Valerie McCain Interview 08/10/24

Valerie McCain Interview Transcription

You are Valerie McCain. That's my cousin. My cousin's wife. Okay. So I have is it okay if I have you just Yeah.

Okay. So we'll do after the end. Okay? I'm just gonna move it so all you guys can speak. And we found out that we were cousins later later in life.

What? Right. With my mom. Then you got here. Then back in the Yeah. Yeah. 70 I think maybe about 75. By accident. Yeah. By by 75 or something in the category. No. Why not? 75 or something in the category. 75 or something in the category? Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Do you have to concentrate? Yes, Kim.
Alright. Hello. I'm Anna Natasha Ferran, and I'm here with Miss Julia Estillan. Mister Bradley Easterlin. Valerie McCain.

And we have 2 because we have 2 two siblings, What about this one? You guys, you always live together. Day mother or father? Yes. And you? I live on Saint John's. Between 5th 6th, I've been here for 60 years. 60? 60? I'll be 60. I was born on my block. Alright. Okay. So you have a original born infarcts. Yeah.

Okay. Do you know a particular childhood memory or or, like, for Well, when we moved here in 1958, November 1958, the property was cheap there. Houses you can get houses from maybe 3,000 up to maybe 50,000. One family house went is, I would say 20,000, 15 to 20,000. And, a lot of 3 family houses went sometimes some of them went as, lower than that.

333,000 up to about 50. Now, because we are in 2,024, the property the same amount as we would have had been is 1,000,000 of dollars. Okay? So, if you have bought a house back there and you didn't sell it back there in the the sixties seventies, you didn't sell it. You might be a millionaire today because that same house you might have paid 3 or 4 1,000 dollars for going for 3, 4,000,000.

Okay. Great. And that's, all of, Carslope. Okay. Why did you decide to come to Carslope to come my cousin invited me as well.

But I was here last year, and I just see the unity and the family and the love that I feel upon sitting man. But if I didn't know talk to the kids, then I used to work at the, split the night to get up at stage and work there and make their car. But like my brother said, nobody will know, you know, people buy it, but nobody will know that they were gonna get greedy back in, I'd say in the 90, 95, something like that. They're greedy and start charging people a whole lot of money to get the car towed. I think that's wrong, and I think the real estate should have come here and start building and then start charging a whole lot of money.

And you see it's bad to do that when people got low income That you take that away, you know, take the low income and have people moving because the landlord wants so much money because you can't afford it. And I think that's wrong. You know, don't be greedy for money because nobody didn't think that they wanna, raise the rent. Homes go up, hiding that nobody can afford. And thank God that we was left because we paid my friend to pay $15,000 and rent free for 6 months.

Now if we can get that, that's good. Now, you know, everybody should be greedy for money, but you can't take it with you. So give somebody a support, you know, with people's low income and upkeep. What are some things that what people should know about Park Slope or Brooklyn Vista yet? Well, what I believe what I see now is, a lot of different nationalities.

Yeah. Different, when we came in Park Slope, back in the, fifties, it was mostly Caucasian people that lived there. Italians. Italians. Maybe 1%, 2% of, mixed national Now through the years, it's all nationality and people Diversity.

Diversity that lives here in the parcel, and we get along together. Very good. We we get along we get along together. Miss Battle? Yes.

What are your hopes for the future of the neighborhood and Brooklyn? In Brooklyn? I would like to see more affordable housing, especially in Clarksville because the rent is actually not economically so high. You know? You know?

You have to talk to landlords and work with different real estate agencies to try to put out affordability for to move in for these high rise homes. Now my thing is that I missed the clock. I don't know if you could see the the big clock that's there. So it it obscures. For over 20 years, I was able to see this clock every day.

So now you can't because of all the high rise buildings that I did. That's the Bloomberg savings. The reimbursed savings bank. More. Yeah.

