A SKYSCRAPER IN INWOOD?

Get ready---


This is the buzz among many in Inwood;


From the GreenbergFarrow website:

Broadway & Sherman, New York, New York400,000 square feet (50,000 square feet of retail, 150,000 square feet of residential and 120,000 of office and attached parking)Completion TBD.So it looks like Inwood has finally been discovered for the real estate gem that it is. What sits now at this intersection is an old parking garage--nothing I am too sad to be losing. But this structure certainly speaks of change in the area. I could tell that this neighborhood was beginning a process of gentrification when I moved here. The buildings on my street are all being renovated. There are little courtyards being built on what were ugly little cement entryways.

From Dictionary.com;
gen·tri·fi·ca·tion /ˌdʒɛntrəfɪˈkeɪʃən/ Pronunciation Key - [jen-truh-fi-key-shuhn] –noun
1.
The buying and renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, thus improving property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses.
2.
An instance of gentrifying; the condition of being gentrified.



Now while this is all fine and dandy for a little white kid who wants to be a lawyer. I on the other hand want to be an actor and have enough money troubles as it is. Thankfully my apartment is rent stabilized and won't go up much.
But honestly, many of the people here probably don't work in this neighborhood. Most of them probably are the people who have to work the minimum wage jobs downtown. These hard workers are getting pushed further and further out of the New York area. I don't know enough about affordable housing, but I know you simply cant throw a bunch of low-income residents in to one gigantic building. Crime rates spike in that geographic area and the neighborhood sinks in value. It would behoove this city to come up with- if they have not already- housing that is truly economically mixed. People of all incomes able to live side by side and hopefully all parties involved having enough self respect to treat the people around them well and maintain their residences. I do know that if this neighborhood does become gentrified, that the low-income residents are for the most part going to end up leaving. Where will they go? I suppose further up the 1 train.

I am however-- very excited about this building. I think it has some wonderful architectural elements and will give people a completely different idea about Inwood. But its creation was inevitable. Inwood sits right between the 1 train and the A train- the two BEST trains in Manhattan and the most consistent. Inwood is surrounded by park land and has a museum of unique antiquities that no other part of the city is able to claim. Also, we are one of the gateway neighborhoods for Jersey residents as well as New York residents to the north. Inwood is suited to become one of the most important residential and possibly commercial neighborhoods in Upper Manhattan.

Some people have already spoken of their interest. For instance, the new 28 story condo on Sherman and Broadway. But a much larger investment has been thrown around. This could all be horse shit gossip- but apparently Donald Trump and a few of his buddies are looking into buying up most of the real estate in northern Manhattan - specifically Washington Heights.

Hopefully they don't plan on making it their own little playground.

But in the meanwhile, I am happy to welcome this new building to the neighborhood. Maybe I will finally get that Starbucks..