Downtown Brooklyn is unrecognizable from when I first arrived in NY. Or rather, halfway unrecognizable. Many of the big old buildings still stand, and many still house low-price clothing stores, cell phone companies, bargain stores, and fast food chains. The grand buildings and architectural elements hint at a booming past, but the condition of the buildings tells of years of decline. Even the larger businesses that are still there, such as Macy's, are run down. But interspersed throughout the area are giant new developments, shiny new stores and tall skyscrapers that seem to spring up out of nowhere. The result is schizophrenic, old and new, high and low rent, right on top of each other.
At the intersection of Flatbush Ave. and Livingston St. stands this building. The ground floor houses High Image, a bargain clothing company, and Downtown Uniforms, a mom-and-pop business that sells scrubs for nurses. More low-rent and budget businesses line the street to the right of it; the giant retail store to its left is as yet unoccupied.
Looming behind it is 33 Bond Street, a 714-unit apartment building built by developer TF Cornerstone. Marketing for the building promises "a new breed of city living in Brooklyn" that is "in tune with a new generation of millennial professionals and entrepreneurs." This new breed of city living features amenities such as a private elevated park, a farm-to-table coffee shop, on-site co-working space, a screening room. This new breed of city living only costs $2,225/month for a studio, up to $5,170/month for a two-bedroom!
I'm really not one to romanticize run-down neighborhoods. I never had any love for this section of town. But I wonder what sort of neighborhood will exist once the entire area is occupied by towers like 33 Bond St. I suspect it will not be a neighborhood at all, but just acres of skyscrapers, occupied by people who can afford $2,000+ a month to rent a single room, but who never walk the streets below them.
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