Sunset Park Self-Evaluation
Someone told me years ago "If you don't define yourself, others will define you." Those words stuck with me through the years. If someone tries to tell me who I am, I can quickly set them straight. But if they are talking about my ethnicity or my religion, it is very difficult to correct. Folks might say "Oh, but you're different than those other Italians." And hold fast to their stereotypes.
And in the same way, when a community allows "others" to define them it is just about impossible to correct it. So it is essential that members of a community take every opportunity to tell the "world" who they really are.
A story or two in the media can spread a misconception overnight. I have documented over the years how in the media, the borders of Sunset Park change based on whether there is good news or bad news to report. If there is a crime just outside our border it is labeled Sunset Park, but if something good happens in Sunset, but close to our border - it happened in Park Slope, Borough Park or Bay Ridge. (note: Sunset Park extends from the Prospect Expressway (17th St) to the old Long Island railroad cut (65th St) and from the waterfront to 8th Ave)
To help put accurate information out there I decided to distribute a questionnaire and have YOU tell the world who we really are.
Read below to "meet" the real Sunset Park
I want to thank the many Sunset Parkers who responded to our online survey and also the Block Link members who responded via email. And thank you to Tara Schaubert for sharing her technical expertise.
A thorough review shows that surveys were completed by folks throughout the community but most surveys came from blocks in the 40's and 50s and most concentrated near 4th to 7th Avenue. But I would like to stress, there were respondents from each corner of Sunset.
The majority of respondents have lived here all their lives or at least 20 years. But a large number were also from folks who moved here in the last ten years and a couple were from under 3 years. But what I found most interesting was that no matter where in Sunset the respondent was from and how long they lived here - their responses were all very similar - either we attract like-minded folks or the "real" Sunset is evident to folks rather quickly and from one end of the community to the other.
What you liked the best about Sunset - Almost every response included the term "diversity". I love that response, but it leads me to want to know more. For example, what does diversity mean to you? And specifically how do you benefit from diversity? If you wish to respond, you can email me with this form below.
Additionally, what folks liked about Sunset had to do with "travel" - many liked the mass transit "You can get to anyplace from here" and on the other end of the spectrum "You can walk to everything".
Folks also liked the shopping. Only one or two mentioned they would like a more diverse range of stores (in the course of my travels around Sunset, I hear that complaint much more often).
Also mentioned were: tree lined streets, the relative quiet and the strong sense of community. Overwhelmingly folks mentioned their neighbors as something that was good about Sunset. But yet many did not know a lot of their neighbors - just the ones who lived closest to their home. Another common thread was the small town feel.
It is expected that we would know our closest neighbors, but the fact that many respondents listed them as what is good about Sunset, makes it stronger than the casual "good morning" as you see each other. In the 1970s I did thesis on Sunset Park block associations and found that on blocks with associations folks tended to know folks from one end of the block to the other and in fact had some very strong relationships with folks who lived more than a dozen houses away. Obviously, block associations have more benefits to our quality of life beyond the civic improvements and issues that they often form around.
What folks don't like about Sunset Park? This was easy - it was universal. Parking! Even folks who did not own a car listed it. What I found interesting was that a number of folks blamed the parking problems on a situation unique to their block, they didn't quite understand that it was universal. Only one driver who responded said that paring was okay on her block.
No other problem was listed on a majority of surveys, the rest were only listed by a handful each - such as truck traffic, truck parking, the "Gowanus", dog poop, sink holes and school overcrowding.
I was surprised to not see many complaints relating to schools. Either the respondents didn't have children (I don't know), didn't have a problem (meaning it was resolved and they were comfortable with the solution at this point) or didn't feel that this survey was the place to bring this up. Obviously we know that Sunset has a serious in terms of a lack of school seats. I just don't know why the survey failed to reflect this - knowing that we are about 3,000 seats short.
Additionally, when it came to what was bad about Sunset, often it was a block specific condition, not a community wide one. For example, car service drivers dumping their ashtray contents at the curb, or loitering in a building for potential drug use. No one identified a serious communitywide negative aside from parking.
Crime, the local police and 311. A rather large number of respondents had a very positive view of public safety. Very few felt concerned about crime and no one brought up issues with violent crime or felonies. There were minor quality of life complaints about noisy neighbors and potential illegal activities in a business. Most folks indicated that they did not have a "contact" at the 72nd Precinct. That was a little distressing considering our precinct is piloting a renewed "Beat Cop" or more accurately "sector cop" program. But I imagine, if you don't have a crime to deal with you wouldn't have a reason to know the local cops.
Virtually everyone had experienced calling 311 for complaints - from noise, to litter, to sink holes and vast variety of one time complaints.
Favorite Topic - Food! Very few failed to respond to questions about favorite restaurants. I ran out of space on my tabulation chart to list all the restaurants. But the same places that we talk about on the street were the ones listed over and over - La Gran Via, Georges, Johnny's Pizza, Tacos Matamores, Yayos, International, China Wok, Maria's Bistro and the Tacos Broncos truck. About thirty more restaurants were mentioned by several and quite a few had one time mentions. I could see that some folks seemed to avoid the more traditional spots and listed a number of restaurants that I had never been too. The spirit of exploration is alive in Sunset.
Vendors - A topic with as much agreement as parking or diversity was the attitude about street vendors. Overwhelmingly respondents either approved of them or said "I don't use them but I have no problem with them."
The only concerns were if they blocked the sidewalk or littered. There was virtually no concern about the quality of the merchandise or health issues with the foods. It seemed that folks liked the convenience of shopping on the sidewalk or lower prices.
Additional Topics - There were a number of additional topics on the survey that really need follow up questions to solicit real data. I purposely left them fairly simple at this time. But I will mention the main ones below:
Real Estate Development - Nearly everyone had new development on their blocks. Most did not seem too stressed but that most likely was due to not "inviting" an emotional response. Obviously, development in Sunset Park is a major issue, but I didn't provide a proper "platform" to discuss it. We would need a more directed survey to get useable information on this topic.
Block Link Program - A large number of respondents were members of the Block Link Program. This would be expected considering that they are more involved in the community than the average person. This does pose a potential "bias" since we have a select portion of the community responding. I understand this limitation on the "scientific" value of the survey responses.
Block Parties - Most respondents replied that their block had an annual block party, but no block association. Also, they were not involved in staging the party.
Seniors - I expected much more about senior issues, but for the most part respondents did not have a senior in their household and did not know about senior activities and services in Sunset. A few respondents made me smile by saying "they" were the senior in their household - my response would be "I'm the senior tabulating your responses"...lol
Favorite Activities - Shopping was at the top of most lists and closely followed by walking on 5th just for the pleasure or walking to the park, a few mentioned sitting on the stoop (drinking beer from a mug - not a paper bag). I got the impression that overwhelmingly walking was at the heart of the enjoyment of most of the respondents.
Favorite Non-Restaurant Businesses - I could have better posed this question to get a better sampling. But for the most part I was told - bodegas, supermarkets, and hardware stores.
The Most Troubling Question - Through the years, each time I distribute a survey, I ask this question - How long do you anticipate living in Sunset? Invariably the answer in the past was less than five years - they intended to move, but when they responded to my follow-up question - "How long have you lived here?" it was always a very long period of time. This bothered me because I interpreted it as being - they imagine they will leave, but end up continuing to stay - which is like "I won't paint my apartment because I am leaving soon.". I felt it was a reason for someone to not work on making Sunset a better place. In this survey the response was more troubling - folks wanted to stay but said they were being priced out, or feared soon being priced out.