.
Put a bus line in if it’s such a need: cheaper, easier to repair, exist in the current system, and can go around an obstruction in traffic.
Fake El loco. Think of another name loser.
Which loco is most loco? How do we know you are not dos locos? Trying to trick the nice people of SUNNYSIDE?
I’ve purchased the rights to the El loco name, I’m sorry that you can no longer afford the market rate, but you can move on to another, more affordable name. Maybe try looking on East New York Post, or perhaps in New Jersey.
PPS. I have zero proof for any statements I make 🙂
JVB better have another anti-Trump rally soon to distract from the fact that he’s a lapdog to the wealthy developers.
PS. Maybe, just maybe JVB was against the Phipps development because it was a stone’s throw away from his house?
So even when an opposed development is blocked, you complain? Got it.
JVB is most certainly for the Sunnyside Yards he can taste the money coming his way you can bank on it —
You have no evidence for this.
These gentrification people are freaks. They belong in the stars war bar scene!!
they are all renters complaining. us owners embrace gentrification. we broke our backs working and saving so we can better ourselves. these protesters dont know the meaning. if they dont like the area improving, then get out and move to where rent is cheaper and crime more abundant.
then tell that to JVB he is all for this and he did not grow up in Sunnyside at all
Most renters are priced out of owning now. Most landlords either inheritted their property or were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to buy… And now want a 500% return on investment. Dont act like you were so smart and so hard working.
I agree — I make a lot of money. Upper middle class. I would like to buy a small home in Sunnyside, and I can’t afford it. I don’t know how these people do it. How do they buy $1m homes if they’re regular working-class people? Like I say, I make pretty decent money and I can’t make it work. Everyone that does has had some kind of windfall or was already in the real estate ‘game’ and flipped and flipped to get there.
You sound like a pompous entitled brat. I am an owner since 24 in Sunnyside and I wouldn’t dare to speak like this and I bet you my property I paid 100% more than you did for yours.
i totally agree. the area should look like a dump from half a century ago. that way, hard working people that worked all their lives to eventually buy an apartment, looking to move up in life, will lose half their value and make the area look like a 1980s bronx ghetto. great idea! down with gentrification! we need more boarded up shops and drug dealers on corners!