Bushwick Residents Mount Lit Signs To Protest Against Gentrification
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Residents of Bushwick, Brooklyn have set up a holiday display of outrage, angered by rising costs in the neighborhood they call home.
As CBS2's Valerie Castro reported, Christmas lights were still shining in Bushwick four days after Christmas. Among them were lights with a message.
"The signs say, 'Three-generation household, not for sale,'" said community activist Patricia Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is one of several residents trying to shine a light on what they say is a social injustice -- the gentrification of their neighborhood.
"Developers are making all the money in the world," said community activist Bruno Daniel.
Daniel is also part of the project. He and others are trying to push back against developers buying up properties, building more expensive housing, and as a result, forcing lower-income residents out.
"Higher rents mean the working class people can't be here," Daniel said.
"We have signs like, 'Gentrification is the new colonialism,' which speaks for itself," added Rodriguez.
Rodriguez and her family have lived in Brooklyn for 25 years. She said she got the idea for the signs after her family began to receive countless phone calls and fliers from developers, offering to buy their Bushwick home.
"It is borderline harassment when you're calling people at work," Rodriguez said.
Bushwick corner store owner Miguel Pedraza is onboard with the project, and has his own sign. It reads, "No me mudo," which translates to, "I won't move."
Pedraza said his customers are all worried about the same thing.
"Rent, rent – you know, it's bad enough that everything keeps going up around you – as far as, milk, gas, cost of living, but paychecks stay the same," he said.
Rodriguez said residents need to stay strong and must not give in to big development.
"Where are we going to go?" she said. "They're pushing us out of all of New York City."
Twenty-one signs have been created, and organizers said residents want to make even more of them.