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Staten Island Becoming "Hipster Hotbed" If You Count One Guy With A MacBook
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 24, 2014
Modified Nov 24, 2014
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 24, 2014
Modified Nov 24, 2014
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Today, Quooklyn. Tomorrow, Islandsburg. Is Staten Island poised to become the next dumping ground for wealthy under-40s who have a few Decemberists albums on their iTunes? Probably not, but try it on.
New Brighton sits a mile west of the ferry terminal, and there Crain's takes its gentrification dowsing rod to profile an unlikely neighborhood that is poised for a rapid urban renewal, or at least a trend piece with a scrumptious headline.
It is a mix of small apartment buildings and modest single-family homes, many of which are built into a hillside that offers an up-close view of the Bayonne, N.J., container ports that lie just across the narrow Kill Van Kull.
The feel of the neighborhood is quiet and working-class, an impression that belies its new incarnation as Staten Island's growing hipster hotbed.
So what are the signs of this "new incarnation"? The article points to a bar, Adobe Blues, that sells 100 craft beers, and some young families who are buying houses.
Gale Strassberg, a real estate agent who has sold many homes in New Brighton and St. George in the past few years, backs up Mr. Gerardi's assessment. "A lot of young people and young families are coming into the area," she said. "They're seeing affordable detached houses on pieces of property near the ferry. There's not a lot of that in the city anymore."
Ms. Strassberg's theory that New Brighton offers a discount for city homebuyers might be something of an understatement. She recently listed a three-bedroom, three-bath single-family home in the heart of the neighborhood for $319,000. A home of almost identical dimensions was listed in Williamsburg for just over $2 million.
Instead of opening up schnitzel shops and attending dinner parties with Style section reporters, these good people appear to be getting on with their lives. This community of artists and taste-makers is so secretive, they don't even show up to the bar that was built to cater to their tastes.
Mr. Barker and his boss, Jack Dabdoub, refuse to fully acknowledge the hipster-fication of New Brighton but admit they have seen hints. "We have one guy who comes in and sits at the bar with his MacBook during the day," said Mr. Dabdoub. "So I guess we have, like, a hipster."
Nice try, Kill Town.
Tagged
gentrification
hipsters
New Brighton
staten island
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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