From the editor / w b u r g

From the editor

Defending against the grinch patrol

So, I've heard it's happening again. Just in time for Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, and Ramadan, the Buildings Department has suddenly decided that families living in converted lofts in north Brooklyn should be out on the street with no warning. It's better for everyone, right? Interesting timing right after many of those same artists were out in force protesting power plants planned for their neighborhoods. I hope those two things are entirely unrelated.

Whatever motivated the recent raids, whoever ordered them, whoever carried them out, the result is the same. Families out on the (very cold) street. That is a crime.

There has always been tension over affordable housing in New York, but I don't see the Soho Loft Laws being extended to Williamsburg anytime soon. So what can we do? We can ignore it, and hope it doesn't happen to us. But I don't sleep easy at night seeing so many friends and neighbors evicted, outpriced, or harassed into leaving. It means all of us who don't own our own buildings have to live in fear, and I for one don't want to live in a community built on fear.

We could all leave, either dispersing or moving on to the Next Big Thing. Coney Island? Montreal? Timbuktu? Somewhere struggling artists can still afford to buy a home. A lot of people I know have moved on — Upstate, out of state, or even to Manhattan. Just about anything's cheaper and more stable than Williamsburg these days. But somehow that isn't a satisfying answer. We've built an interesting, vital, creative community here. Isn't that worth preserving?

Maybe there's another way. If we can somehow tap into local government, maybe we can get to work on rezoning north Brooklyn in a way that makes sense. Industry has a place here, but so do residents. And it's time to start enforcing the housing laws on the other side. If our tax dollars are going to fund what looks like a vendetta against artists and other loft-dwellers, how about cracking down on unscrupulous landlords, profiteers, and cutthroat realtors? People don't choose to live in illegal spaces because it's glamorous. They end up in illegal spaces because there's nothing else affordable in their neighborhood. When the only spaces under $3,000 a month are technically illegal (although they've been lived in for years), what would you do?

Some of the more enlightened political representatives seem to understand this. It's time to convince the rest of them, or vote them out of office. And it's time to talk amongst ourselves to find solutions. United we stand, divided we fall. Just because you weren't evicted this time, doesn't mean you're safe. So let's make some room at the inn for our newly homeless neighbors, and make a plan for a more secure future. Any ideas?

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editor@wburg.com

t h e q u a r t e r l y w i l l i a m s b u r g a r t s r e v i e w
w b u r g = ( a r t s + c o n t e x t + l i s t i n g s )
( w i l l i a m s b u r g . b r o o k l y n )


	From the editor Defending against the grinch patrol
	So, I've heard it's happening again. Just in time for Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, and Ramadan, the Buildings Department has suddenly decided that families living in converted lofts in north Brooklyn should be out on the street with no warning. It's better for everyone, right? Interesting timing right after many of those same artists were out in force protesting power plants planned for their neighborhoods. I hope those two things are entirely unrelated. Whatever motivated the recent raids, whoever ordered them, whoever carried them out, the result is the same. Families out on the (very cold) street. That is a crime. There has always been tension over affordable housing in New York, but I don't see the Soho Loft Laws being extended to Williamsburg anytime soon. So what can we do? We can ignore it, and hope it doesn't happen to us. But I don't sleep easy at night seeing so many friends and neighbors evicted, outpriced, or harassed into leaving. It means all of us who don't own our own buildings have to live in fear, and I for one don't want to live in a community built on fear. We could all leave, either dispersing or moving on to the Next Big Thing. Coney Island? Montreal? Timbuktu? Somewhere struggling artists can still afford to buy a home. A lot of people I know have moved on — Upstate, out of state, or even to Manhattan. Just about anything's cheaper and more stable than Williamsburg these days. But somehow that isn't a satisfying answer. We've built an interesting, vital, creative community here. Isn't that worth preserving? Maybe there's another way. If we can somehow tap into local government, maybe we can get to work on rezoning north Brooklyn in a way that makes sense. Industry has a place here, but so do residents. And it's time to start enforcing the housing laws on the other side. If our tax dollars are going to fund what looks like a vendetta against artists and other loft-dwellers, how about cracking down on unscrupulous landlords, profiteers, and cutthroat realtors? People don't choose to live in illegal spaces because it's glamorous. They end up in illegal spaces because there's nothing else affordable in their neighborhood. When the only spaces under $3,000 a month are technically illegal (although they've been lived in for years), what would you do? Some of the more enlightened political representatives seem to understand this. It's time to convince the rest of them, or vote them out of office. And it's time to talk amongst ourselves to find solutions. United we stand, divided we fall. Just because you weren't evicted this time, doesn't mean you're safe. So let's make some room at the inn for our newly homeless neighbors, and make a plan for a more secure future. Any ideas?	Talk Back send a letter to the editor@wburg.com
	t h e q u a r t e r l y w i l l i a m s b u r g a r t s r e v i e w w b u r g = ( a r t s + c o n t e x t + l i s t i n g s ) ( w i l l i a m s b u r g . b r o o k l y n )