“My Brooklyn” Screening and Panel Discussion Comes to Cypress Hills

CYPRESS HILLS – As the effects on gentrification creep across Brooklyn, expanding ever further from the East River, recent history can show those in the outer edges of the outer boroughs what has worked and what hasn’t in the fight against rising rents, development and displacement.

As part of the process of fighting back, the Coalition for Community Advancement and ARTs East New York will be screening the documentary “My Brooklyn” this Friday, January 26, at the North Brooklyn YMCA.

Kelly Anderson’s 2012 film explores her place as a gentrifier in Brooklyn, using Downtown’s Fulton Mall as a focal point for the changes forced on residents and businesspeople by development and shifting demographics. The documentary sheds light on how corporate business interest, development and especially government policy drive gentrification.

With Mayor De Blasio’s East New York Neighborhood Plan and rezoning approved in 2016, communities like Cypress Hills are responding to changes and fighting to make sure their demands for affordable housing or tenant and homeowner protections are met. In addition to zoning changes across East New York, city officials are also looking to bring massive development in business and office space to Broadway Junction, the Times reported last November.

After Friday’s screening, a panel talk will take place, featuring activists and organizers working in East New York. They include Albert Scott, of the Coalition for Community Advancement, Javier Solis of Los Taxes in East New York, community organizer Maisha Morales, Michael Higgins Jr. of FUREE,  and  Raquel Olivares of Cypress Hills Business Partners. The talk will be hosted by filmmaker Theron Smith.

The screening and event will take place on Friday, January 26, from 6:30-9:30 pm, at the North Brooklyn YMCA in Cypress Hills (570 Jamaica Ave)