The chain of events that led to the dropping of the degentrification bomb on Red Hook can be traced back to the closing days of spring and early days of summer:
July 10, 2007. Red Hook resident Chris Curen posts a "quiz" on Gowanus Lounge, listing all the businesses that are failing, closing or moving.
July 21, 2007. Citing businesses like 360 that are closing or on the market, the Brooklyn Paper asks if Red Hook is "turning cold."
August 11, 2007. The "uncertain future" of LeNell's, a staple of Van Brunt Street gentrification, makes the Times. The paper asks if Red Hook is slumping.
August 13, 2007. The New York Post reviews Red Hook's "down period," including the prominent closures of some of the restaurants, bars and stores on Van Brunt Street and the slowing of real estate sales. It famously proclaims the neighborhood "Dead Hook."
August 28, 2007. The Times visits the Columbia Street part of Red Hook and details a long list of dashed hopes, saying that it "still waits for its promised gentrification."
November 19, 2007. New York Magazine declares that Red Hook is so over that it symbolizes "degentrification." One of the people quoted lamenting the failed promise of gentrification, an emailer notes, is "a resident of the only building in Red Hook with a doorman. Not exactly a force of degentrification."
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