Saturday, July 25, 2020

Gentrification is no panacea for rising crime wave



They’re murders that never, ever should’ve happened in “New” New York–but did and continue to happen at an alarming rate in 2020. I’m not just talking about the senseless drive-bys now revisiting inner city communities with a vengeance. I am also talking about an uptick in attempted murders at tourist traps and homicides in tony neighborhoods–and of the likes not seen since the days when The NY Post ran its infamous, “Headless Body in Topless Bar” headline.

These recent murders particularly make my blood boil, because they’re clearly the indirect result of an incredibly smarmy Robert Mose-ian plan designed to “clean up New York.” The plan was this: let’s get rid of all the disgusting immigrant, minority, bohemian and working class slobs and replace them with “better” people. Once the icky scum are gone, NYC will be a crime and vice-free utopia to rival that of Japan’s. Hell, it’ll be such a cakewalk keeping the peace that policing will be a matter of just kicking back, standing around in an officious manner and occasionally roughing up a few “hood” teenagers. No need to actively police the city with so many affluent white and foreign national gentrifiers walking around with their Starbucks coffee cups and Whole Foods shopping bags in tow. It’s all good!

It was a plan that seemed bulletproof (no pun intended). And now all of a sudden–after years of urban planners, developers and neoliberal politicians successfully wiping out imagined hives of scum and villainy in NYC–violent crime is skyrocketing. It’s skyrocketed to such an extent that we’ve effectively erased the past 25 years of progress. If things get any worse, NYC will be right back to where it was in the 1970s, except without the cool colorful local characters, distinctive neighborhoods and vibrant cultural scenes that still made living here a badge of honor.

The most ironic thing about this new crime wave is that the grisliest murders seem to be occurring in those very neighborhoods that have been the heaviest hit by gentrification. The worst one–and sounding like something straight out of American Psycho (or Hannibal, for you young ‘uns)–took place last week at a brand spanking new luxury development on The Lower East Side. A 21 year old tech bro casually followed his boss (Fahim Saleh) into an elevator, murdered him under security’s watch, then proceeded to dismember him with a saw before being scared off by a visitor on a welfare check.


31 comments:

Anonymous said...

It’s the Summer of Love ! Just a bunch of Joggers looking for bread.

Anonymous said...

https://nycgentrificationwatch.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/meet-cuomo-deblasio-and-other-members-of-the-neoliberal-machine-who-are-canceling-rent-to-fatten-the-pockets-of-their-developer-cronies/

I like the one where Gianaris and AOC are both helping developers and hurting their constitutions. Him, not surprised as he is the old boss now the new boss, but her? Sad.

Julie B. said...

you cAn't count the techie slaying as gentrification induced. The killer knew the victim and had an axe to grind--no pun intended

Anonymous said...

Next up is you cant say "master bedroom", "blacklist", or "headmaster". Banning WORDS is no way to stop racism. This country is really going so far backwards, its ridiculous. If you really want to fight racism, then start by sending asian kids (koreans and chinese) to school with black kids. That's what they used to do with us white kids back in the day. So push diversity on the asians and hasidic Jewish people as well.

Anonymous said...

"So push diversity on the asians and hasidic Jewish people as well."
Take a hike that's not a solution. So I move to a "Good" school district and you want to bus my kids to a shithole neighborhood. Fuck off !

Anonymous said...

I like how everyone thinks it a great idea to have the ghetto move to the suburbs. Yes, it is a Democratic policy. I would like to share with you what happens to a community under that policy as I grew up in a place that lived and breathed Democrats - that generation thought that Roosevelt was a hero.

My school was 98% white when I was there - the people were working, middle and lower upper managers. Hell one of the best football teams in state so from a class background it was mixed. Academic? Top 5 % - big tech companies moved in. A handful of black and Asians. No problems.

Then it became very integrated. Today 50 years later lets take a look.

The change started slowly, the local mall became places of gun fights and then kiosks permanently occupied by police. They said the kids were from the next town, not local. The football team started to bring in kids from other areas as 'aunts' lived in the district and the black coach looked other other way. He was fired but the damage done.

Minorities started moving in a small starter homes on small parcels which was a step up for WW II vets but were now dwarfed by new construction in areas further out. Perfect for those fleeing crumbling ghettos.

The tech firms left to be replaced by sad looking industrial parks - they said schools were better elsewhere. Property values stagnated. Some houses were not kept up. Local black kids were shooting each other and running around suburban cul de sacs with guns. Places that had block parties when I was a kid.

Today the high school still has kids college bound with high test scores, the last of the old guard, but the lower 1/3 of the student body care little for these things and the overall school is now ranked 40% instead of 5%. The elementary schools are quickly changing becoming majority minority. Tons of money and effort being put in to no avail. With a shrinking tax base that effort will soon stagnate and crumble.

