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I'm a Londoner living in Paris. On a recent visit to NYC I was surprised at how gentrified it all was - I stayed in Harlem, which was lovely - all cafes and nice grocery shops - and spent a lot of time in the Lower East Side - very hipster, but reminded me of Shoreditch in east London: totally gentrified out of all recognition! The bits of Brooklyn I visited were the same - though I didn't explore there as much as Manhattan.
Is there anywhere with a bit of the rough shock you expect from NYC left in Manhattan? Or do you have to go to the Bronx or New Jersey for that?
Just interested - London's the same. There's nowhere ungentrified left in zone 1 except perhaps Elephant & Castle. You have to go pretty far out now to find any sketchyness.
I'm a Londoner living in Paris. On a recent visit to NYC I was surprised at how gentrified it all was - I stayed in Harlem, which was lovely - all cafes and nice grocery shops - and spent a lot of time in the Lower East Side - very hipster, but reminded me of Shoreditch in east London: totally gentrified out of all recognition! The bits of Brooklyn I visited were the same - though I didn't explore there as much as Manhattan.
Is there anywhere with a bit of the rough shock you expect from NYC left in Manhattan? Or do you have to go to the Bronx or New Jersey for that?
Just interested - London's the same. There's nowhere ungentrified left in zone 1 except perhaps Elephant & Castle. You have to go pretty far out now to find any sketchyness.
I'm a Londoner living in Paris. On a recent visit to NYC I was surprised at how gentrified it all was - I stayed in Harlem, which was lovely - all cafes and nice grocery shops - and spent a lot of time in the Lower East Side - very hipster, but reminded me of Shoreditch in east London: totally gentrified out of all recognition!The bits of Brooklyn I visited were the same - though I didn't explore there as much as Manhattan.
Is there anywhere with a bit of the rough shock you expect from NYC left in Manhattan? Or do you have to go to the Bronx or New Jersey for that?
Just interested - London's the same. There's nowhere ungentrified left in zone 1 except perhaps Elephant & Castle. You have to go pretty far out now to find any sketchyness.
You say you stood in Harlem, LES, and visited parts of Brooklyn and all you saw was gentrification beyond belief... Well then I can tell you that the person guiding you had an agenda or you simply chose to not see the other side of NYC... Central Harlem for the most part is still very sketchy and there are pockets (very small pockets) that still remind you of that gritty 90s vibe... Other parts are still shady and havent seen much gentrification but have cleaned up a great deal in recent years and therefore don't look as dirty but still have their problems...
Also, in terms of LES, I doubt you stepped foot anywhere past avenue B because once you hit Loisaida and get into Avenues C and D it's a whole different ball game than the other two avenues... And just for the record, majority of Spanish Harlem, Washington Heights, and parts of Inwood are still as they were 10 years ago but whoever was guiding you probably made sure not to take you there...
And don't get me started on Brooklyn... Really the only really gentrified parts you'll see in Brooklyn are Park Slope, Williamsburg, parts of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, Stuyvesant Heights, and East Williamsburg/Bushwick's East Williamsburg (right on the border from jefferson to Morgan) other than that, the other 90% of Brooklyn is exactly as it looked years ago, simply safer now that the crack era is gone... But please, if you're coming here just to see the gritiness this city has to offer... we rather you stay over there... I'm tired of reading stories like these...
Well, if you swing into my neighborhood (Chelsea) I will throw a few crack needles on the ground and mug you for your money if that makes you feel like you've had a more authentic experience.
You say you stood in Harlem, LES, and visited parts of Brooklyn and all you saw was gentrification beyond belief... Well then I can tell you that the person guiding you had an agenda or you simply chose to not see the other side of NYC... Central Harlem for the most part is still very sketchy and there are pockets (very small pockets) that still remind you of that gritty 90s vibe... Other parts are still shady and havent seen much gentrification but have cleaned up a great deal in recent years and therefore don't look as dirty but still have their problems...
Also, in terms of LES, I doubt you stepped foot anywhere past avenue B because once you hit Loisaida and get into Avenues C and D it's a whole different ball game than the other two avenues... And just for the record, majority of Spanish Harlem, Washington Heights, and parts of Inwood are still as they were 10 years ago but whoever was guiding you probably made sure not to take you there...
And don't get me started on Brooklyn... Really the only really gentrified parts you'll see in Brooklyn are Park Slope, Williamsburg, parts of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, Stuyvesant Heights, and East Williamsburg/Bushwick's East Williamsburg (right on the border from jefferson to Morgan) other than that, the other 90% of Brooklyn is exactly as it looked years ago, simply safer now that the crack era is gone... But please, if you're coming here just to see the gritiness this city has to offer... we rather you stay over there... I'm tired of reading stories like these...
Very tetchy, anon1! You're living up to that New Yorker stereotype .
I wasn't trying to say Manhattan is lame because it doesn't have obvious sketchyness, I was just surprised when I visited, that's all. Of course I wasn't in New York to find grittyness. We have enough of that over here beleive me - and I think that reputation is very 1970s. If anything I'm trying to complement your city on how clean and pleasant to be in it is
For the record, I wasn't being guided by anyone. I was staying with a friend who lives near 125th St/7th Av but they were at work during the day so I just wandered around randomly by myself.
I was also not saying Harlem was "gentrification beyond beleif". It seemed a cool place, a good mix of people, not too hipsterised. Just a lot nicer and well looked after than comparable areas in European cities.
And to be fair I never ventured to Inwood nor beyond Avenues C or D in the LES. Nor much of Brooklyn except those trendy places you mentioned so I take your word for it!
Move into a housing pj in harlem or les. If not move to washington heights east of.broadway which lacks some sort of gentrification.
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