This is a short impression of one day getting to know the beautiful New York neighborhood Redhook. The reason was that during the New York Energy Week the Governors Office announced "a kind of X-prize" to make neighborhoods more resilient and the Dutch delegation is contemplating to participate with a plan for Redhook.
2. I loved Redhook.
It was spacious, never
really crappy, people
where friendly, the
vista’s over the water
often breathtaking.
This is a neighbourhood
where I can imagine
living very happily and it
is oozing with potential.
3. A big problem that is
mentioned by most
residents and visitors is
public transportation to
and from Redhook. The
bike program does not
extend this far south
and there is only one
bus coming here I was
told. I think this
hampers residents,
property values and
tourism.
But every problem is a
treasure because it tells
you what you can
improve. And I see
sustainable
transportation as
something that could be
part of the integral plan
for the neighbourhood.
I brought my city bike
and found that Redhook
is perfect for biking.
4. Some potential:
a lot of prime locations
near the water with
property that is looking
almost forsaken.
8. Social housing like this dominates the center of the Neighbourhood.
We where told that there is almost 70% youth unemployment.
Still there are long waiting lines to be able to rent here.
Life must be pretty hard for many people here.
But it also means that offering these people jobs is a great motivator for them and us.
The prize money is meant to promote resilience and we have to respect that, but we can spend it
in such a way that it creates eductation, jobs and social cohesion in Redhook itself. What is
required is a good integral plan that can create win-win.
And we could dream even bigger. We can use that integral plan to redirect part of the 250 million
to 2 billion dollar that is apparently still hanging in the balance as insurance money and Sandy
rebuilding funds. That way we can make Redhook into a little sustainable “wirtschaftswunder”.
Actually, foreign players like us are perfectly positioned to do that. We have extensive experience
with such plans but even more importantly: we are independent. We do not have the political
affiliations that often create gridlock in the USA. We do not have ties to local employers, unions
and policy makers that limit our options or give us a bias.
We can be like Feynman in the Rogers Commision Report on the Challenger disaster. The
difference being that our job is more fun because we can come up with a solution for a bright
future instead of an explanation of past disaster.
9. Everywhere the walkways
are roofed like this and the
area around the buildings is
closed with gates. Often it
became like this right after
Sandy, almost two years
ago.
Residents tell me it feels
like living in a prison. Some
hypothesise they stay in
place as an easy way to
protect equipment.
10. I guess they where
probably put up because
of ligitation risks or
because someone was
working with potentially
loose material on the roof
at one time or another.
But it seems pretty
careless to keep them in
place for so long and its
hard for me to imagine
structures like this staying
in place for two years in a
rich neighbourhood.
I am curious what the
truth is behind these
omnipresent structures.
11. Still a lot of these external
units for I presume heating,
cooling and maybe
emergency power.
For me these signify hope.
Apparently the money for
the final solution is not
spent yet and we can use
that money as part of our
integral sustainability,
resilience and job plan.
12. This park comes with an
interesting story.
Everybody I spoke to
loves the park and told
me it has an important
place in the
neighbourhood.
Everybody likes that it is
being redone (although
most think it could have
been done cheaper).
But then everybody is
just as unanimous in
their rejection of the
fact that it has to be
completely closed off
for so long.
13. “First we tried to have
only the parts closed off
where people where
actually doing stuff.
Then we said: ‘why don’t
you first close and do
one half and than the
other?’ But they would
not listen.”
So now the park is closed
for the forseeable future,
with sometimes no
activity for weeks on end
and no one understands
what is so dangerous
anyway.
Says one resident: “The
only danger I know
comes from the refusal
of the contractor to turn
on the lights next to the
walkway outside the
park because it costs
money. People have
already been mugged
because of that.”
Maybe just one side of
the story but it intrigues
me.
14. This lady is Brooklyn's first professional dog-walker.
She has lived in Redhook since 2001.
The dog was happy to rest for a short while.
In the background we see a closed off park.
Carol and I talked about a wide range of topics.
She explained how things have become much nicer in Redhook,
especially in the last 5 years. She also liked the move from Ikea to the
neighbourhood, bringing in jobs and people visiting the neighbourhood.
However this also means that Redhook is becoming very expensive. Her
rent has gone up spectacularly in the last few years (she now pays $3500
a month for <100m2 plus a roof balcony) so she is forced to move to
something smaller and cheaper.
15. There is a strong police presence around and actually in the social housing.
Most poorer residents don’t like the police very much. One girl put it like this: “There’s more
cops bothering people nowadays. That means somewhat less violence but mostly just more
cops.” However, there is a grudging appreciation for the fact that they have played an
important role in making the neighbourhood safer in the last ten years.
Some of those poorer residents where amused by my appreciation of the neighbourhood.
People had already noticed the tall, white, out of place fellow on his rented bike they told
me. It seemed they talked to me out of curiosity.
They assured me that there are still drug dealers on every corner and that it is still important
to know when to keep your mouth shut if you actually live in “the projects”. One young girl
told me she was still living with her mom but that everything was better than the projects
and that she was sleeping in a shelter more and more. All where absolutely resolute in not
wanting to have their picture taken.
Every one of those poorer residents was also completely untouched by my plea to unite for a
future without fossil fuels. I could have been talking about life on Pluto as far as they were
concerned. The idea of having power after a storm and giving a finger to the Utilities sparked
a modicum of interest.
But what really got them going instantly was jobs. E.g. proposals to let unemployed youth
from Redhook install solar panels after a short training. Especially after they saw that this
was important to me personally and that I meant it.
16. Somewhere here I met
Buffy and her friends.
She recently moved to
Redhook. Her mother
in law had heard bad
stories about Redhook
and said “Good luck
moving there” but
Buffy really liked it.
However, it turns out
Buffy came from a
rough part of the
Bronx.
17.
18. This lady has an artistic background and makes decent money
working in an art store but it’s hard to save because “this is New
York”. She told me that 12 years ago this was a very different
neighbourhood with wild dogs terrorizing the streets and the
fire department refusing to come here.
She alerted me to the role of the artisan community in
improving that. We often see that in Holland: when a
neighbourhood becomes more popular, it’s the artists that
move in first. They are not afraid of the unconventional and
they like cheap. She is already mentally preparing for the next
step when the artists will be replaced by the more affluent
yuppies and dinky’s. She recommends that we talk to Florence
Niel (an artist on Bruntstreet with the Kentler Drawing Center) if
we want to know what’s what in Redhook.
She also told me that solar panels have gotten bad press
recently because of a Redhook project that wanted to increase
the rent after they would have placed them. “So that is not
happening.” But she liked them herself. That is why she insisted
she pose in front of the community farm and not in front of Ikea
(which you see if you point the camera the other way).
19. This proud lady is a clerk at the mayors office.
She is one of the people emphasising that the fences are giving the neighbourhood a prison like
atmosphere. Although it is not as bad as it used to be. She can tell stories about the 70s when
things where “really bad”.
She thinks the community will love sustainability if it comes with jobs.
She is retiring soon and will be moving to Carolina.
Later I bump into her again after she comes out of Church. She wants to introduce me to the
minister and some people of the congregation. Unfortunately my time is up and I have to hurry
home to catch my flight. Maybe next time…
