The Life and Death of Urban Ethnic Enclaves: Gentrification and Ethnic Fragmentation in Brooklyn's 'Polish Town'
Journal: CUNY Academic Works (City University of New York)
Year: 2017

This dissertation examines the intersection of immigration and market-led gentrification in a fragmenting ethnic neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn– once home to a vibrant Polish community, now at risk of losing its social character as a traditional ethnic enclave. Extending Albert O. Hirschman’s theory of action to the Polish community in Greenpoint, I examine the conditions under which immigrants “participate”, “adapt” or “exit” as a response to neighborhood change. Based on participant obse