Thursday, June 17, 2004
Hassids and Hipsters
A sea of black was seeing red in Williamsburg yesterday as local Hasidim protested the skyrocketing prices of housing in Brooklyn's hippest neighborhood. "We've been living here for 40 or 50 years, we've invested tens of millions of dollars for institutions, schools, synagogues," said protester and real-estate broker David Heimlich, 38. "We used to pay a maximum of $250 per square foot, now they are selling apartments for $500 and up per square foot. They're starting to build for the luxury types." Some saw the rally as a skirmish in a battle between the Hasids and the hipsters who are quickly filling up the neighborhood. More than 3,000 Hasids wearing the traditional garb of black hats and black suits showed up at the intersection of Wythe Avenue and South 8th Street. Hundreds of yeshiva students were also brought in by bus from around the borough. The main rallying point was near the Gretsch building — a former guitar factory turned into a luxury building with 130 apartments — making it the focus of many protesters' scorn. A large sign across the street from the building reads: "The neighborhood is NOT welcoming the Gretsch building. We need affordable housing." A one-bedroom unit goes for upward of half a million dollars at the doorman building, which opened last year complete with glass-paneled elevators and granite kitchens. During the rally, a handful of non-Hasids stood by, protesting the protest. "The artists are getting blamed, but it's now the rich [people] who are coming in," said Anna West, 48, who said she's an artist who has been living in the area for 16 years. She thought the protest was especially unfair since she claimed most of the landlords raising rents are Hasidic. "I've been a little bit annoyed with the reaction to the yuppies and artists coming in here," said Charles Thomas, 40, a painter who says he was kicked out of the Gretsch to make way for the likes of rapper Busta Rhymes and actress Annabella Sciorra. Rabbi David Niederman, director of United Jewish Organizations of Willliamsburg, stressed the fight was not Jew against non-Jew. "There is nobody in the entire area who can pay $500 to $700 [per square foot] for their apartments, I don't care if they are Hasidic, Hispanic or artists." He blamed developers both outside and inside the orthodox community who he said were trying to make a fast buck.
A sea of black was seeing red in Williamsburg yesterday as local Hasidim protested the skyrocketing prices of housing in Brooklyn's hippest neighborhood. "We've been living here for 40 or 50 years, we've invested tens of millions of dollars for institutions, schools, synagogues," said protester and real-estate broker David Heimlich, 38. "We used to pay a maximum of $250 per square foot, now they are selling apartments for $500 and up per square foot. They're starting to build for the luxury types." Some saw the rally as a skirmish in a battle between the Hasids and the hipsters who are quickly filling up the neighborhood. More than 3,000 Hasids wearing the traditional garb of black hats and black suits showed up at the intersection of Wythe Avenue and South 8th Street. Hundreds of yeshiva students were also brought in by bus from around the borough. The main rallying point was near the Gretsch building — a former guitar factory turned into a luxury building with 130 apartments — making it the focus of many protesters' scorn. A large sign across the street from the building reads: "The neighborhood is NOT welcoming the Gretsch building. We need affordable housing." A one-bedroom unit goes for upward of half a million dollars at the doorman building, which opened last year complete with glass-paneled elevators and granite kitchens. During the rally, a handful of non-Hasids stood by, protesting the protest. "The artists are getting blamed, but it's now the rich [people] who are coming in," said Anna West, 48, who said she's an artist who has been living in the area for 16 years. She thought the protest was especially unfair since she claimed most of the landlords raising rents are Hasidic. "I've been a little bit annoyed with the reaction to the yuppies and artists coming in here," said Charles Thomas, 40, a painter who says he was kicked out of the Gretsch to make way for the likes of rapper Busta Rhymes and actress Annabella Sciorra. Rabbi David Niederman, director of United Jewish Organizations of Willliamsburg, stressed the fight was not Jew against non-Jew. "There is nobody in the entire area who can pay $500 to $700 [per square foot] for their apartments, I don't care if they are Hasidic, Hispanic or artists." He blamed developers both outside and inside the orthodox community who he said were trying to make a fast buck.
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