The digital website for the community newspaper now has a permanent space for 'police blotter' listing a number of shoplifting, drug dealing losers each week - majority minority.

So what did the old guard do? They moved to the next town in the next county. That school's band marched in the Thanksgiving Day Parade last Nov - their 3rd appearance. School ranked in the top 5%.

Anonymous said...

Communist have literally destroy american culture and it's sad to see how a Democratic nation like America is being destroyed by this barbarian communist cult called Antifa. The #FAKENEWS Media, Far-Left Liberal school system and some bad parents are all to blame for what has gone on. Thank you, so much Barack Hussein Obama for bringing back race violence and Marxist ignorance to our country. You deserve all the credit. Now put that in your pipe and smoke it you stupid filthy ASS Communists Demorats.

Anonymous said...

I agree kids should go to school as a diverse group I did in growing up in the 80s and 90s in bayside it not right one race should dominate schools but when they protest about making more diverse the other races arent questioned about being racist only white people are made to be racist and being a mixed race American it's sad

Cesare Beccaria said...

Is slumification a panacea for a declining crime rate?

Anonymous said...

How Dare You ! Want to have a New "Green Deal" walk to your local school and get rid of this Bus your kid to school. Hell walking would be good for them and the parents.

ron s said...

Re Anonymous "Communist have literally destroy american culture":
Trump kisses Putin's ass, has Russian delegates roaming the White House, can't say a bad word about Russian soldiers putting a bounty on Americans,has large investments in Russia, got large sums of money from Russia, and help from Russia in his election.
Yes I'm really worried about Democrat communists...

Anonymous said...

Ron s like other “Nutless wonders” are still pushing the Russian Hoax !
You need to stop watching Cenk Uyger and Don Lemon and take the #REDPILL !

If it was not of Julian ASSANGE we would not have found out about the Clintons and war crimes and other scum politicians. FREE ASSANGE NOW

Malcolm X —
“The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”

Anonymous said...

ron s you need to wake up from your deep sleep !

Anonymous said...

QC Reader said...
I’m writing in Jesse Ventura this November.
To Hell with both parties !

Anonymous said...

Whenever a country adopts communism, a massive purge follows. You can see this clearly throughout history. It always brings death and destruction. This is not just happening in America though, it is a globalist takeover and communism is their blunt force instrument.

Anonymous said...

Moe said...
You people should have recognized the Left as the Fascists they were 20 years ago and should have acted against them then...Because you didn't , now they have amassed so much power, they are using it to strip everyone of their rights. Even if you realize it now, it's already too late. YOU HAD TO DO...WAS LISTEN.

Anonymous said...

In Biden's agenda is a law Obama created but Trump did away with. If a town wont change zoning laws for high density housing... The feds will cut off money for infrastructure. If Biden wins they will start sewage expansion for high density housing.

This will not happen in the five boros...but in Nassau Suffolk and up north..

Instead of fixing up the shit holes,,,they want to tear down whats decent to make it equal to the shit hole standards...IMO any one with a job needs to vote for Trump (republican)

The Dems are only for the people on line for a free ride.

georgetheatheist said...

@ ron s. Is Putin even a "Communist" or an authoritarian? The USSR went bye-bye a long time ago.

Anonymous said...


With the reported increase of violence, I'm taking a time-out on any trips to NYC unless I absolutely have to for work to mid-town or for a family emergency - separate of using common sense and not traveling at all during Coronavirus.

As someone whose family is from Bensonhurst - I take a three to four trips a year back to NYC. Stay in Manhattan wherever I can using points/miles/deals to reduce the overall cost. Visit cousins in Douglaston - and mostly use MTA to get around the city. Use Airtrain and/or NJ Transit to/from JFK and Newark. I challenge those with me on trips how much wen save using the subway, etc. over inflated Uber and Lyft prices.

Now, I will NOT take the subway/express bus to/from LaGuardia - so that takes an option to use airline miles off my list. Kennedy is fine - but only using AirTrain and the L.I.R.R. - NOT the subway from Jamaica to mid-town.

Newark airport is ok for now - as long as NJ Transit's security hasn't denigrated on the trains and at Penn station - we'll see.

With the increase of violence, I'm taking a time-out on any trips to NYC unless I absolutely have to for work to mid-town or for a family emergency. The stories of violence happening in the subways is scary and sad. If someone sees you with luggage - you are "marked" as perfect to rob and steal from.

So sad that in such a short few months - protection of the people by the police is now an afterthought. My hearts go out to the N.Y.P.D. and their families who watch as NYC's safety and security just slides into the river!

Anonymous said...

Antifa: "Be right back mom, gonna go peacefully burn down some more buildings."

Mom: "Did you clean your room?"

Anonymous said...

Bada Bing said...
Imagine hoping the mafia comes back to NYC demanding protection money ?

minababe said...

