Originally Posted By: Flushing
Hey pizza and ivy,

You guys have very informative posts. Enjoy reading them.

As for the gentrification: More like segregation, except not by race, by class. The hipsters forced out the polish from greenpoint, greeks from astoria and are now pushing out the Irish from wooside/sunnyside. Midwestern kids with endless free time, small personal fortunes and an aversion to manual labor of any kind now occupy half the city. I hate to sound harsh but I think its the truth. And I'm sick of all their world saving advice and advocacy. It seems like every one of these idiots has a million dollar trust fund and a cause.

And as for the Genovese discussion: I think I am equating the word "base" with a home base, not a business base. From that perspective, most families in the construstion rackets can still call manhattan their base.

To illustrate some of the points being made about NYC demographics, this is a racial/ethnic map from the 2010 census:
http://www.urbanresearchmaps.org/comparinator/pluralitymap.htm

Thanks, buddy smile. And I completely agree about the hipsters and the gentrification.

Funny that you mentioned Astoria. I'm a Bronx guy but I own a rental property just off 36th and 30th. I've had these kids in my buildings, both in Queens and in the Village. The only saving grace is that they don't stay too long. They usually head back to Ohio after 2 or 3 years. The novelty wears off, but meanwhile they've displaced a family that's been here for generations. It's sickening.

"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.