Since World War II (yes, that long ago)gentrification in Brooklyn has assumed two faces--"brownstone," reoccupation of downtrodden residential neighborhoods by upwardly mobile DIYers, and "brick-face," reuse of vacant industrial spaces by artists and young people in search of cheap digs. The adjacent Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO (down under the Manhattan Bridge overpass) are respective examples of these phenomena.
Of course, these two types sometimes overlap. However, whatever alliances newcomers and pre-existing residents form to balance "maintenance of an area's character" and "improvement of its surroundings," sooner or later the rising price of housing and commerce pushes moderate-and-low-income tenants out, while attracting the new development that brings with it the well-to-do.
Often caught in the middle are grassroots cultural groups founded to meet the needs of both newcomers and "native" sons and daughters. The non-profit Gowanus Arts, 295 Douglass Street, is one such organization. In 1985, Elise Long, and partners David Wolfe, Marc Eichen, Mary Ann Banerji, and Jonathan Stewart, bought and renovated the derelict soap factory for rent to artists and performers of all stripes.
Although Gowanus Arts's investors have never gotten rich, the semi-industrial area, named for the infamous, one-time putrid Gowanus Canal that flows through it, has nevertheless appreciated in value (in no small part due to such cultural pioneers as Gowanus Arts).
As the neighborhood has become safe enough, and the zoning allows them to buy relatively underpriced real estate, compared to exclusively residential areas, hotels have been built in the location. They take advantage of proximity to booming downtown Brooklyn (for instance, the new Barclays arena) while offering lower rates, and such amenities as parking, to attract visitors to Manhattan away from staying there.
Gowanus Arts and its sister organization, Spoke the Hub Re:creation Center, 748 Union Street, up the hill in Park Slope, are fortunate to have founders, especially Elise Long, with the foresight (and capital) to purchase their properties before being squeezed out of their homes, as has happened to so many other small cultural groups that rent.
Still, Gowanus Arts has fallen victim to new development, in the form of the Fairfield Marriott, a franchise whose owners, the Troutbrook Company, bought the adjacent property, at the corner of Douglass Street and Third Avenue. During demolition of the purchased structures and construction of the hotel, the builders damaged Gowanus Arts's main facing wall.
Not only were the owners of Gowanus Arts forced to repair the damage themselves, at a cost of $25,000, when a tentative agreement with the Fairfield Marriott for reimbursement fell through, but they also lost a mural planned for the space by other innovative cultural entrepeneurs, the youth artists of Groundswell. Given the untimely demise of the agreement, preparation of the wall was not possible within Groundswell's timeframe (in the summer of 2012) for completing the work, using a $38,000 grant.
However, Long and company are not taking this affront lying down--literally. Months of fruitless communications and attempted negotiations, seeking reparations of at least $65,000 from the hotel, first resulted in an on-line petition protest. Now, the owners of Gowanus Arts have unfurled a banner, on another facing wall, urging potential guests to boycott the Fairfield Marriott. (A mock-up of that banner on the previously damaged wall appears below:)
Spoke the Hub Dancing, of which Long serves as artistic director, is also organizing sidewalk performances to whirl away visitors to alternative lodgings.
For more information about the dispute, visit
www.spokethehub.org and click on "Boycott the Marriott." You can also see what the Marriott has to offer by googling "Fairfield Inn and Suites, Marriott, Brooklyn, NY."
This reporter is by no means impartial, having known Elise Long since 1997, and written about her marvelous community dance theater many times. But, her website account seems fair to me, given that, according to her, the owners of the Fairfield Marriott are no longer giving the press their side of the story.
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