Brooklyn: the battle against gentrification takes place in Bushwick

Gentrification - the process of changing an area as a result of wealthy citizens moving into it - is not to everyone's liking. Some New Yorkers believe gentrification is a bad thing. Among them is someone calling himself Zexor, who is protesting the changes taking place in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn.

His protest is expressed in the deterioration of wall paintings, which began to appear on the walls of Bushvik buildings in recent years. Under cover of night, Zeksor leaves his graffiti on them. He also maintains pages on Instagram and Twitter.

Very often, Zexor writes the words “Real Art” or “Real Bushwick” next to his pseudonym. “I am New York. I am Brooklyn. “I am everything you love and hate,” one caption reads. - I am freedom. I am art. I am Zexor."

Zexor considers his main “enemy” to be the public group Bushwick Collective, which hires artists to paint walls in the area. Thus, according to the mysterious Zexor, they are depriving Bushwick of its originality and uniqueness, turning it into another Williamsburg. Williamsburg is an area of ​​New York that has undergone gentrification and transformed from a crime-prone industrial area into one of the most prestigious places in the metropolis.

However, Zeksoru, who, according to him on social networks, grew up and lived all his life in Bushwick, and his followers are unlikely to be able to resist gentrification. This is an almost irreversible process.

Demographically, it is accompanied by an increase in average income in quarters, a reduction in the number of poor and ethnic minorities. In their place comes wealthy youth and wealthy middle-aged people. At the same time greatly increases the cost of rental housing and property value. Last year, real estate prices in Bushwick soared by 31%.

The cost of renting a two-room apartment (one-bedroom apartment) in the area today is, on average, 2 048 dollars per month. In 2011, such an apartment could be rented for 1497 dollars.