# Gentrification of New York City

The gentrification of New York City is the influx of more affluent residents and investments into low-middle class and/or under-developed neighborhoods of NYC, resulting in rising rents and low-income residents moving out.
As a result of gentrification, some middle- and low-income residents of New York City, the largest city in the United States, have been alienated and forced to adjust to a complicated and changing urban environment, either directly or indirectly.

## History

The history of New York City provides context for understanding gentrification in New York City. From the settlement of Manhattan Island, a Lenape settlement brought to Peter Minuit in 1624 during the Dutch colonization of the Americas in what would later become New Amsterdam, to the British taking New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664 and renaming it New York City, the history of New York City informs how it has experienced gentrification.
In one of the first instances of the term “gentrification” being applied to a United States city, a 1979 article in the New York Times states "A renaissance in New York City? The rich moving in and the poor moving out? ... Hard as it is to believe, however, New York and other cities in the American Northeast are beginning to enjoy a revival as they undergo a gradual process known by the curious name of 'gentrification' term coined by the displaced English poor and subsequently adopted by urban experts to describe the movements of social classes in and around London."

## Causes and effects
### Causes

Gentrification increases property values and changes the social and physical makeup of neighborhoods that were previously thought to be unappealing to newcomers.
Private real estate investment and zoning regulations guide the creation of housing across the city. New development may be disproportionately concentrated in densely zoned low-income communities of color, while areas covered by lower density zoning are disproportionately white and middle- and upper-income residents who can marshall greater political capital to fight upzoning and new housing development.

#### Political policies

A wave of displacement of people in New York City started in the 1970s and 1980s with a significant increase in middle-income housing in the form of rehabilitated single-family dwellings, mostly in historic districts, driven by affluent, educated young professionals with "an increasing desire for the kinds of cultural and intellectual pursuits that are generally found only in the central cities—performing arts, museums, libraries, seminars, and etc." Normal succession appears to be accountable for changes in gentrifying districts in New York City, at least during the 1990s.

##### Housing regulation

In the wave of new policies in the 1990s the state stopped promoting public housing and allowed private institutions to lead the housing production.

##### Upzoning

Neighborhoods in New York City have been upzoned since the early 2000s in order to enable the creation of more housing. The results of such policies are complex and contentious. Housing economists generally agree that strict zoning, by constraining the extent to which housing supply can respond to increases in demand, has a broadly negative effect on housing affordability. However, the details of how upzonings are executed, including their scope and whether they mandate new buildings to include subsidized units, and the extent to which existing housing is demolished can lead to varied outcomes. Some research points to upzoned neighborhoods that have become whiter and wealthier as space is made for new residents of those characteristics to move in. However, neighborhoods may also experience this effect due to more privileged residents being able to outbid existing residents for a constrained housing supply, resulting in greater displacement driven by a lack of sufficient zoning flexibility. Additionally, construction of new housing can absorb residents who would otherwise live elsewhere, relieving demand pressure across a metro area and slowing gentrification on a broader scale.

### Effects

Gentrification is viewed by some as a source of contention between renters and working people who live in New York City and real estate interests. Additionally, some view a subset of this opposition to be an antagonism between longtime working-class residents of the city and the influx of new residents.
The process of low-income displacement in New York City is often associated with increases in rent; rent rises to the point that tenants can no longer afford to live in their apartments. Residents are forced to leave their homes in search of a more inexpensive location, yet this is a problem that affects many locations. Many persons who have been displaced face a serious dilemma, as displacement can lead to homelessness. The constantly trends with increasing household income, which is compatible with gentrification hypotheses. When income growth is broken down by race, Blacks and Latinos either have no effect on gentrification or slow it down by 2010. These findings back up widespread claims that as gentrification spreads across the city, even middle-class Blacks and Latinos are finding it increasingly difficult to stay in gentrifying areas. For example, Long Island City and Downtown Brooklyn are now whiter, affluent, and more crowded. "The predicted increase in commercial development never happened," according to the report. Instead, a barrage of high-end, high-rise residential building has altered these areas." At the same time, the public schools in the area are overcrowded.
Another large consequence of gentrification in New York City has been the increase of peripheral and metropolitan development of illegal housing, often at risk zones such as seismic areas, flood zones and dangerous slopes. In 2003, Michael Bloomberg had chosen the "right people" from the business, governmental, and nonprofit sectors. He has created clear criteria and measurement tools to enable performance review. Bloomberg and his former private sector colleagues were leveraging their corporate management skills and extensive knowledge of the private sector to build the organizational capacity required to achieve achievements. Agencies were reformed, key missions redefined, and strategic plans

#### Positive impact of gentrification

Gentrifying neighborhoods in New York City witness an increase in commercial activity.

## Existing and proposed solutions
### Sustainability

In 2022, New York City was considered the most polluted city of the United States according to the World Health Organization, mainly due to transport pollutants, affecting gentrification in terms of urban quality of life. Since then, however, the city has invested in a diversity of projects including solar energy, smart constructions, better public transport and spaces and separate collection of waste linked to recycling/incinerating systems.
The implementation of green spaces into urban projects like public parks, roof gardens, protected areas, vegetation in public infrastructure or even private gardens help clean the air, improve human wellbeing, reduce noise, increase the attractiveness of crammed communities and foster interaction across social groups. Compact developments with an emphasized verticality are another approach to creating active spaces with efficient energy use, less driving distances, reduced emergency response time, mixture of homes, services and jobs.

## By borough
### Brooklyn

Brooklyn experiences or has experienced extensive gentrification for over 20+ years. The gentrification of Brooklyn includes, but is not limited to, the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Bushwick, Sunset Park, Park Slope, Crown Heights, Fort Greene, and Flatbush.

### Bronx

The Bronx experiences or has experienced gentrification in many neighborhoods including the Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood.

### Manhattan

Manhattan experiences or has experienced gentrification in many neighborhoods including Chinatown, Harlem, Meatpacking District, Lower East Side, Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, and Times Square.

### Queens

As of 2023, Queens experiences gentrification in the Ridgewood neighborhood. Additionally, experts predict new or continued gentrification in Queens impacting Long Island City, Astoria, Jackson Heights, the Rockaways, and Jamaica.

### Staten Island

On Staten Island there has been focused development in the northeastern corner of Staten Island, including the waterside neighborhoods of Stapleton, St. George, Tompkinsville and Clifton.