Now. And some years ago, it was changed from the reimbursed to another bank. And now it's a, a house of of of I'm not sure. Co op or condominium. Yes. But that's what lives in there now. And, what his name? Magic Johnson? I think he owns a part of that. He had the percentage of that, building.

I don't know who the other tenants might be. What and what I like to see, stop these real estate building these high rise. Yes. For the ride, which is not for the ride. You have to go and make that to the 2 to 6 hour.

That's right on out. So I said that's how they that's what I can see. Scottsville and Bill Ward senior citizen. Yeah. That's what they did before.

Now they don't even care about seniors. And another thing, stops by income because we'll use what they did back in the 7 that was young, they gave the the seniors direct deposit so they won't get the Roth, a Roth, when they go into bank. Now direct deposit, that was the first one. The second one they did, they both seen the civil department out and they didn't ask how much income. They need to stop that.

They didn't do that before, and they should continue doing that for the city. Maybe someday, they can send you a guard at some senior, but that's not right to do that. That's what I'd like to see, a change. Senior citizen, stop saying what is the amount of money they made. Give it to them like they did before back in the sentence.

Okay. That's when you start out. And you direct deposit. Senior with a, say, affordable. Senior, if I if you apply, any one that's eligible, apply for senior apartments.

Is you have to have a income Yeah. Of 49,000 up for senior apartments. So there's not too many people that is, eligible for senior apartment. Now, where they have, here in, New York, where they have these raffle offers for, like they put up these new buildings. But you have to have, a real big income for that, for one thing.

And, what is is good and is bad because sometimes you keep people out of the of the building. But people that really need spiritual mothers that parents that has just, one family member that is working. And then most of them, that's just a mother that is working trying to make any meat from day to day. They can't afford these apartments. So, this whatever you like to see something change.

Okay. Because when they say affordable, the mayor said they put in all these affordable apartments, but they're not for, low income people. Low income people can't afford it. Because if somebody have an income of $15,000 a year and the rent is gonna be $3,000 a month, they can't they can't afford it. They can't afford it.

And that falls mostly on people of color. Okay. That falls mostly on people of color because, they just can't, deal with it. So with with the Golden Park Slope in mind, I will talk about history. What does history in Park Slope Well, the history of Fox Slope, we have the Greenwood Cemetery that is, I believe, over a 100 years old that, is, a part of, of, history.

The park the the house here, is the Very old. Bryant, I think it's the Bryant House here. The park is over a 100 years old. So we used to have, and then we have a lot of people that is living that is, have seen all these things, and they, memorize. It's it's, something, to keep you in touch.

It's just a good feeling. And we have the hospitals here. We have the New York Presbyterian Hospital in the neighborhood. We have Boothman in the neighborhood. Mamonix, we have, a lot of different hospitals.

So that we have a lot of stores, grocery stores in the neighborhood. The only thing with a lot of the grocery stores in the neighborhood, the prices is tremendous high. The prices are tremendous high. And that's because Park Slope has changed. And the people that's living in Park Slope, I don't know what type of salary they have, but they have to have a very good high salary to be affordable for buying food.

And sometimes you have to go when you could use to can go into 1 grocery store and pick up everything because we used to have, bow hacks in the neighborhood. We had the A&P, on 9th Street. So you get a lot of grocery stores in the neighborhood that you can just shop, go one place and shop and get everything. Now You can't. You had you can't.

You have to go in, this half dozen grocery, supermarkets here in the area that you might have to go into all of them just to really try to get, mortgage. Anybody wanna add to this? I'm with you. That's not history. Like, what is his And, Well, I didn't know back in the eighties.

They had a l over here running from Grove Street down tonight, thrown away. I didn't know. You can go down to the car and see. And another thing I was like, they took for the time. They need to get that something.They took that out. And then they took the I used to go down there and say, handball. Somewhere along the knee, they took that out with the car. That's the only thing I think to to come here. That's a soccer field now.

