Thanks
to The Wall Street Journal, Canarsie’s looking “better
than ever.” While The Wall Street Journal isn’t our
competition, their reporters have collected some interesting data
about Canarsie that most people here will laugh at. A recent article
in the distinguished publication noted that Canarsie is attracting
more middle class people – that our proximity to Jamaica Bay’s
beautiful waters, and our cozy homes – some looking like they
belong in Long Island and not Brooklyn – is
getting more positive attention now than ever.
Entitled “Diverse
Housing, Parks and Challenges in Canarsie, Brooklyn,”the
article in The Wall Street Journal would make outsiders think this is
a gold mine! Canarsie is one of Brooklyn’s best-kept
secrets!
I
agree that parts of Canarsie are very suburban and
country-like. If you go towards Seaview Village and near the
southeast end of our community, you’ll see gorgeous one and
two-family homes with plenty of manicured lawns and scenic
properties. This part of Canarsie is quiet and if you pass a lot of
the blocks, you’ll see their pride – with American Flags waving
on poles by every other house – and classy masonry around their
entranceways. Most keep their trash strategically and neatly placed
near their property and shrubbery fits nicely with the decorum of the
home’s exterior.
These
homeowners give Canarsie a great reputation… because if
you travel westward, and cross over Rockaway Parkway, you’ll
see a whole different type of community that’ll make negative
headlines every other week. Why is this? You cross one simple
street…one long avenue and the whole community changes? How can you
go from East 102nd Street and Avenue N to East 92nd
Street and Avenue J and see a completely different neighborhood?
In
Seaview Village, you’ll see homeowners working on house projects
near their garages and watering their lawns. On the west side, you
can see homeowners carelessly leave piles of trash along their
driveways. I’ve passed a few homes where car accidents took place
in the front of the property and the chain link fences have been down
for months, if not years. People have dirty old mattresses on their
terraces… shady characters are hanging out on corners or idling in
front of corner stores and some building facades look like they’re
made for a creepy movie scene.
I
can’t publicize the specific houses and locations that
give Canarsie a bad name – but even at the corner where
theCanarsie Courier’s office is located, East 92nd
Street and Conklin Avenue, is the scene of shady activity. If you
swing by a few times on any given day, some dude will be hanging out
on the corner walking back and forth – doing what?
Then
you have residents or business owners who leave the music blasting
from their cars and being a nuisance to their neighbors.
We
appreciate The Wall Street Journal complimenting us and
praising the fact that we’re a “waterfront” community right
by Jamaica Bay – which didn’t work out in our favor
when Hurricane Sandy tore some of our homes apart. We appreciate the
positive sentiments about our community and we’re sure that on
those quaint, Long Island-like blocks everything looks
like…well, like it does on one of those suburban Long Island
neighborhoods.
Let’s
get real! If you’ve lived here for over 30- plus years, you know
that Canarsie isn’t as “community” as it used to be –
neighbors aren’t as “neighborly” anymore. While some of those
homes are beautiful, those looking to move into our community will
find that there are no restaurants on our shopping strips –
overloaded with overflowing garbage pails – and that the number of
people involved in civics is dwindling. People don’t care about
their community the way they used to – no matter how amazing our
community looks – aesthetically speaking.
Sure, Canarsie looks
better than it did decades ago, with improved greenstreets, cleaner
parks and other structural renovations that elected officials have to
fight for. And I’m sure the Wall Street Journal – and other
noteworthy publications – have tried to identify us as the “diamond
in the rough” kind of neighborhood.
Before
anyone goes any further – and before any more articles are written
about our image, look at the residents who are “diamonds” and
look at the residents who are down right “rough.” There’s no
mention of the different caliber of people who keep to themselves who
occupy our suburban streets and don’t care about the welfare of
their community. People make a community, not just buildings or
infrastructure.
Size
up your own community involvement, your neighbors and those who hang
out on the streets and ask yourself what’s missing from our
“suburban heaven.” Our reputation still has a ways to go behind
the scenes – and that’s the real challenge!
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