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Synopsis |
Author and journalist Ed Morales introduces the conflict between real estate developers and residents of East Harlem who feel they are being priced out of the neighborhood that is their spiritual and cultural home. He explains his personal connection with the neighborhood and introduces two residents, José Rivera and James Garcia, who have opposing views of the changes coming to the neighborhood. Rivera is a long-time resident of the neighborhood who fears he will ultimately be priced out. Garcia has recently bought a condominium in the neighborhood and finds his surroundings dirty and crime-plagued. He wonders why people in the neighborhood are resistant to change and resents being considered a traitor to his own people for voicing a desire to improve conditions. |
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José laments that the neighborhood will become a 'community of strangers.' |
Rampant development affects the filmmakers, who, in the process of making the film, have to move out of their apartment when their building was sold. The Atlantic Yards project has fueled speculation and nearby Brooklyn neighborhoods’ rents have become inflated. Poet Mariposa, filmmaker Vagabond, salsa bandleader Aurora Flores and political activist Dylcia Pagán all agree that the neighborhood is the source of Puerto Rican and Latino identity in New York. |
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A ceremony to rename 106th Street as Julia de Burgos Boulevard gives the community a chance to celebrate itself as a center for Latino culture in the U.S. |
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© All rights Reserved Ed Morales - Laura Rivera - NYC 2009 |