Shoefiti in Profile of DUMBO, NYC on Inman Stories
Is Shoefiti a bad thing? Not according to the residents of DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass ), New York City profiled in a video on InmanStories.com. Ya see, they happen to be musicians who managed to seek out affordable housing where their band could rehearse and perform, which certainly isn’t an easy thing to do in NYC on a musician’s salary.
Tommy Mokas: The artists that made this neighborhood desirable to live in in the first place have largely been uprooted becase of tearing down of buildings and the putting of condos in every other corner possible. [ed. At this point, the video cuts to shots of graffiti covered walls and shoes hanging from a telephone wire while Mokas speaks.] They’re talking about putting in some sort of strip mall or some sort of mall thing next to the water.
Those are clearly the comments of someone who loves where he lives for what it is today. The blight works to his advantage because it keeps the area affordable enough for him to pay rent off a few freelance jobs a month, and devote more time to the band.
The intent of the video producer, Peter Hyoguchi, is also clear: He uses shots of graffiti and shoefiti to as mark the neighborhood’s blight, which will soon be gone if more condos are built, strip malls go in, and artists like the ones profiled in the video are pushed out.
Mokas’ roommate and fellow band member ScottT offers up some words of wisdom passed on from a neighbor explaining how this will go down:
ScottT: Something that a buddy of mine that lives down the block said: he’s like, “Once you can walk down the streets of DUMBO and not have to worry about stepping in dog shit, you better pack your things and move out.”
Are you for shoefiti or against it? If you’re looking for a cheap place to live, seeking out shoefiti ravaged neighborhoods may be the way to go. However, if you’re hoping to one day sell your house for more than you paid for it, working to eliminate some of the signs of blight such as shoefiti and graffiti could work to your advantage.
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