Unsettled

To answer your question Time Out NY, um.. yeah. Where have you been?

The top three 'hoods with the most "New York Soul" as voted by Time Out are:

1) Alphabet City
2) Chinatown
3) Washington Heights

To view the rest of the list, click here.

Every time I read one of these New York/Time Out neighborhood assessment things, I am unsettled.

Chinatown was the hang out in high school, but nowadays, it seems like every time I return, I see another condo building going up, right smack between the bushels of bok choy and the hanging durian. Can't say I feel too good about that since these things are selling for millions of dollars and more than likely, the people snapping up these condos are not the 49% of residents here who earn less than $20,000 a year. And while I acknowledge that the times are changing, gentrification will happen and you can't ignore it but are the real estate turners, the profit makers, thinking of the residents? I'm not talking about the yuppies that hang on the edges of Chinatown like vultures waiting to see if the rumors of cheap flats are true. I'm talking about the mothers, the fathers, the grandparents, the immigrants-- That's what I wonder. It's novel to think that we are one group of people. That we are all "New Yorkers". What does that even mean? Our realities are different. Maybe you wouldn't think twice about a tiny increment in the price of vegetables. What cost a $1.00 now costs $1.25. No biggie, right? But I guarantee you, there is a very real difference between the yuppie that's steaming her edamame tonight and the seamstress who wants to fill the bellies of her children with the most nutritious and economical food. Neighbors. New Yorkers. Is there any middle ground?