I Refuse to Acknowledge “East Bushwick”
I know this is an argument I’ll end up losing. I know, objectively, that wealthy realtors (and wealthy buyers, and, you know, the necessarily fluid nature of real estate and culture in a city with a dynamic economy) are all much more powerful than the half-assed complaints of, say, crotchety bloggers, or transplants with no real grounds to be angry about absurd new steps in a neighborhood’s development.
Even so. I will still go on record as saying that “East Bushwick” is not a real place, and never will be. It is a fictional neighborhood, conjured up by preposterous developers, that will no doubt be in-demand and widely accepted sooner rather than later.
Right now, Commercial Observer reports on a 105,000-square-foot development location out by the Halsey stop priced at $8.5 million, and marketed as a potentially lucrative site for luxury apartments, not unlike an already-successful complex nearby with amenities including a pool, gymm, sauna, and jacuzzi.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this is moving further south,” said a representative of Massey Knakal, which is marketing the new building, adding that it’s “just a matter of time” before wider-spread gentrification taks hold in the neighborhood.
Which I guess is fine, and just the way things go, even if it’s a little terrible to see calculated, rent-raising plans for a neighborhood so explicitly stated. It’s really just the “East Bushwick” label that seems so objectionable. Must we? Have we all healed so quickly from the scarring divisions of East Williamsburg and its proposed secession? If the New York Times predicted this trend several years ago (which they did, apparently), is there even any point to pushing back? Perhaps most importantly, if the neighborhood expands, even in name only, will I finally have access to all the good delivery options over in Ridgewood? There has to be at least some benefit to this whole thing.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.
