Snaps: Looking For Spring In The Bronx
The Bronx is beautiful, no matter what people still assume. It has an exciting DIY punk/hardcore/lo-fi music scene and literary treasures. There is a project I’m working on that involves areas of the Bronx, so I was out there yesterday exploring with my co-conspirator.
Whoever made this = hi.lari.ous –>
My favorite little boogie down stinker…
The Bronx, like all burroughs, is rapidly becoming gentrified. This was news to some when it was brought up a few years ago in this NYTimes article on SoBro. The area around the Bruckner Gallery has increasingly “developed” through spacious artist lofts and eclectic venues. Students, young professionals and other bohemians of all stripes are rediscovering the Bronx (pros and cons to that), recognizing that it’s still relatively affordable and a fresh alternative to over hyped Williamsburg and now even Bushwick (my hood, which I still love anyway).
As I recently stated in a comment on the BushwickBK.com blog about incoming students, my hope is that newbie Bronx residents recognize what they are individually contributing or taking away from the existing community. Social responsibility is key in preventing the obliteration of culture. Specifically, the following:
– Buying a building in the Bronx and then jacking up rents/kicking people out is fucked up.
– Being exclusive/not sharing your artist/”community” events with the existing community creates unnecessary and insulting cultural silos. Don’t assume what people like or don’t like. Put your event fliers in venues regardless of what language you think people inside prefer to speak in.
