Gentrification

I didn't fully grasp the concept of gentrification until about 5 years ago. No, wait, a little more since I've been in this apartment almost 5 years, so let's say about 8. I've lived in an area where people who have been settled here for generations are being bought out, if they're lucky. I had a cab driver a couple of weeks ago who was paid $20,000 to get out of his apartment, the one his mother had left to him, so the owner of the building could turn it around for an amount exponentially higher than that.


There are good things about the changes. You can now get a decent breakfast drink before you go to work, for years we had one wonderful coffee shop but it didn't open with coffee brewed until 8:30. We have a green market. There are more services and choices and the local supermarket now puts dates on its meat which is a huge step forward.

There are sacrifices, though. On September 30th a great sacrifice was made when Gourmet Kitchen closed for good. Gourmet Kitchen was not gourmet but it was a fabulous old school style New York diner. It was tiny and super cheap and a little greasy on the surface and deeply greasy on the inside, especially the inside of your arteries after you finished breakfast. It was yummy, the perfect choice for certain days and it is already sorely missed.