I can tell that more than half of you are trolls--mostly non-New Yorkers and some possibly foreign nationals--who are just using this site as a springboard to spread disinformation. Almost all of you also did not read past the headline.

So I'm going to reiterate what I posted on my blog:

What's happening now has nothing to do with ANTIFA or Democrats or anything. It's a replay of exactly what happened in NYC in the 1980s. Morons thought that if they just cleared NYC out of the "wrong" demographics, the city would be so safe and clean as to not need any active policing. In other words, the idea was to just fill the cities full of white Yuppies and rich foreign nationals and then scale back police to the point of being nonexistent, based on the logic that the city would be so safe it would police itself.

But that's not how the Real World works. Cities are safe because of active policing, not because of who is living in them. You can have all the Yuppies and rich people you want in a city but if the most your police force thinks it has to do to prevent crime is to rough up a few scrawny 140 pound 16 year old minorities for flouting social distancing rules, you're going to have crime. The dangerous thugs, the junkies, the sociopaths are going to take note and move in. This is exactly what happened in the 1980s, and it's what's happening now.

JQ LLC said...

@Minababe Re: Trolls

This is why I don't post as much as I used to.

And your dead on about active policing. Look what happened in kips bay. The NYPD did an arrest that looked like an episode of 24. And then a convoy of bike cops rolled in to block everyone from taking photos of it. Meanwhile dozens of shootings happen in a day in ares like Harlem and Southeast Brooklyn and there's not a beat cop in sight.

People are more concern with divisive partisan bullshit politics than basic common sense.

Anonymous said...

When did painting over Police cameras become OK ?
I looked what happen in Kips Bay what's wrong with it JQ ?

Anonymous said...

MOE said...
"Look what happened in kips bay"
Cry me a river JQ ! What team are you on ?

Rioters: Burn all the official police vehicles
Also Rioters: Why the hell are the cops using unmarked vehicles???

Anonymous said...

If Pelosi thinks the Feds are “STORMTROOPERS”, then maybe her Federal security detail should be disarmed/defunded.

JQ LLC said...

@Anon 1 and 2

What's wrong with what happened? Sounds like you'd be fine living under Duerte in the Phillipines and the type who would submit to cops randomly searching you because you got "nothing to hide"

Both Care to explain the lack of effort by the NYPD to tamp down on shootings for the past month yet they can flawlessly execute a paramilitary styled arrest of a vandal? We have the biggest police force in the world a tiny billionaire mayor once told us.

What team I'm on? This isn't a stupid game.

For the record, I don't agree with these improv protests either (which they have the constitutional right to do), because they don't realize they are refunding the NYPD with more OT.

Anonymous said...

Peaceful and legitimate protests are protected under the U.S. Constitution.
Who in their right mind would get upset that Criminals and Rioters are being arrested ?
Looting and burning small businesses (often in minority neighborhoods) is criminal behavior. This is the work of anarchists and lawless mobs, instigated by those who want to take advantage of the tragedy that occurred in Minneapolis.

minababe said...

@JQ LLC said..." And your dead on about active policing. Look what happened in kips bay. The NYPD did an arrest that looked like an episode of 24. And then a convoy of bike cops rolled in to block everyone from taking photos of it. Meanwhile dozens of shootings happen in a day in ares like Harlem and Southeast Brooklyn and there's not a beat cop in sight."
---

Wow, I didn't hear about that Kips Bay incident, but thank you! I just looked it up. That's exactly what I'm talking about.

I live in East Flatbush, and you can hear gunfire on a regular basis. Where are the police?

Where are the police to now handle the heroin addicts that have now taken over Midtown and are openly shooting up near tourists and shoppers? Did you hear about that one? It's in The NY Post. The Post ran headlines and posted stories of junkies out in Midtown for the past two days, and no one's done a thing about it.

So, NYPD can only handle vandals but can't handle gangbangers and heroin addicts?

All of this does is prove that for the past several years, the administration just became stupidly complacent about crime in the face of gentrification. I guess they thought that the worst they'd have to worry about is choking out unarmed teenagers for copping 'tude. That's why that idiot Brooklyn borough president told people to just handle the fireworks issue on their own, which led to a woman, Shatavia Wells, getting gunned down. He figured NYC was nice and safe now. Well, he thought wrong.

Anonymous said...

I keep hearing about these "Far right racist" groups so much but I have never never seen a single one of them but see all the Leftist violent extremist daily ! I’ve never met a far right person But I’ve met countless far lefts in NYC.

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous minababe said..."Where are the police ?" Can’t stand the gaslighting So glad I finally woke up.

Marxist's lives DO NOT matter.
Rioter's lives DO NOT matter.
Looter's lives DO NOT matter.
Arsonist's lives DO NOT matter.
Murderer's lives DO NOT matter.
Antifa's lives DO NOT matter.