I'm in Brownsville, East New York and Canarsie a lot for work & other reasons and 1) there is zero 'gentrification' of the kind people are thinking of, though West Indians, Bangladeshis (in City Line section of ENY), and Africans (much fewer in #) are far more entrepeneurial than American blacks so the area is neither static nor decaying. (I don't consider the fucking strip malls off the Belt 'gentrification') 2) there's still a goodly amount of industrial stuff there + also Brooklyn terminal market + auto repair/scrap etc...

Which is to say there are definitely 'crew' opportunities though who does what-- other than the low-level violent drug markets with disposable gang kids etc-- is open to speculation.