16 thoughts on “Follow up on the charla about the cultural corridor: What cultural resources should be supported and developed further?”
Truth
I noticed there was a serious need for the truth in that room sunday. The so called elders of the community need to get a get grip.
Thank you
I’m not familiar enough with the neighborhood to reply to the ‘truth’ comment, but hopefully the talk will spark more interesting discussions in the future. I look forward to reading your comments. Please use this space to talk to us and each other.
What’s Your Agenda?
Is UMEZ a money laundering operation for the government and big business? Is Columbia University a real estate developer, with Urban Studies students as scouts?
The recurring critique regarding UMEZ’s lack of technical assistance to existing residents, small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profit start-ups from WITHIN the neighborhood needs to be a more prominent issue.
The more I learn about UMEZ, the thinner the line seems to get between them and a regular bank. I have no problem with that – just don’t label yourself as this benevolent institution looking to help out the little guy. I don’t care how many shopping-bag-stuffing, ticket-selling and floor-mopping jobs you bring into a neighborhood, if you’re big business, with big money, you have no business getting special, low-interest loans from the government.
Columbia University’s little empire agenda going on in Morningside, Harlem and Washington Heights needs to be put on the table as well. I’ve been keeping a very close watch of their public relations tactics with the community and landlords, and I think we would all be interested in that study as well. Columbia’s ‘gentler’ and ‘kinder’ way of taking over property and exploiting the neighborhood and it’s people in order to expand it’s campus mirrors the US government’s foreign policy.
Bringing in ‘better’ prepared outsiders, while ignoring or taking under ‘advisement’ the will and need of the existing residents, seems to always be the path of least resistance for these institutions — a factor of the gentrification issue that is rampant in this city today.
More thoughts from meeting
Here are more ideas that were discussed during the forum. Please comment.
1. History and Legacy issues:
To want to represent a history and a legacy of the Puerto Rican people
should not be seen as oppositional to other groups. It is a very common
practice in the U.S. to preserve one’s heritage.
2. Ownership:
The artists and smaller non-profits need to own their spaces, not simply
rent in order to guarantee that they will not be displaced by high rents.
3. The residents too need incentives for ownership that will prevent them from
being pushed out.
4. Institutions:
Preserve those that exist and encourage the growth of smaller cultural
institutions and organizations: El Museo del Barrio, Julia de Burgos,
Taller Boricua, MediaNoche, new media gallery, PRdream.com and Manhattan
Neighborhood Network’s new public access television facility and digital
film studio, La Fonda Boricua, and Carlito’s Cafe.
5. Scale and economic development issues:
Preserving and securing the financial health of small shops and enterprises
that serve the community. Ethnic communities are niche markets — this is
overlooked. Historically, Puerto Rican businesses have thrived in serving
their local constituencies and we see the same with Dominicans and Mexicans.
These small businesses add color and a sense of locale to a neighborhood or
city district which is very attractive because of difference and
specificity. Bringing in Star Bucks, MacDonalds, HMV, Walmart, etc. is
destructive of specificity and belonging. Their architectural scale creates
a sense of alienation, and barrenness.
6. Think of all the small European shops and compare. What is most attractive
and delivers a sense of well-being?
7. The Newly Arrived and those already here:
Potential clash of classes, of cultures, etc. This is a very important
distinction which needs to be analyzed and considered sensitively — not
dismissed.
8. Who was missing and who should be invited for a second meeting (possibly):
The landlords or companies that own the properties of the areas being
discussed. Also the Community Planning
Boards — what already has been decided? The community needs to have this
reported.
9. Identify all the players. Are you interested in a follow-up meeting? More shop keepers should be invited. If necessary, perhaps a follow-up
discussion in Spanish. Why would coming to these meetings be of interest
to the business owners. Perhaps a special meeting for them.
RE: Agenda
I think you bring up some valid points, and there should be more discussion on these issues. In answer to your question, my agenda is to learn, and do something worthwhile in the process. That’s it.
RE: agenda
I agree with your comparison of UMEZ to a bank.
But I just want to point out, that we students do not represent the economic development wing of Columbia University. As far as I know Columbia University wants nothing to do with East Harlem — they are interested, as you point out and I think your criticism is just, in Manhattanville and East Harlem. Just because students are conducting a study in East Harlem doesn’t mean we are recommeding Columbia “invade” (as an empire would) the area. The Urban Planning department conducts numerous studies each year. Currently my fellow classmates are studying the Jets Stadium proposal, an exclusive South Jersey Suburb and Midtown, along with our study on East Harlem. Last year they studied Chinatown.
UMEZ is our client, but we have no economic incentive for them to tell us what to do, rather we are going to be taking our recommendations to them. So we have an opportunity to make some statements, and perhaps UMEZ should be held accountable. That’s why community input is so vital, and that is why Vivian, not UMEZ, organized the Charla the other day.