The soccer field, And this was my old junior high school. Junior high school 51 give a shout out to. Yeah. Do you guys go to school? No. I went to school. I went to went to school because she graduated 51. Now this was now this is something big. Now, when we came in Park Slope in 1958, you didn't have to go downtown to the mall, to shop in the area downtown Brooklyn for nothing. You got everything in your area. Yeah. On 5th Avenue. You could buy suits. You could buy women.

You could buy from head to toe, clothes Yeah. Plus the men. So you didn't have to go downtown. A lot of, people here in Park Slope never went downtown Brooklyn for nothing. They went to Bay Ridge.

Now, Target is doing this now. They put me Target in a lot of areas, which is a blessing because that's like the mom and pop stores that they used to have here. Target now is going into different neighborhood and where the people don't have to really go downtown shopping because Target have just about everything you need. They pushed a lot of stores out because I used to come down maybe about 10, 15 years ago. There was a old store on Fifth Avenue between third and second, the Jackie Robinson store.

This is how beautiful it was shaped, and they went there for many, many years. They pushed them. And that fall. It it it would come from That's what I need. With that.

Of course. Not a bakery in this area. They made a ice cream parlor up. They owe 1 puts a golf ball back that that bake the ice cream paratroopers are on. That was on golf ball.

And and the 5th Ave where he ate. The ice cream is good. 2nd Street? 2nd Street. In, 7 Yeah. And the 7th way down there on Saint it's Carbel. Carbel. There's 1 on Carbel, near Bergen. And at the corner of Dean, there's another ice cream column. This one right here across the street on, Fourth Street. Yeah. You actually want nothing. Because you come out there and the night limit is always stored. But on, Fifth Avenue, between 5th and sixth Street, there was a ice cream column back in the sixties. The the lady, she made all of my street.

What was her name? And I don't know her name off hand. Round of corn. But it's, I'm not I think it might be a barn now. But it used to 7th Street, the next block. She made They hit, she made, oh, homemade ice cream. The neighbors have the neighbors in our school. We'll have them now. Neighbors help the neighbors. Yes. Yes. They're on 33rd. 32nd. 32nd. Get a mortgage and stuff right there. They're on 32nd. You're talking about, I'm talking about I'm talking about 6 Avenue. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

They got a neighbors helping Yes. That's on yeah. They moved to 30 But when when when when was it before? It was on 6th Avenue. Or like 8 Street or something.

Oh, before? It was on 6th Avenue. Like, it's going to be. Oh, I didn't know that. Okay.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. But now they moved here. They moved over here on 32nd, between 34th. Okay.

They over here. They moved. They helped. Yes. Yeah. Oh, because I know I know 5th family committee gave us help from poor people. Yes. Then all of a sudden, they got rich. And you wanna get now they they had I got I was, how you call it? I was, how do you call that? Tenant? No. They I I won. I won. I won.

So they didn't wanna put me on Bergen Street. And so when I went, I said, I'm gonna get here. Over here with the taxi, and connect the over here taxi service. Oh, we never said no. Now what you did, that's it.

Lately, they didn't tour that day. But I'm not getting living here at the neighborhood, Benjamin, and things like that. But they're coming here and, just coming to destroy things, you know, and you got more people coming now. You got more whites coming. You know?

They've seen it, but we got more now. It's coming back. A but I never even thought it was my first apartment right now. RentPrep. I I got one of them sitting for that team, and the guy, she said maybe they want my gift card.

That's why we got this out and doing it together. And all down is crossroads, or Wilson, central, Broadway. We didn't buy anything. And then they got some nerve to come here downtown and take care of the thing. You know, building up a car garage.

I gotta thank you. I'm asking for the building. It's, dollars, and, some sold to other store like a nothing sold to make it. I don't know Okay. That would do that so we can be known, and I can put it right in frame.

Yes, sir. Put on my wall Alright. In my living room. And put your name down there too. Okay. We have to send it in. You're welcome.