Gentrification in this city is a complicated thing. Despite the decrease in violent crime over the past decade, most noticeably to me in Alphabet City, it comes at a cost. The obvious cost is in rent but what bothers me more than anything is the loss of character and grit that so many people moved to this city for in the first place.
I live snugly in between a large row of project buildings and old tenement buildings with a handful of luxury condos springing up on various blocks. A couple squatted buildings still linger but I've been told there are "legal" squatters living in them. Among these buildings tonight I saw two, large, black men carrying a proportionately large, old-school boombox. Blasting music on the streets, especially in the early part of summer in this neighborhood is not unusual but I found the choice in music interesting:
"I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt. (Let that sit for a moment. Hear it in your head. Picture the graffiti on the walls and the trash on the streets. Do you understand what I was feeling?)
The only way I feel I can remedy this is by watching 90's pulp films on IFC tonight. God, I miss the old East Village. Come back whores and junkies!!!
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