RE: RE: agenda
Sorry, I said columbia is interested in Manhattanville and East Harlem. I meant West Harlem. Sorry for any confusion.
RE: RE: agenda
Thanks for your clarification on Columbia’s involvement. However, I hope the community benefits in some way by having these communications with the Urban Planning students. Its unfair for the local community to bare their souls and share their knowledge of El Barrio just so you can complete a course in your graduate program.
RE: Truth
Could you please elaborate? My sense was that people were quite open about their thoughts for the future of East Harlem. Did I miss something? Thanks.
RE: RE: RE: agenda
Yeah, I hope its productive as well. In fact, if it isn’t productive, nothing worthwhile is accomplished and we just end up completing our class, then, and I think my classmates would agree, the whole thing is a whopping failure. Last Spring’s study of Chinatown, overseen by the same professor, has been hugely successful, and the students are still working and engaging the community and city planning long after the class’s completion. It’s a tough act to follow, but something we can utitlize to guage our own success or failure.
Others too
Yes! Thank you for these words. These students are just naive puppets pursuing their degrees and serving as instruments for CU and UMEZ’s agendas.
Let’s also include the Community Board, and Mr. Givens in this.
RE: RE: RE: agenda
If West Harlem, why not East Harlem? Time will tell.
RE: RE: RE: agenda
Why not? I think it’s beneficial for us to get to see each other and make others aware of the issues. It’s good that it was videotaped. What is going to be done with the video you taped?
RE: Productive?
Is this continual attack on the UMEZ, Columbia, and the students really productive? It’s a tired argument, and sounds like a cop-out to me. Maybe we are naive (I don’t think so, but I’m biased), but we certainly aren’t puppets — because if we are then I ain’t getting my money’s worth.
The fact is were going ahead with our study. We can do it with or without community input and support, and we certainly put community input above anything else, as it appears UMEZ doesn’t know anything about East Harlem.
Everyone has an agenda, from students pursuing a degree, to the community activist. Sometimes when agendas meld they can utilize their respective resources to work towards better, more productive ends.
Now, this can be a forum where real issues are discussed — like Sunday’s extremely helpful charla — or it can be a firing squad. Perhaps it’s firing squad some people want. It will certainly make trashing our study that much easier in the end.
RE: More thoughts from meeting
I agree with a lot of what Ms. Castro has to say. It would be great to be able to own a piece of El Barrio. I’m not an artist, but artists should be able to own their homes and studios, just as working people such as I should be able to afford to own a good, decent home in their neighborhood, not be priced out. I also like the old bodegas of the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. They really should stay along with the Mexican shops. El Barrio is so culturally rich.
I would like to see small shops instead of chain stores. Small cafes instead of Starbucks. I agree with the lady’s comment on Sunday about the large chain stores and how they destroy a community.
Someone also mentioned a health food store and organic restaurant. El Barrio could definitely use those as well.
El Barrio should be a historical landmark district
I’m not from the neighborhood, neither was I in attendance. I consider myself an interested party because of my Puerto Rican heritage.
I would like to see El Barrio placed on the map of New York City and the globe, for that matter, permanently as one of the earliest and the primary place where Puerto Rican culture and life thrived — in spite of all the obstacles.
El Barrio was and is the name given to that part of East Harlem where Puerto Ricans lived and continue to live — however much in smaller numbers today. We named it El Barrio and so when hearing or reading the name, people should immediately make the identification with the diaspora and its rich legacy in the city. What is that legacy? It is in the process of being written. But here are some of the areas in which Puerto Ricans impacted the city.
–Education and Bilingualism: PR’s established the right to speak Spanish (and other languages) without fear of persecution. They established the idea of bilingual education.
–Labor: PR’s were responsible for organizing a great deal of the service workers in the hotels and hospitals
–Culture: PR’s invented Salsa, the form of latin music which is most popular today. They founded one of the first museums, if not the first, devoted to U.S. Latino artists.
–Desegregating the Police Force: PR’s working with Asian and African Americans forced a change in a hiring criteria tha discriminated against them.
–Health: PR’s were responsible for bringing attention to lead-poisoning from lead-based paint and banning its use
–Economics: PR’s here became a major market for Latin music and media. The closing of the movie houses in El Barrio and the clubs reflected economic forces as well as the assimilation of the Puerto Rican community and a change in tastes.
El Barrio has always been a mecca for Puerto Rican and other Latino artists for a variety of reasons:
–the community speaks Spanish
–the stores cater to a Spanish-speaking population, offering foods and condiments from their country or their liking.
–the comfort factor, esta en su casa
–the largest community of Latin musicians and artists of New York City
These are just a few areas in which Puerto Ricans have impacted the city. There is much more.
