Can Manhattanites New Yorkers and Chickens Co-Exist?

It seems like some ~~near-Chinatown~~ Brooklyn residents want to outlaw chicken markets in the neighborhood. Gothamist is suspicious of Andrew Weiss, who, according to the Times, is spearheading an effort to force the businesses out:

"I came out of my apartment the other day," said Mr. Weiss, a finance worker who moved near Sing Wah Live Poultry on Sackett Street two years ago, "and a chicken was hiding under my car.''

Late last year, Mr. Weiss began collecting signatures on a petition - he says he has more than 200 names so far - asking the city to remove the markets, even though they were grandfathered in under the current zoning laws and cannot be legally forced to move.

Why are we suspicious? Because he moved in there two years ago, he's a newbie, he knew the chicken markets were there. Weiss represents the worse kind of gentrifciation. (What is it about people with last names that begin with "Weis-" these days?)

Gothamist recommends Andrew Weiss read the wonderful book, My Fine Feathered Friend by Times food critic William Grimes about his friendship with a chicken that wandered into his Queens backyard.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Arts and Events, News on April 22, 2003 8:34 AM

Comments [rss]

Jen

I know, I just wanted an excuse to talk about the William Grimes book.

Lena

Love that book by Grimes...this is kind of a lame comment after all the above debate I guess.

Motherplucker

Haven't people yet learned not to pick fights with Brooklyn poultry companies. If FDR couldn't make them back down, what chance does this pipsqueak have.

jake

all you chicken-evictor-defenders are suckers. i could see opposing chicken wholesale places because they are cruel to chickens (when I lived on Orchard I used to walk by the places on Grand and also on Division and the chickens looked mighty cooped up), but not because you don't like the smell or a chicken tried to escape and ended up under your car. I mean, chickens and chicken retailers have to live someplace too- and it's a hell of a lot harder for them to find a place to live than for you.

Dahl

Whether Williamsburg is gentrified or not is not really the issue--Mr. Weiss knew that the poultry warehouse was there when he moved to Brooklyn, yet he moved there anyway. I agree with Tom that if he didn't want to be around stray chickens, he should have chosen a different location instead of trying to close down a local business.

As for projects on the UWS, there are some on Amsterdam around 87th, and also at 94th I think

Jen

Great! So I feel confident in saying that my moving to the Upper West Side in 1999 was post-Robert Moses.

Also, there are some projects, I think, on Amsterdam and the 60s...

Andrew

Did the West Side ever really qualify as decaying lower-income real estate

The Lincoln Center area, prior to Lincoln Center, probably qualified as such (which is why Robert Moses decided to raize the neighborhood and build Lincoln Center.) Of course, that's not really the heart of the Upper West Side...

Tom K

Given that the West side went directly from farmland in the late 1800s, straight to buildings like the Museum of Nat. History and the Dakota, I'm not sure you could even claim there was gentrification there... it's defined as the replacement of decaying low income urban neighborhoods by middle- and upper-class residents. Did the West Side ever really qualify as decaying lower-income real estate, from a national perspective?

Does Weiss' location make this better or worse? Manhattan's Chinatown is in obvious contraction, given the rise of Main Street in Flushing. I suspect it's inevitable given the simple fact of Manhattan's density that any neighborhood no longer growing will get eroded and compressed. In Brooklyn though, is this as true? Did he really have no choice but to live near the chickens?

Jen

Duly noted and corrected, thanks for calling Gothamist on that. However, I moved to the Upper West Side well after the gentrification started there - and I'm not going around trying to outlaw mom and pop businesses. And admittedly I live on the Upper West Side for all the conveniences it has, given my work schedule Gentrification is certainly a double-edged sword and an unfortunate reality - the more upscale restaurants and and stores there are, the more young, upwardly-mobile people are attracted.

I would have to think the fact that there were three poultry markets are in the neighborhood would have made the apartment's rent less expensive than in a non-poultry neighborhood, motivating people to move there.

jenny WEISberg

if you'd bothered to read the article, you'd have seen that andrew weiss, a friend of mine, lives, in fact, no where near chinatown, but in red hook, in brooklyn. all your suspicions about "the worst kind of gentrification" are rather pathetic considering you so proudly live in the most gentrified neighborhood there is: the upper west side. i myself live in a neighborhood where chickens roam the streets freely: the southside of williamsburg. i enjoy the semi-rural vibe they provide, as do my dogs, who relish chasing them. living next to 3 live poultry markets, as the residents of columbia street do, is another matter entirely. there used to be a live poultry market on the corner of 91st street and broadway. it closed in 1991. do you think gentrification forced it to close?