A Displaced Harlem Experiences “Root Shock”

As a resident of the “new” Harlem, I am very aware of the local sentiment toward the shift currently taking place. The neighborhood is in the midst of a long gentrification process, for better AND worse. Local residents are experiencing root shock, a term coined by Columbia professor Dr. Mindy Fullilove, as described in an article this morning in the NY Times.

[Image: Shopping crowds on 125th Street in Harlem. Courtesy of jag9889.]

As much as I see with my own eyes, it points out several things that I was unaware of happening around me.

During my morning commute, I often witness or experience the expression of a disgruntled, long-time Harlem resident. However, that is typically where the attitude against new Harlem residents stays. Rarely is there an outward display of dissatisfaction or personal resent on the street. So far, in my own personal experience, it has been limited to one event.

Late one night I was walking home from the subway where a man sitting on a stoop yelled at me while I was on the phone. His message was,

“Hey man, where all the jobs at? I know you got jobs.”

Unfortunately, I am an employee, not an employer.

Despite my different vantage point, I can sympathize with the local residents for their sense of loss for the familiar. When I think back to the other cities I have lived in, I have a romantic notion about the way things were. The article suggests this is at the heart of the current emotion.

Those who stayed during the worst years say they developed an even stronger psychological attachment to Harlem, its flaws not unlike their own. The perceived diminution of that neighborhood, caused in part by an influx of middle class people of all races, can feel like a loss of self, they say.

However, it’s a little disheartening to hear another human take on an extremist position to the situation.

I was praying something like this would happen to keep them out,” Calvin Hunt, 45, a longtime resident with a drastic view, said of the newcomers the morning after the shootings. “When crack was happening, you could have bought these brownstones for $1. Now they cost $1 million.

At the same time, there appears to be somewhat of a mob mentality developing, as the long-time residents try to find an outlet for their frustration.

Apprehension about gentrification has become a constant, and is now a common theme at Sunday church services and a standard topic of conversation in barber shops and beauty salons, on street corners, in bars, at public housing community rooms and among the doormen of the neighborhood’s new condominium buildings.

Unfortunately, it is doubtful there will be anything to diffuse the situation, considering the following facts about Harlem from the article…

• Earlier this year, the average price for new condominium apartments in Harlem hit $900,000, although average household income remains less than $25,000.
• A large march and rally that organizers say will be “against displacement and gentrification” is scheduled for the neighborhood on June 21.
• City Council recently approved the rezoning of 125th Street, Harlem’s central artery, to allow for high-rise office towers and some 2,100 new market-rate condominiums. About 70 small businesses might be closed and some residents displaced.

Despite this, Harlem is a great place to live. Hopefully the neighborhood will be able to keep enough affordable housing for a significant portion of the current residents to stay here. In the end, diversity is good for everyone.

“There are great developments going on,” said Pastor Curtis. “You can see things in your sight, but they’re just out of reach.”

- Rev. Dr. Charles A. Curtis, senior pastor of Mount Olivet Baptist Church

“Change is good, and progress is inevitable,” she said. “But the feeling is, ‘What are we going to do? Where are we going to go?’”

- Ms. Walker, Harlem

[Image: A quiet street in Harlem. Courtesy of phogel.]

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