My NYC Black Folk......Gentrification
- Thread starter Lewis Black
- Start date
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
it's really fallen into disrepair the last 10 years or so I've noticed
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
It's longform but the gist of it is the church wants to do a land lease and keep space in the building, I think it's beyond them and they're not interested in preserving it.
also just from walking by over the years it looked like they rented space to cellphone towers but the cost of upkeep on the building is probably big bucks
also it's not landmarked
piece of it
“The lack of funds has really kept us back, because we’re not rich,” said D. Liendra Jeffries, the church’s octogenarian senior pastor. “We’re trying to negotiate a deal so we can do something with the building.”
“We might do a land lease that includes the air space,” said Pastor Jeffries, a dapper 69-year-old with a salt-and-pepper beard. “But we’re not going to sell.” In any scenario, he insisted, the church would continue its ministry at that location.
When the church purchased the property from Loew’s in 1975, the theater was a mess. “We were in love with that building, oh man, because we bought it with our hard-earned money,” said Liendra Jeffries, the senior pastor. The church paid $110,000 in cash, she said, because racially discriminatory redlining by banks made obtaining a loan impossible.
Cleaning the building was grueling. “Loew’s had guard dogs they let run free in here, and they defecated,” said Pastor Jeffries. “We had to wear boots and overalls and masks and use bleach to clean the whole sanctuary.”
The church reupholstered the seats, whitewashed the plum-colored tapestries in the recessed wall arches and — as the senior pastor said — “we hired a Greek painter who painted over all the naked ladies in the ceiling and turned them into angels.”
Today, the sky-blue-and-gold auditorium is in decent shape, although the ceiling has collapsed in an upstairs stairwell landing, another area has mold, and the building needs repointing. High above the auditorium, the projection booth serves as a breathtakingly untouched time capsule. A rusted cabinet for film reels remains in place, one door marked “Sat Nite.” A vintage spotlight points out a square hole in the wall. And a midcentury Norge icebox bears a message in Magic Marker: “This Refrigerator Is the Personal Property of Men in Booth.”
The building’s terra-cotta facade also remains mostly intact, at least for now. Susan Tunick, author of “Terra-Cotta Skyline,” a history of architectural terra-cotta in New York, said that few city theaters with such vivid polychromatic decoration survive. “It’s unusual for this period to have that much color and a hybrid architectural style,” she said. “It’s very quirky, so it would be very sad to lose such a richly colored terra-cotta building.”
But the structure is not a landmark and can be demolished as of right. Indeed, only one Brooklyn theater with multicolored terra-cotta facade ornament — the 1908 Peter Jay Sharp Building at BAM — enjoys landmark protection.
Even if the church does not raze the former cinema, the Art Deco faces may be stripped from its facade. “If we can change them into angels or replace them with figures that are spiritual, we might go that route,” said Pastor Jeffries. Art Deco is worth big bucks, he has been told, and movie industry people have offered to buy that row of terra-cotta visages. “Anytime we’re ready to get rid of it,” he said, “they’ve left their cards.”
“We might do a land lease that includes the air space,” said Pastor Jeffries, a dapper 69-year-old with a salt-and-pepper beard. “But we’re not going to sell.” In any scenario, he insisted, the church would continue its ministry at that location.
When the church purchased the property from Loew’s in 1975, the theater was a mess. “We were in love with that building, oh man, because we bought it with our hard-earned money,” said Liendra Jeffries, the senior pastor. The church paid $110,000 in cash, she said, because racially discriminatory redlining by banks made obtaining a loan impossible.
Cleaning the building was grueling. “Loew’s had guard dogs they let run free in here, and they defecated,” said Pastor Jeffries. “We had to wear boots and overalls and masks and use bleach to clean the whole sanctuary.”
The church reupholstered the seats, whitewashed the plum-colored tapestries in the recessed wall arches and — as the senior pastor said — “we hired a Greek painter who painted over all the naked ladies in the ceiling and turned them into angels.”
