Where are the Jobs in Bed-Stuy?

Despite steady gentrification over the past few years, Bedford-Stuyvesant in Central Brooklyn maintains one of the highest unemployment rates and is a neighborhood that continually struggles to secure economic stability. According to a recent report by City Limits Magazine, the reasons for this disparity are varied and somewhat complex.

New businesses are opening—a sign of economic vitality—and newer faces in the neighborhood have added to the overall foot traffic for some of the mom-and-pop stores. But for some reason, it has not translated into more jobs.

Some business owners along the Fulton Street and Nostrand Avenue hub say they are not hiring because business continues to be slow to grow and that the influx of new residents doesn't necessarily benefit them.

"The new that comes in the neighborhood don't shop at stores like this—it's more the bigger Macy's, Bloomingdales stores," says Tisha Glover, manager of the Danice discount clothing store.

Others simply point to the customer base at large – primarily African-American—and the economic environment, which is in a recession. African Americans, more than any group, suffer the highest unemployment rate: No jobs means a lot less disposable income, which means fewer people spending in the neighborhood.

But Doug Jones, executive director of the Bed-Stuy Gateway B.I.D, says that’s nonsense. Jones says that Bed-Stuy's problem isn't too little spending money; it's too little money being spent in Bed-Stuy.

"There's about $785 million of retail leakage in Bedford-Stuyvesant," he says. "People in the neighborhood leaving the neighborhood to spend their money." The fastest-growing income segment in the neighborhood, he notes, is households earning $100,000 or more a year. "They drive to south Brooklyn or they drive to somewhere in Long Island or go up I-87 somewhere, and they take their dollars with them."

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