Truth
I noticed there was a serious need for the truth in that room sunday. The so called elders of the community need to get a get grip.
Thank you
I’m not familiar enough with the neighborhood to reply to the ‘truth’ comment, but hopefully the talk will spark more interesting discussions in the future. I look forward to reading your comments. Please use this space to talk to us and each other.
What’s Your Agenda?
Is UMEZ a money laundering operation for the government and big business? Is Columbia University a real estate developer, with Urban Studies students as scouts?
The recurring critique regarding UMEZ’s lack of technical assistance to existing residents, small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profit start-ups from WITHIN the neighborhood needs to be a more prominent issue.
The more I learn about UMEZ, the thinner the line seems to get between them and a regular bank. I have no problem with that – just don’t label yourself as this benevolent institution looking to help out the little guy. I don’t care how many shopping-bag-stuffing, ticket-selling and floor-mopping jobs you bring into a neighborhood, if you’re big business, with big money, you have no business getting special, low-interest loans from the government.
Columbia University’s little empire agenda going on in Morningside, Harlem and Washington Heights needs to be put on the table as well. I’ve been keeping a very close watch of their public relations tactics with the community and landlords, and I think we would all be interested in that study as well. Columbia’s ‘gentler’ and ‘kinder’ way of taking over property and exploiting the neighborhood and it’s people in order to expand it’s campus mirrors the US government’s foreign policy.
Bringing in ‘better’ prepared outsiders, while ignoring or taking under ‘advisement’ the will and need of the existing residents, seems to always be the path of least resistance for these institutions — a factor of the gentrification issue that is rampant in this city today.
More thoughts from meeting
Here are more ideas that were discussed during the forum. Please comment.
1. History and Legacy issues:
To want to represent a history and a legacy of the Puerto Rican people
should not be seen as oppositional to other groups. It is a very common
practice in the U.S. to preserve one’s heritage.
2. Ownership:
The artists and smaller non-profits need to own their spaces, not simply
rent in order to guarantee that they will not be displaced by high rents.
3. The residents too need incentives for ownership that will prevent them from
being pushed out.
4. Institutions:
Preserve those that exist and encourage the growth of smaller cultural
institutions and organizations: El Museo del Barrio, Julia de Burgos,
Taller Boricua, MediaNoche, new media gallery, PRdream.com and Manhattan
Neighborhood Network’s new public access television facility and digital
film studio, La Fonda Boricua, and Carlito’s Cafe.
5. Scale and economic development issues:
Preserving and securing the financial health of small shops and enterprises
that serve the community. Ethnic communities are niche markets — this is
overlooked. Historically, Puerto Rican businesses have thrived in serving
their local constituencies and we see the same with Dominicans and Mexicans.
These small businesses add color and a sense of locale to a neighborhood or
city district which is very attractive because of difference and
specificity. Bringing in Star Bucks, MacDonalds, HMV, Walmart, etc. is
destructive of specificity and belonging. Their architectural scale creates
a sense of alienation, and barrenness.
6. Think of all the small European shops and compare. What is most attractive
and delivers a sense of well-being?
7. The Newly Arrived and those already here:
Potential clash of classes, of cultures, etc. This is a very important
distinction which needs to be analyzed and considered sensitively — not
dismissed.
8. Who was missing and who should be invited for a second meeting (possibly):
The landlords or companies that own the properties of the areas being
discussed. Also the Community Planning
Boards — what already has been decided? The community needs to have this
reported.
9. Identify all the players. Are you interested in a follow-up meeting? More shop keepers should be invited. If necessary, perhaps a follow-up
discussion in Spanish. Why would coming to these meetings be of interest
to the business owners. Perhaps a special meeting for them.
RE: Agenda
I think you bring up some valid points, and there should be more discussion on these issues. In answer to your question, my agenda is to learn, and do something worthwhile in the process. That’s it.
RE: agenda
I agree with your comparison of UMEZ to a bank.
But I just want to point out, that we students do not represent the economic development wing of Columbia University. As far as I know Columbia University wants nothing to do with East Harlem — they are interested, as you point out and I think your criticism is just, in Manhattanville and East Harlem. Just because students are conducting a study in East Harlem doesn’t mean we are recommeding Columbia “invade” (as an empire would) the area. The Urban Planning department conducts numerous studies each year. Currently my fellow classmates are studying the Jets Stadium proposal, an exclusive South Jersey Suburb and Midtown, along with our study on East Harlem. Last year they studied Chinatown.
UMEZ is our client, but we have no economic incentive for them to tell us what to do, rather we are going to be taking our recommendations to them. So we have an opportunity to make some statements, and perhaps UMEZ should be held accountable. That’s why community input is so vital, and that is why Vivian, not UMEZ, organized the Charla the other day.
