“Brick By Brick, Wall by Wall New York City is for Us All“

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The issue of gentrification is nothing new to New York or most of the world. Did you know that where we now enjoy sprawling greens in Central Park was once owned by freed Blacks as was much of Greenwich Village?
“Seneca Village was a small village on the island of Manhattan, New York founded by free blacks. Seneca Village existed from 1825 through 1857, when it was torn down due to Central Park construction. The village was the first significant community of African American property owners on Manhattan, and also came to be inhabited by several other minorities, including Irish and German immigrants, and perhaps Native Americans as well. The village was located on about 5 acres (20,000 m2) between where 82nd and 89th Streets and 7th and 8th Avenues would now intersect, an area now covered by Central Park” (Source)

Every part of this city, decade by decade seems to go through a gentrification shift creating new neighborhoods that after time define certain areas for those who have forgotten history. Right here in my neighborhood where the statue of Duke Ellington & his piano is erected at the end of central park where it officially meets Harlem at Duke Ellington Circle ,”Across 110th street” made famous in song by Bobby Womack; as you cross from West to East Harlem AKA Spanish Harlem- the street is named for the mambo king &  Latin jazz icon , El Rey Tito Puente , who brought the sound of el ritmo from el barrio to the world. What is now known as Spanish Harlem was once Italian Harlem until it was gentrified by Puerto Ricans & other Latinos. Some parts of the history of  Italian Harlem remains with landmarks like Roa’s which is still the best kept secret in Harlem because of its exclusivity  & the loss of its history on generations of new comers to the neighborhood who know very little to nothing about its authentic Italian roots. For a new comer who knows very little about the past history of 110th street, listening to the words of Bobby Womack’s song “Across 110th Street” will come to them as some sort of fiction, culture shock or long ago historical past that they could not fathom existed just over a decade ago, with pimps, prostitutes, mobsters, drug deals etc. -the type of neighborhood that they could never imagine paying 100’s of thousands to millions to live in as they do now.

This very neighborhood & corner where I live is where a recent housing rally was held-with middle & low-income people & organizations who chanted that they were fed up & not going to take it anymore because denying the homeless, middle & low income people affordable housing was just not right, particularly in the neighborhoods that they have lived in all their lives just to be pushed out to make room for luxury condos. Many of these condos stay empty for long periods of time finding loopholes in the law where they avoid paying taxes or get tax incentives for building in certain neighborhoods in the guise of development & bettering neighborhorhoods while homeless rates due to gentrification rises.

After 25 years of being in limbo for a permanent residence, The African Museum has finally found a home at the end of posh 5th avenue’s museum mile, where central park meets Harlem on the corner of Fifth Avenue & 110th street, completing museum mile. One would think how fantastic, about time & what perfect positioning to have the African museum at the base where Harlem technically begins, but this project seems to be less & less about the global African history & richness of the neighborhood that is looking to serve & welcome the community for generations as El Museo Del Barrio has done for the people of el barrio. Rather  the main purpose seems to be to create just another luxury project with luxury condos & global African art that is all unaccessible & unattainable to those who have truly built the neighborhood -the ancestors, descendants & children of Tito Puente & Duke Ellington with their way & circle which stand as the base & foundation exemplifying the unity of Global Africans Across 110th street. 1280 fifth avenue is the new address for the African Museum. This project has been plagued with problems from the onset with building code violations that were destroying the quality of life of neighborhood residents along with many deadlines of completion that have long passed. All I could do was shake my head when I went to research the much anticipated museum & connecting luxury condos to see if there were opportunities for me as an African to open a business inside the museum that furthered the teachings & focus of the museum along with the possibility of being able to move right across the street from where I currently live to be part of the development of my neighborhood.

I found a real estate site with people whose only focus on the people & the neighborhood where the African museum is currently being erected was their irrelevance to the purpose of selling luxury condos & art because according to one commentator in particular, the Black & Brown Global Africans of Harlem do not buy nor collect art or luxury condos; therefore none of this building & so called “bettering” the neighborhood wouldn’t or shouldn’t have anything to do with its current inhabitants outside of  moving them out & allowing those who can afford the luxury condos & art to move in.

The irony of the racists/elitest sentiments on this website basically proved the point of those protestors who were fed up & not going to take it anymore  because they  felt that these so called community & neighborhood development projects only developed gentrification- The “good ol American way” of development, where you take land away from its inhabitants with an already established lifestyle & culture & then say you discovered a new frontier -The Columbus Way! Unfortunately this is the American way which often has to do more with the power of the $ that states in “God We Trust” more than it has to do with racial/ethnic discrimination. Community development usually comes with a price tag that the community can not afford therefore new communities have to come in who can afford the price of new development. Neighborhoods will continue to change with time whether we like it or not, it is just a matter of how much time & how much change.

It Seems all Around the World It’s the Same Song.