I would've liked to go the Brooklyn Public Library "conversation" about gentrification, if only to hear what Alicia Boyd sounds like when she's a panelist (BPL, whose idea was THAT? Did you want to be certain the dialogue would get ugly?) Turns out only my love for conflict would've been satisfied. Here's what a Q reader emailed to me:
Good evening,
I went to a lecture this evening at the Brooklyn Central Library focusing on gentrification,
http://www.bklynlibrary.org/central/brooklyn-transitions. Alicia
Boyd was a panelist along with Morgan Munsey, an architect and
preservationist. Morgan, btw, is a frequent contributor to Brownstoner
using the moniker Amzi Hill. His discussions on that
blog about architectural history in Bedford Stuyvesant are quite
interesting and informative. However, Morgan is also a RE agent with
Halstead and apparently didn’t disclose that information to the BPL
since it was not mentioned in the panelists’ brief bios
that the library published. When he was introduced he mumbled, stumbled
and coyishly smiled that he’s a RE agent and forgot to mention it. That
was the beginning of the end for me.
Alicia Boyd then spoke and fired up her audience. It was essentially a
race bashing, profanity infused debacle. I was saddened and then
maddened that the BPL would choose a panel of this caliber. My dismay
and disappointment led me to do a little research
about Ms. Boyd and I came across her healing site. How convenient that
you can donate to it in the name of a donation to MTOPP. I then read
your blog posting about her tactics, AirBnB hypocrisy and the comments
that followed. Needless to say, I am incensed
that anyone takes her seriously, INCLUDING the BPL!!! My next email
will be to the BPL.
I’m a native Brooklynite and have wanted to live in PLG ever since my
dad would take me for walks through the neighborhood in the 1960s (!). I have a very sweet spot in my heart for PLG and I’m hoping to
eventually settle there. But not on Sterling Place.
Thanks for listening.
(name withheld by the Q)
5 comments:
Indeed NOT on Sterling PLACE "Q Reader", since it's not in our neighborhood :-).
Such confusion:
Sterling Street/Sterling Place
Lefferts Avenue/Lefferts Place/Lefferts Blvd. (the latter in Queens) and so on.
I guess the confusing naming (leaving the Queens location aside) stems from the fact that "our" Sterling and Lefferts were named by the Town of Flatbush, while the "Places" were named by the City of Brooklyn.
BTW Morgan Munsey is a friend I think highly of and I'm sure his not previously mentioning his job was just an oversight rather than an intentional deception.
Yes I also went to this one and the previous panel last month. Ran into the librarians that organized the October meeting at a nearby bar afterwards and asked how they came to welcome AB aboard as a panelist, mentioning the recent CB9 flareups. They all said they hadn't heard anything about her methods, and sorta did that cartoon thing where everybody points at somebody else. By the look on the poor moderator's face last night, you could tell she knew BPL had stepped in it.
Despite all this, the tone was pretty much civilized, many in the audience had a chance to speak, and most people seemed to come away more informed (mostly because of earnest audience comments, not panel discussion). One gentleman, Rob Robinson, who is apparently speaking at the final panel in December, had a lot of spot-on observations and touted organizations like the Crown Heights Tenant Union as good models for resistance. He also voiced support for AB though, so unclear if he was holding back some more questionable views.
That is rather interesting, and points to the importance of doing one's homework when organizing events like this. They should have looked her up before inviting her to speak.
As a librarian, I'm shocked that BPL didn't do its research, on *either* panelist!
Apparently she also caused a scene at the recent town hall meeting about the recent wave of crime in Flatbush/Ditmas Park (see the comments section). And to describe her as a "longtime neighbor" is generous at best - she's not anywhere near the 70th Precinct or Cortelyou Rd., and to have her speaking about the pressures of gentrification is laughable, knowing that she in fact owns a $1 million + townhouse, the value of which increases with the gentrification to which she is so opposed. http://ditmasparkcorner.com/blog/news/ditmas-park-stories-fear-anger-hope-changing-neighborhood
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