hkskyline
February 22nd, 2007, 04:20 AM
Brooklyn: no longer Manhattan's poorer cousin
NEW YORK, Feb 16, 2007 (AFP) - Traditionally looked down upon by its fancy neighbor Manhattan, Brooklyn has for some time now been tempting New Yorkers with its red brick houses, sense of space and affordability.
And while the community spirit and leafy surroundings have drawn thousands of happy converts from its richer neighbor, not everyone in what was once the Dutch settlement of Breukelen are happy about the changes.
"Manhattan is sort of a fantasy land and Brooklyn is real, it's an authentic place where we can have a real life," says Eileen Shannon, 52, principal of the Open House school and a third generation Brooklynite.
After three decades of decline, Brooklyn's population started to grow in the 1990s, reaching its current level of 2.4 million -- enough to make it the fourth largest city in America if it hadn't relinquished its independence and become part of New York City in 1868.
The attractions of the area are obvious. While the average price of an apartment in Manhattan now stands at 749,000 dollars, the equivalent in Brooklyn is 491,000.
Add in the fact that since the September 11 attacks of 2001 many people consider Brooklyn to be a safer location, and the population growth is seen as likely to continue.
"What was once a reluctant move has become an enthusiastic, don't-look-back migration to a place with more space," New York Magazine said in a recent article on the tendency of more and more Manhattanites to cross the East River.
"Brooklyn has become an adjective, a shorthand for a certain style of living," it said, blaming the property market in Manhattan for the change.
"Real-estate ridiculousness over the past 10 years has forced the young, the creative and people who want separate bedrooms for their kids to embrace 718," the telephone area code for Brooklyn, it said.
Culturally, Brooklyn is living less in Manhattan's shadow thanks to the growth of an art scene in the Williamsburg neighborhood and the novels of Paul Auster and Jonathan Lethem, who have used Brooklyn as a vehicle for New Yorkers embracing a more provincial lifestyle.
"Brooklyn has more of a stabilized community. You know your shopkeepers, you see the same people over and over in the street," says real estate agent Adam Pacelli. "You have a stronger emotional connection to the area."
Vincent Cincotta, who started his grocery business with a horse and wagon and is still running it at 81 years old, shares Pacelli's enthusiasm for the regeneration in the area and says his store is doing better business than ever.
"The neighborhood is at its best now. It's a very young neighborhood."
Plans to build two large developments would see 20,000 homes going up in the area within just a few years. One of them includes a sports complex designed by Frank Gehry that will become the new home of the Nets basketball team.
Nearby, the historic Williamsburg Savings Bank, the tallest building in Brooklyn at 156 meters (510 feet) is being redeveloped by retired basketball star "Magic" Johnson into luxury apartments.
Apartments in the 1920s block are going for up to three millions dollars, a first for Brooklyn, sparking concern among some locals.
Many fear the boom could end Brooklyn's long history as a home for the middle classes and immigrants -- one of seven Americans has ancestors in Brooklyn, with its defined Jewish, Italian and Puerto Rican communities.
"That's the fear with overdevelopment, you won't be able to have this authentic life anymore," says school principal Shannon.
"The neighborhood is now solidly gentrified, there is very little affordable housing other than social housing," she says.
As for the advent of the three-million-dollar apartment, she says it's not a good sign. "It says there's no place for a blue-collar community in Brooklyn, there's no place for them anymore."
Her fear is that gentrification will change the area into something different, and worst of all, another Manhattan.
NEW YORK, Feb 16, 2007 (AFP) - Traditionally looked down upon by its fancy neighbor Manhattan, Brooklyn has for some time now been tempting New Yorkers with its red brick houses, sense of space and affordability.
And while the community spirit and leafy surroundings have drawn thousands of happy converts from its richer neighbor, not everyone in what was once the Dutch settlement of Breukelen are happy about the changes.
"Manhattan is sort of a fantasy land and Brooklyn is real, it's an authentic place where we can have a real life," says Eileen Shannon, 52, principal of the Open House school and a third generation Brooklynite.
After three decades of decline, Brooklyn's population started to grow in the 1990s, reaching its current level of 2.4 million -- enough to make it the fourth largest city in America if it hadn't relinquished its independence and become part of New York City in 1868.
The attractions of the area are obvious. While the average price of an apartment in Manhattan now stands at 749,000 dollars, the equivalent in Brooklyn is 491,000.
Add in the fact that since the September 11 attacks of 2001 many people consider Brooklyn to be a safer location, and the population growth is seen as likely to continue.
"What was once a reluctant move has become an enthusiastic, don't-look-back migration to a place with more space," New York Magazine said in a recent article on the tendency of more and more Manhattanites to cross the East River.
"Brooklyn has become an adjective, a shorthand for a certain style of living," it said, blaming the property market in Manhattan for the change.
"Real-estate ridiculousness over the past 10 years has forced the young, the creative and people who want separate bedrooms for their kids to embrace 718," the telephone area code for Brooklyn, it said.
Culturally, Brooklyn is living less in Manhattan's shadow thanks to the growth of an art scene in the Williamsburg neighborhood and the novels of Paul Auster and Jonathan Lethem, who have used Brooklyn as a vehicle for New Yorkers embracing a more provincial lifestyle.
"Brooklyn has more of a stabilized community. You know your shopkeepers, you see the same people over and over in the street," says real estate agent Adam Pacelli. "You have a stronger emotional connection to the area."
Vincent Cincotta, who started his grocery business with a horse and wagon and is still running it at 81 years old, shares Pacelli's enthusiasm for the regeneration in the area and says his store is doing better business than ever.
"The neighborhood is at its best now. It's a very young neighborhood."
Plans to build two large developments would see 20,000 homes going up in the area within just a few years. One of them includes a sports complex designed by Frank Gehry that will become the new home of the Nets basketball team.
Nearby, the historic Williamsburg Savings Bank, the tallest building in Brooklyn at 156 meters (510 feet) is being redeveloped by retired basketball star "Magic" Johnson into luxury apartments.
Apartments in the 1920s block are going for up to three millions dollars, a first for Brooklyn, sparking concern among some locals.
Many fear the boom could end Brooklyn's long history as a home for the middle classes and immigrants -- one of seven Americans has ancestors in Brooklyn, with its defined Jewish, Italian and Puerto Rican communities.
"That's the fear with overdevelopment, you won't be able to have this authentic life anymore," says school principal Shannon.
"The neighborhood is now solidly gentrified, there is very little affordable housing other than social housing," she says.
As for the advent of the three-million-dollar apartment, she says it's not a good sign. "It says there's no place for a blue-collar community in Brooklyn, there's no place for them anymore."
Her fear is that gentrification will change the area into something different, and worst of all, another Manhattan.