Is the “New” Brooklyn Economy For Real?
Sharon Zukin
Author; Brooklyn College, Sociology
Indie rockers, artisanal butchers and aspiring writers are only the tip of Brooklyn’s emerging service economy. But they are the most visible, bloggable part of the borough’s work force. The other 90 percent of Brooklynites work in hospitals, colleges and offices, as well as in retail stores and people’s homes. This silent majority of service workers does not support the romantic image of Brooklyn as a bohemia of the self-employed. It does suggest that most Brooklyn residents either depend on a regular paycheck from a large organization or hold informal jobs where they are paid off the books.
Having made the transition from Brooklyn industry to Brooklyn Industries, we should now try to nurture economic diversity by expanding urban farms, small factories, cultural workspaces, all forms of healing centers, universities and locally owned shops.