RE: RE: agenda
Sorry, I said columbia is interested in Manhattanville and East Harlem. I meant West Harlem. Sorry for any confusion.
RE: RE: agenda
Thanks for your clarification on Columbia’s involvement. However, I hope the community benefits in some way by having these communications with the Urban Planning students. Its unfair for the local community to bare their souls and share their knowledge of El Barrio just so you can complete a course in your graduate program.
RE: Truth
Could you please elaborate? My sense was that people were quite open about their thoughts for the future of East Harlem. Did I miss something? Thanks.
RE: RE: RE: agenda
Yeah, I hope its productive as well. In fact, if it isn’t productive, nothing worthwhile is accomplished and we just end up completing our class, then, and I think my classmates would agree, the whole thing is a whopping failure. Last Spring’s study of Chinatown, overseen by the same professor, has been hugely successful, and the students are still working and engaging the community and city planning long after the class’s completion. It’s a tough act to follow, but something we can utitlize to guage our own success or failure.
Others too
Yes! Thank you for these words. These students are just naive puppets pursuing their degrees and serving as instruments for CU and UMEZ’s agendas.
Let’s also include the Community Board, and Mr. Givens in this.
RE: RE: RE: agenda
If West Harlem, why not East Harlem? Time will tell.
RE: RE: RE: agenda
Why not? I think it’s beneficial for us to get to see each other and make others aware of the issues. It’s good that it was videotaped. What is going to be done with the video you taped?
RE: Productive?
Is this continual attack on the UMEZ, Columbia, and the students really productive? It’s a tired argument, and sounds like a cop-out to me. Maybe we are naive (I don’t think so, but I’m biased), but we certainly aren’t puppets — because if we are then I ain’t getting my money’s worth.
The fact is were going ahead with our study. We can do it with or without community input and support, and we certainly put community input above anything else, as it appears UMEZ doesn’t know anything about East Harlem.
Everyone has an agenda, from students pursuing a degree, to the community activist. Sometimes when agendas meld they can utilize their respective resources to work towards better, more productive ends.
Now, this can be a forum where real issues are discussed — like Sunday’s extremely helpful charla — or it can be a firing squad. Perhaps it’s firing squad some people want. It will certainly make trashing our study that much easier in the end.
RE: More thoughts from meeting
I agree with a lot of what Ms. Castro has to say. It would be great to be able to own a piece of El Barrio. I’m not an artist, but artists should be able to own their homes and studios, just as working people such as I should be able to afford to own a good, decent home in their neighborhood, not be priced out. I also like the old bodegas of the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. They really should stay along with the Mexican shops. El Barrio is so culturally rich.
I would like to see small shops instead of chain stores. Small cafes instead of Starbucks. I agree with the lady’s comment on Sunday about the large chain stores and how they destroy a community.
Someone also mentioned a health food store and organic restaurant. El Barrio could definitely use those as well.
El Barrio should be a historical landmark district
I’m not from the neighborhood, neither was I in attendance. I consider myself an interested party because of my Puerto Rican heritage.
I would like to see El Barrio placed on the map of New York City and the globe, for that matter, permanently as one of the earliest and the primary place where Puerto Rican culture and life thrived — in spite of all the obstacles.
El Barrio was and is the name given to that part of East Harlem where Puerto Ricans lived and continue to live — however much in smaller numbers today. We named it El Barrio and so when hearing or reading the name, people should immediately make the identification with the diaspora and its rich legacy in the city. What is that legacy? It is in the process of being written. But here are some of the areas in which Puerto Ricans impacted the city.
–Education and Bilingualism: PR’s established the right to speak Spanish (and other languages) without fear of persecution. They established the idea of bilingual education.
–Labor: PR’s were responsible for organizing a great deal of the service workers in the hotels and hospitals
–Culture: PR’s invented Salsa, the form of latin music which is most popular today. They founded one of the first museums, if not the first, devoted to U.S. Latino artists.
–Desegregating the Police Force: PR’s working with Asian and African Americans forced a change in a hiring criteria tha discriminated against them.
–Health: PR’s were responsible for bringing attention to lead-poisoning from lead-based paint and banning its use
–Economics: PR’s here became a major market for Latin music and media. The closing of the movie houses in El Barrio and the clubs reflected economic forces as well as the assimilation of the Puerto Rican community and a change in tastes.
El Barrio has always been a mecca for Puerto Rican and other Latino artists for a variety of reasons:
–the community speaks Spanish
–the stores cater to a Spanish-speaking population, offering foods and condiments from their country or their liking.
–the comfort factor, esta en su casa
–the largest community of Latin musicians and artists of New York City
These are just a few areas in which Puerto Ricans have impacted the city. There is much more.