New York building collapse exposes gentrification anger in Black community

Detailed summary

Winston Bowen quietly watched as New York firefighters looked for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed building in Brooklyn, after a deadly tragedy that he blamed on "careless"…

Winston Bowen quietly watched as New York firefighters looked for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed building in Brooklyn, after a deadly tragedy that he blamed on "careless" developers leading rapid gentrification.

The 54-year-old's assessment was echoed by others who gathered Thursday opposite the grim scene in Flatbush, a mostly Black neighborhood, where a three-story building plunged into a neighboring excavation site.

Investigations have only just begun, but Bowen said he believed the property owners may have cut corners in their plans to construct a nine-story building for apartments and a grocery store.

"It's just all about making money. They didn't care about the danger," Bowen, a local businessman, told AFP as he looked onto the heap of bricks and wooden beams.

And even when buildings are completed, he added, "the rent is sky high, and you know the poorer class can't afford it."

Gentrification is a touchy topic in New York, which has a ravenous desire for housing while balancing the needs of both extraordinarily wealthy and working people.

Kevin, a 55-year-old electrician, said he felt that Black people were being unfairly pushed out by new housing projects with unaffordable rents.

"Developers want Black people out of this neighborhood, and we're not going like that. And now they're killing us," said Kevin, who declined to share his last name for privacy reasons.

While most people near the scene were solemn, with hands in pockets or filming on their phones, Rachel Cyprian shouted about what she called "overbuilding" in the neighborhood.

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