Another day, another Brooklyn artist loft eviction. But this time it isn't an issue of illegal occupancy, just of gentrification. The residents of Gowanus's 270 Douglass Street have been handed eviction notices to make way for Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, a Park Slope-serving school that plans to redo the building and move in next year. Residents of the building, who include clothing designer Feral Childe and Zieff Photography, have the expected harsh words for landlord Jack Elo about this: he's a "predatory developer" who tucked a demolition clause into tenants' leases while making verbal promises that they wouldn't have to leave. One tenant tells the Brooklyn Paper he has no plans to move out, school or not. Teachers, the guy hanging around upstairs might be good opportunity to work the concept of gentrification into the lesson plan.
· Charter territory: Artists evicted from Gowanus for school [BK Paper]
· Official site: Brooklyn Prospect Charter School [brooklynprospect.org]
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