Jen from “Urban Expressive” was gracious enough to share her latest “Urban Expressive” commentary entry with ESHE concerning recent events currently taking place in Brooklyn, New York. The media is seemingly ignoring the changes taking place in this iconic neighborhood that has undergone a significant amount of gentrification over the last few years.
#WhereBrooklynAt? For Some Residents, Getting Bathing & Cooking Water From A Public Hydrant
By Urban Expressive
Lately, when I find myself insouciantly included in a conversation about Brooklyn, I have nothing to say. Not because I literally have nothing to say, but because I can’t hide the contemptuous look and sarcastic responses I’d give to someone who just moved here three years ago and thinks they know it all about the borough I was born, raised and still reside in. Oh yea, that new organic coffee bar that serves espresso in a recycled cup made from old Folger’s labels that ironically juxtaposes high end and low brow that I just HAVE to visit? Did I know it existed? Nope! But I’m pretty sure you don’t know what existed before it did. Or even why that shop owner is no longer there; increased rent that small business owners couldn’t keep up with. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying your artesianal foie gras doughnut. Some of those same transplants may think because they live in the same building as that Black & Asian interracial couple or the Black girl with amazing hair they’ve always wanted to touch that, Brooklyn is some racism free utopia. Hell, they even marched in #BlackLivesMatter protests because it’s the thing to do. It may seem as if I have a specific problem with gentrifiers, – after all I can’t put the sole blame on them that there are neighborhoods literally a few blocks away that don’t have the same post-racial feel. In Boerum Hill, one of the most coveted, trendiest and expensive neighborhoods in Brooklyn, there are hundreds of residents who haven’t had running water for a week. How could this be, you wonder? Well, that’s an easy one guys! Instead of this being in a newly renovated condo, it’s happening in Wyckoff Gardens- a 527 unit housing development, aka- The Projects. As temperatures dipped to cold as balls degrees last week, NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) managers contingency plan for these tenants were to grab a bucket and get water from a nearby hydrant until the issue could be fixed. I can’t imagine how all of these tenants were expected to stand in line and obtain enough water for their basic needs- cleaning, cooking, flushing the toilet, etc. I heard more on the news about the “no pants” subway ride this weekend, opposed to fellow Brooklyn residents who couldn’t even take a shower if they happened to sit on a seat that was once occupied by someones cold ass butt cheeks. I find it hard to believe had this no water situation happened anywhere other than the projects or a low income apartment complex, the grooming habits of residents would be reduced to a bucket of cold water from a hydrant. But I guess they figured screw them, right? They don’t need to shower, they don’t have an internet startup job to go to or a Starbucks run to make. So far only Public Advocate Letitia James has voiced outrage and with the help of Families United for Racial and Economic Equality, water was distributed until they ran out while tenants were informed this would be their routine “until further notice”. I think if more Brooklyn residents were actually aware of what was going on less than 10 minutes from the newest Whole Foods Market, NYCHA would be pressured to resolve this issue faster, instead of publicly humiliating tenants and having them stand in the cold for basic necessities.
