Gentrification is not a new phenomenon. In fact, New Yorkers have been talking about gentrification ever since the term was first coined in the 1960s. But over the decades, as more and more wealthy real estate developers and giant corporations have sought to reconstruct urban landscapes for economic gain, what was once a process of gradual change has turned into a nightmare of radical transformation and displacement. New York City is currently undergoing a period of “hyper-gentrification” unlike anywhere else in the world, and THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD, presents a portrait of the communities and activists who are courageously fighting back against the powers of greed and corruption in order to preserve the diversity and culture of their city.
The 75-minute film brings together distinct, yet interrelated, stories, closely following Lower East Side activist Arnette Scott’s fight against four massive 80-plus-story towers emblematic of displacement, greed and power, and Astoria’s Dannelly Rodriguez, who led the charge against Amazon’s HQ2 plan throughout the winter of 2018. The film also follows the elderly owner of a Prospect Heights hardware store surrounded by new development, and the owner of Brooklyn’s only Black L.G.B.T.Q.+ nightclub about to be displaced.