This morning, amNY ventures into Harlem to take a look at businesses being forced out by increasing rents and gentrification, and suggests the neighborhood is "losing its identity." It appends a "?" mark, but residents and business owners leave no doubt about their opinions. One says the neighborhood's character is "being decimated, just lost in the wind." The article suggests that "at a moment when the whole city seems to be morphing into one giant chain store, Harlem is perhaps the neighborhood most in danger of losing its distinctiveness." Guess all that stuff last week about 125th Street being one of the country's "great streets" for "bringing in 'globalized' retailers, such as Old Navy and Starbucks, without driving out mom-and-pop businesses" is subject to interpretation.
· Is Harlem losing its identity? [amNY]
· High rents displacing small businesses [amNY]
· Harlem Gentrifiers Rise Up, Demand Chipotle [Curbed]
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