> We’ve already got Wall Street – must we be flooded with rich techies on top of that?
Speaking as a long-time NYC resident, I'm glad that the income taxes that these "rich techies" pay will help NYC provide services for the less fortunate. Our infrastructure - roads, bridges, subways, public housing - is crumbling, and an increased tax base can only help. People with money also spend it on local businesses, which provides jobs for other people.
Also, techies aren't really "rich" by NYC standards. Software developers aren't the ones buying up the new $10 million apartments that are going up all over the city, or even the old apartments on Park Avenue. And not everyone who works at Amazon is a techie anyway.
Finally, NYC has a population of 8M and the metro area has a population of 20M. Adding 20K "techies" isn't going to make a big difference in our demographics.
I was born and raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and lived in other neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn for many years. I wound up going overseas for eight years, and when I came back the biggest thing I noticed was sort of a "cultural appropriation" of Brooklyn by people who only moved to Brooklyn, and have lived there long enough to open a business and put "Brooklyn" in the business name or on their product. I passed by some hipster clothing and other accessories shop on Fifth Ave. in NYC in the 30's or 40's with Brooklyn in the title, and it made me wonder what selling power it conveyed. I am of the generation where I worked on losing my Brooklyn accent to better my chances of getting a job in the early 80s. When I was working outside of the U.S., acquaintances thought I should hook up with a worker from Brooklyn for some camaraderie. I met her and asked where she was from in Brooklyn, only to quickly find out she was from LA, CA, and had lived only for 3 or 5 years in Park Slope Brooklyn. I didn't call her on it. Later I walked away from our conversation wondering what would drive somebody to say they were from Brooklyn when one, they no longer lived there, and two, they only lived there a few years. I wonder if the author Hamilton Nolan is born and bred, or a Brooklyn or NYC transplant. Of course, I really don't care, since I don't have any dibs on "Brooklyn". I just find it interesting, and want to understand the phenomenon. And as a note, I never felt like people from Jersey or finance workers invaded my turf.
I was raised in NYC too and also used to get irritated by transplants claiming some MYC identity as their own. But then I realized that what makes NYC special is that people come here from all over. It is the transplants that make the city so dynamic.
Changing neighborhoods and cultures is the price we pay for that.
Brooklyn is now more known for artisanal candles and soaps than working class grit, but I’m okay with that.
The shops with Brooklyn in their name don't irritate me, or transplants. I am glad things look less gritty, although, I don't want to go too Disney or Normal Rockwell here ;)
After all, I am a mutt, and at some point on my father's side, his father was from either the Ukraine or Poland depending on the borders at the time, and settled in the Lower East Side. My grandmother, my mom's mom, was from Ireland. My (4x) great grandfather on my father's side was from Scotland and fought with George Washington in the Revolutionary War.
I was confused and curious at the same time on why someone who was born and grew up in LA, lived in Brooklyn only for two or three years or their 35 year old life, then back to LA before I had this conversation with her, would answer "Where are you from?", with "Brooklyn". She had been in SE Asia for a couple of years by then too. She also seemed like she got caught in a lie when this came up with me. Chameleon?
Maybe Chameleon, or maybe she just identified with Brooklyn more than the other places she lived. She may not be an authentic Brooklyn-ite, but it’s a testament to the dynamism of NYC that she identifies with it most.
I’m glad to see someone else expressing annoyance at the special class citizen status awarded to companies and pointing out this whole city selection process as bullshit.
They were just trying to get the cities they already picked to make concessions.
> [Referring to Amazon] "Its owner should have his immoral hoard of wealth forcibly expropriated by the state before his power grows so great that all of society is warped by it. Jeff Bezos’s money should immediately be put to use helping the public; (...)"
As someone that once lived under a system, which used to do that in eastern Europe, it is absolutely bizarre to see this being written by an American journalist. I guess you don't know how good you have it until you lose it.
This opinion piece is really bizarre, how this kind of mentality turns from abhorrent to great when your target is supposed "rich techies"? The writer must understand the economic advantages of having productive and well-paid professionals moving in your neighborhood, the problems that arise from a sudden influx of people are merely infrastructure problems that will be fixed over time, with the tax revenue they bring with them, it's called a happy problem. You can't plan for it in advance because it's not economically feasible to add Metro lines just in case someone decides to build a campus somewhere in the city. If this line of thinking is fine, then you really can't argue with anti-immigration rhetoric since theirs is largely the same, irrational fear and hatred for change in a world that is constantly moving but would rather forego any long-term benefits because it inconveniences you in the now and shakes your precious culture you value over anything else.
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[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 29.2 ms ] threadSpeaking as a long-time NYC resident, I'm glad that the income taxes that these "rich techies" pay will help NYC provide services for the less fortunate. Our infrastructure - roads, bridges, subways, public housing - is crumbling, and an increased tax base can only help. People with money also spend it on local businesses, which provides jobs for other people.
Also, techies aren't really "rich" by NYC standards. Software developers aren't the ones buying up the new $10 million apartments that are going up all over the city, or even the old apartments on Park Avenue. And not everyone who works at Amazon is a techie anyway.
Finally, NYC has a population of 8M and the metro area has a population of 20M. Adding 20K "techies" isn't going to make a big difference in our demographics.
Changing neighborhoods and cultures is the price we pay for that.
Brooklyn is now more known for artisanal candles and soaps than working class grit, but I’m okay with that.
After all, I am a mutt, and at some point on my father's side, his father was from either the Ukraine or Poland depending on the borders at the time, and settled in the Lower East Side. My grandmother, my mom's mom, was from Ireland. My (4x) great grandfather on my father's side was from Scotland and fought with George Washington in the Revolutionary War.
I was confused and curious at the same time on why someone who was born and grew up in LA, lived in Brooklyn only for two or three years or their 35 year old life, then back to LA before I had this conversation with her, would answer "Where are you from?", with "Brooklyn". She had been in SE Asia for a couple of years by then too. She also seemed like she got caught in a lie when this came up with me. Chameleon?
They were just trying to get the cities they already picked to make concessions.
As someone that once lived under a system, which used to do that in eastern Europe, it is absolutely bizarre to see this being written by an American journalist. I guess you don't know how good you have it until you lose it.