Y sin vicios. Ninguno? Ni siquiera una? That’s a tough one.
translation: “Room in apartment for super clean responsible person that works. Good hygiene habits, and no vices. Now available.”
from the series, “For Rent”
(jackson heights, queens, ny)
Two bedroom apartment for rent in Corona, $1500. I cannot actually speak Spanish, but I know a luxury apartment when I see one, and $1500 in Corona would get you a palace. If there were palaces in Corona, Queens.
part of the series, “for rent”
(jackson heights, queens, ny)
Sometimes I think there is no housing shortage, merely a housing rift.
In the late 90s I wanted to move to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, but I never saw apartments listed for rent. Then someone clued me in. Carroll Gardens was still an Italian enclave, with families that had been there for ages - and they wanted to keep it that way, Italian. ”For rent” notices were posted locally - in the deli, or the laundromat, so they could control not only who moved in, but who came looking. Specifically, they didn’t want Black folks, they only wanted their own folks.
I moved to Fort Greene, with the Black folks, and then Red Hook, where the Italians from Carroll Gardens used to dump the bodies back when bodies were being dumped on waterfronts in NYC.
Now, I live in what is constantly referred to as the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in the city - Jackson Heights. I see “apartment for rent” signs everywhere, hand-written and in some version of Spanish.
It’s the same as Carroll Gardens twenty years ago. People extending opportunities to their own tribe, choosing to surround themselves with people in whom they see themselves reflected. Same values, same stories, traditions, ethics, foods.
If it’s prejudice and discriminatory when middle-class folks make that choice, what is it when poor folks do it?
Big and Pretty. 3 Bedroom Apartment with large living room. 2 blocks from the subway, for $1750 in Corona. From the series, “For Rent.”
(jackson heights, queens, ny)
