Gentrification in our Backyard

Gentrification in our Backyard Gentrification in our Backyard

By vivian todd B arnard’s campus, composed of approximately 39 percent students of color, is situated just south of Harlem, a historically Black neighborhood. In the 1920s, after the Great Migration filled the overdevel oped area, Harlem became the center of the eponymously named cultural rebirth, the Harlem Renaissance. Today, established West Harlem residents are predominantly of West African descent. West Harlem has been nicknamed Le Petit Senegal, or Little Senegal, because of the Harlem residents that line the streets selling traditional West African garb. We, as students, are advantageously walking distance away from the Apollo theater and the Cotton Club. However, Barnard, along with the entirety of Columbia University, could not be further away from this Black cultural mecca.

A quick Google search of “West Harlem” displays that some of the most frequently asked ques tions about the neighborhood are regarding how dangerous Harlem is. “Is West Harlem Safe?” and “Is Harlem still dangerous?” are commonly asked on websites like Quora and TripAdvisor, with most forums replying that Harlem is not safe. One Quora commenter writes, “From 125th up to 155th lies multiple Housing projects and other NYCHA owned complexes. So there is a lot of gang activity and a lot of crime still happening.” I have even spoken with some students whose parents had advised them not to venture north of the Morningside Heights campus. But is Harlem actually as dangerous as its reputation makes it seem? The 26th Precinct, which en compasses Morningside Heights and Manhattanville, the neighborhood of Harlem directly north of Morningside Heights, has about 1.151 crimes per 1,000 residents. This rate is far lower than that of popular tourist areas, such as the Times Square area, which has a crime rate of about 9.055 crimes per 1,000 residents.

With the stigmas associated with the area populated predominantly by people of color, it makes sense that so many students do not understand the historical and cultural significance of the neighborhood in relation to blackness. Furthermore, Columbia University plays a massive role in the gentrification of Harlem.

The University continues to encroach into Manhattanville as it builds its new Manhattanville campus. This new campus has sparked outrage from both Harlem residents and Columbia students alike. Although many students are against gentrification, the university contin ues to spend tuition dollars to develop the Manhattanville campus and make the campus more accessible to students.

The Columbia University Housing Equity Project attempts to offer a solution. They operate under the mission that “as Columbia students we are required to give back to our local Morningside Heights com munity and serve our neighbors.” Avah Toomer, CC ‘20, a coordinator for the CU HEP, says that apart from students from the West Harlem and Washington Heights area, “it is very easy for most Columbia students to ignore the effects of gentrification, because we are not harmed by, but actively benefit from it.”

While simultaneously benefitting us as students, the gentrifica

tion continues to disadvantage and displace Harlem residents. I spoke with Harlem resident, Logan Solis, who said, “in the past five years, I have seen the detrimental effects of gentrification, from increased rents to a higher police presence in my neighborhood.”

So how can Barnard and Columbia students amplify the voices of the established Harlem residents? Toomer notes that it is important that we, as students, “constantly ask ourselves if what we do actually helps or just assuages our own guilt.” And to enact actual change, Toomer continues by saying, “Students should instead pay attention and listen to members of the Harlem community who are already acting on these issues. Mobilizing to vocally uplift and support existing community initiatives and local organizations is one of the more responsible ways for us, as students, to work en masse against the University.”