Today, the sky-blue-and-gold auditorium is in decent shape, although the ceiling has collapsed in an upstairs stairwell landing, another area has mold, and the building needs repointing. High above the auditorium, the projection booth serves as a breathtakingly untouched time capsule. A rusted cabinet for film reels remains in place, one door marked “Sat Nite.” A vintage spotlight points out a square hole in the wall. And a midcentury Norge icebox bears a message in Magic Marker: “This Refrigerator Is the Personal Property of Men in Booth.”
The building’s terra-cotta facade also remains mostly intact, at least for now. Susan Tunick, author of “Terra-Cotta Skyline,” a history of architectural terra-cotta in New York, said that few city theaters with such vivid polychromatic decoration survive. “It’s unusual for this period to have that much color and a hybrid architectural style,” she said. “It’s very quirky, so it would be very sad to lose such a richly colored terra-cotta building.”
But the structure is not a landmark and can be demolished as of right. Indeed, only one Brooklyn theater with multicolored terra-cotta facade ornament — the 1908 Peter Jay Sharp Building at BAM — enjoys landmark protection.
Even if the church does not raze the former cinema, the Art Deco faces may be stripped from its facade. “If we can change them into angels or replace them with figures that are spiritual, we might go that route,” said Pastor Jeffries. Art Deco is worth big bucks, he has been told, and movie industry people have offered to buy that row of terra-cotta visages. “Anytime we’re ready to get rid of it,” he said, “they’ve left their cards.”
ogc163
Superstar
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
RealCrownHeights
All Star
I make 45k at 26. I have a Bachelors but in a shyt degree (English) I'm thinking about seriously moving man. I take 3 trains a day to work in the hood in East Harlem then go back to Bed Stuy in the hood. My neighborhood is gentrified but I live in a ghetto building. It's just getting tiring and I can't seem to win on housing lottery. ( No I don't want to move to The Bronx) Any life long residents that left and are happier?
Francis White
i been away to long, my feeling died.
You only 26 and already a quitter. Move out you too weak to live here.
RealCrownHeights
All Star
Lol not a quitter, Lived in Crown Heights and Bed Stuy my whole life probably the only one in my family to even touch above 40k, just wondering if I should take the less pay down south with more land instead of taking 3 trains to work and coming back to a building with teens in the lobby and gang initiations outside. Just wondering if anybody left at around my age and found success. I feel stagnant and wanted to explore other options since housing lottery hasn't been successful.
Never been too weak brother trust me, many have tried that theory and have been disappointed.
Carolina Slim
Superstar
I did. I left before gentrification hit my neighborhood (Bushwick) heavy. But I had already started seeing inroads that were made from Greenpoint to Williamsburg. I judged it off the L train. Used to be that all the white people got off at Bedford Ave. Then you started seeing more and more staying on at Lorimer, then Graham... Left in 2005 for Raleigh NC, and it's worked out great. There were lots of little things that would aggravate a niigga that I didn't have to deal with here. Those things would grate on you after awhile. I loved coming home and pulling into a parking place without having to think about alternate side of the street parking. I still miss certain aspects of living in BK, but my family and I are a lot happier down here.
RealCrownHeights
All Star
I understand completely man. I went to high school in Williamsburg and graduated in 2011, it was the beginning of hipster land but now it's full blown. The L train now after Broadway Junction looks like the Village or something. I remember there were like 4 white girls in my school and one told she lived on by Kingston and Throop and I was shocked. I don't even have a whip but alternate side parking and dealing with the train ( I take the A and the 4 rush hour both ways) is annoying. I heard Raleigh was dope, some of my friends from North Carolina recommend that city. I don't have any kids so I'm actively looking.
Carolina Slim
Superstar
Yeah Raleigh is cool, depending on your situation. If you a single and ready to mingle type niigga you might find it slow to your tastes. Corporate world can be a little funny style but honestly that might be said anywhere, not just here.
newworldafro
DeeperThanRapBiggerThanHH
Theymoving them to North Carolina too