If you live within the gravitational pull of NYC you probably know that Ikea is currently clearing land on the blighted-yet-historic Red Hook waterfront for construction of a big-box store.
The proposal has brought years of controversy, pitting Red Hook's two dominant cultures against each other: residents of the public Red Hook Houses, who account for approximately 70% of the area's population and much of its unemployment vs. the bohemians.
Here's the irony of the conflict: ask yourself, "what sits on much of the Red Hook waterfront?" Old decaying boxes (i.e., abandoned warehouses and factories) that employ nobody, right? Now, what does Ikea propose to build in their place? New shiny boxes (i.e., an Ikea store) that will employ hundreds, some of whom will come from the Red Hook neighborhood itself.
In other words, in a raw physical sense, an Ikea store will be no different than what currently sits on the waterfront--big ugly boxes. But at least this big ugly box will create economic prosperity rather than havens for drug deals.
Sorry Bohemia. Its a no-brainer. Big boxes that employ people win out over big boxes that employ nobody. Yeah, sure, Red Hook will probably become a lot less "hip" in the next decade. But its a small price to pay for allowing a few more city residents to claw their way out of poverty and into self-sufficiency, while continuing to reclaim Brooklyn's once proud waterfront.
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