Economic Recession Comes to the Northeast Bronx by Billy Wharton
Submitted to Portside by the author Pelham Bay is a quiet community tucked away in a corner of the Northeast Bronx. It is, by all indications, immune from many of the broader social problems faced by New York City neighborhoods. The occasional appearance of a heroin junkie is swallowed up by the overwhelming sturdiness of this working class community. There have been few signs that the most powerful economic recession since the 1930s is shredding at the edges of the social fabric here. That is, until recently. The Untimely Death of a Deli If one institution can define Pelham Bay, it is the delicatessen. They are everywhere. Corner after corner is marked with the glass doors and the newsstands of delis, each attempting to one-up the other. Bold claims such as "Gourmet products" or "Boars Head Sold Here" or even "Best Coffee in the World" attempt to mask the basic sameness of these many stores. A demographic reality fuels their existence. Most of the large elderly population in community, with a few dangerous exceptions, do not drive and depend on local stores within walking distance to satisfy their shopping needs. The big box supermarkets have yet to discover this market, thus allowing delis to reproduce rapidly. The loss of a deli makes for big news in the neighborhood. A gloomy mourning, approaching the sentiment shared for a lost compatriot, electrifies elderly gossip circles. A recent deli closing may have signaled something a bit more ominous. The Pelham Bay 6 Train station is the end of the line for the New York City subway system. From here, buses fan out to the nether regions of the Bronx. Passengers boarding the BX12 used to frequent a deli nestled just near the stop on the service road of the expressway. It was dingy little place, the shelves carrying all the signs of an owner intent on keeping inventory low. Only a large orange canopy marked "DELI" allowed passers-by to know what the small shop offered. The orange deli is now gone. Shut down and replaced by an institution which may come to better typify the future economic fortunes of Pelham Bay residents. A large yellow canopy now reads "WE BUY GOLD" and urges potential customers to deliver "excess" gold and jewelry. The orange deli closing seemed to trigger a rash of other closings on the small commercial strip near the BX12 stop. Two other shops were soon shuttered. The operator of the beauty salon, perhaps in an attempt to remind passersby of the shop's continued operation, began holding court on the sidewalk. Friendly banter about the shop closings easily slipped into invitations for future hair appointments. A tinge of desperation marks each request. Weeds, Vermin and Housing Commercial business is not the only part of the neighborhood that exhibits symptoms of recession. At the beginning of 2009, the signs began to appear everywhere. "For Sale," "Open House," "Meet the Owners." At first, festive balloons adorned the signs, but then, as the months dragged on, all that was left were plastic string dangling from a sign offering hopes, which did not have a chance in hell of being fulfilled. Plenty of home sellers, themselves undoubtedly victims of the recession, but fewer and fewer buyers as bank lending ground to a halt. Despite this, it was hard to really see the social consequences of the stalemate in the housing market. Most of those wishing to sell their houses in Pelham Bay managed to find a way to remain in their homes. They tended to them, motivated as much by a sense of self-esteem as a desire to cater to a non-existent buyer. A negative breakthrough came at the end of August. A multi-apartment complex on the corner of Parkview and Roberts was shut down by the Sheriff. The aesthetic of well tended front yards and multi-car driveways was suddenly, violently, disrupted. Weeds sprout out of the metal fence onto the sidewalk. An open invitation for vermin and insects. A slab of wood replaced what was once a neatly adorned front door, symbolizing the irrationally destructive force of capitalist recession. A court order warned against re-possession by the former owners and opportunistic squatters. There is no one to care for this house and it is an open sore on the block. More importantly, as thousands of New Yorkers are left homeless each night, this perfectly reasonable dwelling in this sturdy neighborhood, remains shuttered. Fit for human occupation, but unfit for the greedy finance capitalists who run the banking industry. No TARP program for homeowners in the Northeast Bronx. Blue-Collar Socialism? Recession is about more than just one admittedly peculiar person's observations. Hard and cold statistics reinforce such a critical perspective. The number of people receiving food stamps in Pelham Bay has jumped by more than 50% since 2004, mirroring the overall upward trend in the City. There is certainly some tearing away at the edges of economic stability in the Northeast Bronx these days. Yet, simultaneously, there is alarmingly little evidence of any substantive political dissent. Any resurgence of working class politics, or anything approaching a "blue-collar socialism," might sink some roots in this community - a land of delis, neatly adorned front yards and a newly imported aesthetic of economic recession. To view pictures from the neighborhood visit Examiner.com http://bit.ly/dPbMA *** Billy Wharton is the editor of The Socialist and the Socialist WebZine. His articles have recently appeared in the Washington Post, Monthly Review Webzine and The Indypendent _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
