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Cooperation vs. Gentrification: Bed-Stuy Strives to Stay Local

Bed-Stuy is pushing back against gentrification with the help of co-ops.

Bed-Stuy is pushing back against gentrification with the help of co-ops.

As more and more New York neighborhoods rapidly change, with higher priced real estate, food and services distinctly not for long-time residents, people in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn are using co-ops to find ways to benefit local communities and prevent the displacement caused by gentrification.

“We found that good food is here in Bed-Stuy. Despite some people calling it a food desert, it’s really not,” said Bianca Bockman of Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation. “A lot of good food is coming in here, along with this wave of gentrification, but just like the housing, it’s too expensive for the people who have lived in this neighborhood for a long time.”

The “Laura Flanders Show’s” short documentary features The Bed Stuy Cooperative Project, a collaboration between The Working World and NEBHDCo. Also featured: Bed-Stuy Fresh and Local, Golden Harvest Client-Choice Pantry and Communities for Healthy Food. The documentary is a part of this week’s “The Laura Flanders Show” with Tia Powell Harris of Weeksville Heritage and Mark Scott of Black Land Matters.

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