PROGRAM
Gentrification and minority displacement are changing neighborhoods across the city. Ida Susser, professor of anthropology at Hunter and the author of “Norman Street: Poverty and Politics in an Urban Neighborhood,” a classic work on Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has recently published an updated edition that covers the changes and controversies affecting today’s Williamsburg. Joining Dr. Susser for a wide-ranging conversation about the changing racial, ethnic and cultural and economic demographics of Williamsburg and other areas of the city will be the City Council member for Williamsburg, Stephen Levin, and Rolando Guzman, Deputy Director Of Community Preservation, St. Nicks Alliance, a community non-profit serving low- to moderate-income North Brooklyn residents since 1975.
Moderating the panel was WNYC reporter and author Jim O’Grady, formerly the director of research for the Center for an Urban Future. Part of the Changing New York programming series.
SPEAKERS
Rolando Guzman Deputy Director of Community Preservation, St. Nicks Alliance
Rolando Guzman, the Deputy Director for Community Preservation at St. Nicks Alliance, has worked for more than 15 years as a community organizer, working with low- to moderate-income residents, especially Latinos, in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, where his focus has been on affordable housing and against displacement. He has training in law as well in anthropology.
The mission of St. Nicks Alliance, a nonprofit, non-sectarian community development corporation, is to serve as a catalyst to improve the quality of life for Williamsburg-Greenpoint residents by addressing economic, educational, health, housing, and social needs while preserving the vibrant and diverse character of the entire community.
Stephen Levin City Council Member, 33rd District
Stephen Levin was elected in 2009 to represent the 33rd District in the New York City Council, which includes the diverse communities of Greenpoint, parts of Williamsburg, Vinegar Hill, Dumbo, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill and parts of Park Slope. A native of Plainfield, New Jersey, Stephen moved to Brooklyn to work as a community organizer after graduating from Brown University. Stephen started his career by simultaneously running a Lead Safe House program and an anti-predatory lending program, both based in Bushwick. In 2006, Stephen went to work for the New York State Assembly. During his first term in the City Council, Stephen has focused on education and early childhood issues, and been an advocate for increased open space in our communities and transportation safety initiatives. In addition to serving as Chair of the Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions, Council Member Levin serves on the Education, Economic Development, Environmental Protection, General Welfare, Land Use, and Lower Manhattan Redevelopment committees.
Ida Susser Professor of Anthropology at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center, Roosevelt House Faculty Associate
Ida Susser is Professor of Anthropology at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center. Her books include Updated Norman Street: Poverty and Politics in an Urban Neighborhood (Oxford 2012), AIDS, Sex and Culture: Global Politics and Survival in Southern Africa (Wiley Blackwell 2009) Medical Anthropology in the World System (3rd Edition, Praeger 2013 co-authored), The Castells Reader on the Cities and Social Theory (Blackwell, 2001), and Cultural Diversity in the United States (Blackwell, 2001). She received an award for Distinguished Achievement in the Critical Study of North America from the Society for the Anthropology of North America, has served as President of the American Ethnological Society (2005-7), and is a founding member of Athena: Advancing Gender Equity and Human Rights in the Global Response to HIV/AIDS.
Jim O'Grady, Moderator Journalist, Transportation Reporter for WNYC
Jim O’Grady is the transportation reporter for WNYC. He has also told stories on This American Life, Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen and The Moth podcast. He’s been a reporter for The New York Times; professor of journalism at NYU; and director of research for the Center for an Urban Future, a policy think tank. He’s also the author of two biographies: Dorothy Day: With Love For The Poor, and Disarmed & Dangerous: The Radical Lives and Times of Daniel and Philip Berrigan. He lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
