Opinion Editorial – Aldo Prela’s ENGL 21001 Portfolio

Abstract

In my first essay for the year I had to make an opinion editorial about an issue in the world that interested me. Right away I felt like the topic of gentrification would be the easiest, but also the most enjoyable topic to write about since it is something I was already interested in. In this essay, the task was to pick a topic, write an opinion on it, find a publisher that would accept this article, and then reflect on what I wrote about. I feel like the essay itself was perfect but the reflection I presented was lacking. This was the only essay all year that I felt need to be revised so that is what I did, and in the end, I was happy with the end result.

First Draft

Gentrification is Pushing Low-Income Families onto the Streets

Gentrification is a concept that has been plaguing New York City for over fifty years now. In 1964 the term was first popularized by Ruth Glass when she said “One by one, many of the working-class quarters have been invaded by the middle class – upper and lower … Once this process of ‘gentrification’ starts in a district it goes on rapidly until all or most of the working class occupiers are displaced and the whole social character of the district is changed.” She was warning us early on about the effects gentrification will have on our society, but change has yet to come.

One of these areas that are currently under siege by the big corporations is Inwood, located in the northern tip of Manhattan. It is known for its vast parks and close proximity to rivers like the Hudson–until the near future when it is torn down and gentrified to create more skyscrapers and allow for the rich to get richer and low income families to become no income families as they are thrown out of their homes. As stated by the New York Times “After three years of planning, meetings, and protests, the City Council overwhelmingly approved a plan on Wednesday to rezone a large swath of Inwood, often referred to as the last affordable neighborhood in Manhattan.” The city has sold out the people of Inwood to allow the big corporations to build up unaffordable housing so only the rich can live in manhattan.

After the rezoning plan was announced in 2013, years before it was enacted, real estate investors swooped into Inwood and bought more than $610 million in properties, according to an analysis by The New York Times. The investors were quick to buy up all available property so they could start the building as soon as possible. This development has brought a lot of concern amongst the current residents of Inwood, and they are concerned that they will have their rent increased up to the level of the rest of Manhattan and will have to move out soon. Manhattan is a beautiful place but is known for being very pricey as it is. Now the last untouched area is being gentrified, too, and something must be done to ensure that Inwood families are protected.

Gentrification has only caused pain and turmoil amongst the common man who just wants to live in an affordable area without being at risk for being kicked out for renovations or needing to hear daily construction from all the new skyscrapers and large buildings being made. One statistic from the Urban Displacement project states that “about one in five neighborhoods in the 31-county New York metropolitan area is experiencing gentrification or displacement”. Another statistic from a Berkley news release back in April 2019 states that “More than 12% of the region’s neighborhoods are either gentrifying or in “an advanced state of gentrification”. This all just shows that gentrification is affecting a large part of our society, our neighbors, and even our friends. They are all under attack from big corporations and real estate investors, and if it hasn’t happened in your borough or town yet, it will, and it will happen very soon.

Aside from gentrification forcing people out of homes, it has also shown to have some negative effects on the gentrified people’s health. As stated by the CDC, “Studies indicate that vulnerable populations typically have shorter life expectancy; higher cancer rates; more birth defects; greater infant mortality; and higher incidence of asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease”. This is mainly because these peoples are forced into the ghettos and projects so they can actually afford the rent and groceries to get by. These areas are commonly known for having a lower quality of life with trash being found on the floor of the constant plague of cockroaches being found all over people’s homes. It’s no surprise to anyone that gentrification has a clear correlation to the lower quality of one’s health since where you live affects everything.

For something that requires a lot of construction, gentrification fosters the destruction of people’s lives citywide. Our leaders do not care about those in need. They care about shiny glass skyscrapers and tearing away affordable homes for luxury high rises. They do not try to help those who have been born and raised in these areas but see them as nuisances that they can displace to somewhere more easily ignored.

Reflection

I decided to pitch to CNN mainly because this was one of the only publications that I actually read articles from. They tend to have two different styles for their articles. One type is mainly informational just to spread the news about a topic and the other gives off the sense like you are having an intellectual conversation. They include both opinion and hard facts and statistics, but it seems more mellow and not so uptight. The main audience I want to get to is the higher-ups and officials since they are the ones who can actually implement laws to slow down or stop the effects of gentrification. Honestly, the main thing that needs to change is the whole rent problem. Once someone moves out of an apartment the landlord is able to increase the rent tenfold if they wanted to. They have implemented some laws to slow this down but most people don’t actually follow these rules. With officials reading this they may be more inclined to regulate this. Other than the officials and higher-ups I also want this article to get to those people who are either going through gentrification at the moment or those who are scared it may happen to them next. People living in Brooklyn may want to hear this so they can know what can happen to them if their own neighborhood starts to get gentrified and at least be ready for the worst.

The rhetorical situation in this article is that gentrification is a problem and it needs to be stopped or at least regulated so the effects won’t be so bad. It does a lot more harm than good where the lower-income people who are being targeted in these actions are the ones losing homes and having to move into horrible areas. I give my opinion from the start and I give facts and statistics that show why gentrification is bad so the reader can know what my point of view is.

I attempt to give a more firm tone so you know that I am serious about my point of view when it comes to the topic of gentrification. I want the reader to know that I oppose gentrification. I also try to make my article seem like a conversation just CNN because when you write an article like that you are able to reach a much larger audience because it is a lot more appealing to read.

Final Submission

Gentrification is Pushing Low-Income Families onto the Streets

One of these areas that are currently under siege by the big corporations is Inwood, located in the northern tip of Manhattan. It is known for its vast parks and close proximity to rivers like the Hudson–until the near future when it is torn down and gentrified to create more skyscrapers and allow for the rich to get richer and low-income families to become no income families as they are thrown out of their homes. As stated by the New York Times “After three years of planning, meetings, and protests, the City Council overwhelmingly approved a plan on Wednesday to rezone a large swath of Inwood, often referred to as the last affordable neighborhood in Manhattan.” The city has sold out the people of Inwood to allow the big corporations to build up unaffordable housing so only the rich can live in manhattan.

Reflection

The specific audience I go for in this article is people from New York City who want to learn more about gentrification. I did not write the article as if it were a scholarly piece so that it would be more accessible to a wider audience. I start off the article by giving an introduction to where the word gentrification came from and what it actually does so that right away before I get into specifics, the reader can understand what I want them to learn. And to go after New Yorkers specifically, I mention a well-known place in manhattan, that being Inwood. If the reader knows or has heard about inwood they would continue reading on learning more about gentrification and the harms it.

After reading this article, I want my readers to want to move towards change. I inform them of the wrongs of gentrification so that they can understand why it’s bad and want to stop it. To add to this, I also attempt to give a more urgent tone so you know that I am serious about my point of view when it comes to the topic of gentrification and that it is something that needs to change sooner rather than later. One example is when I say, “Gentrification has only caused pain and turmoil amongst the common man who just wants to live in an affordable area without being at risk for being kicked out for renovations or needing to hear daily construction from all the new skyscrapers and large buildings being made”. When I say this, the reader understands that gentrification is harmful and needs to be stopped as soon as possible. This will hopefully make them want to change what is going on whether that be voting for people who say they will stop gentrification or starting a protest against gentrification. No matter what the reader should have the feeling of urgency when it comes to this topic.

I just wanted the reader to understand that I oppose gentrification and that after reading what I wrote, they would to and they would do what they want to stop it. CNN has a large audience so even if the reader is not from NYC like I intended the reader to be, they would still understand gentrification as a whole a would at least be informed on the topic.