Krase Part 1

Visualizing Ethnic Vernacular Landscapes in New York and Other American Cities: 

It is difficult to argue with David Harvey when he says such things as: “Different classes construct their sense of territory and community in radically different ways. This elemental fact is often overlooked by those theorists who presume a priori that there is some ideal-typical and universal tendency for all human beings to construct a human community of roughly similar sort, no matter what the political or economic circumstances.” (Harvey, 1989: 265) Furthermore, a variant of Anthony Giddens’ “structuration theory” cautions that new shop signs in a neighborhood “taken over” by new immigrants are easily noticed, but “seeing” the uses and/or meanings of space require sensitivity and understanding of the particular culture that creates, maintains, and uses the re-signified space. In other words even the most powerless of urban dwellers is a social “agent” and therefore participates in the local reproduction of regional, national, and global societal relations (Giddens, 1984). Visualizing Ethnic Vernacular Landscapes in New York and Other American Cities

Spatial Semiotics of the Ordinary: 

Spatial Semiotics of the Ordinary To understand my perspective, it is most important to understand that ordinary people have the power to change the meanings of the spaces and places they occupy and use; although perhaps not the most powerful of entities in the glocalized world they nevertheless, perhaps naively, sometimes consciously, and more often unconsciously, compete with other individuals, groups, and organizations to define their micro worlds. Win or lose it makes a difference.

JB Jackson: 

John Brinkerhoff Jackson informs us that the common­place aspects of the streets, houses and fields and places of work can teach us about our­selves and how we relate to the world around us. For him the "Vernacular Landscape" lies underneath the symbols of permanent power expressed in the "Political Landscape". It is flexible without overall plan and contains spaces organized and used in their traditional way. Vernacular landscapes are part of the life of communities that are governed by custom and held together by personal relationships. For him and his students "vernacular landscape cannot be comprehended unless we perceive it as an organization of space; unless we ask ourselves who owns the spaces, how they were created and how they change." (Jackson, 1984: 6) JB Jackson

John Grady: 

John Grady defined Visual Sociology pragmatically: “how sight and vision helps construct social organization and meaning.”; “how images and imagery can both inform and be used to manage social relations”:. And “how the techniques of producing and decoding images can be used to empirically investigate social organization, cultural meaning and psychological processes.” The techniques, methodologies and concerns of Visual Sociology are the best known and where the camera and other techniques of representation play crucial roles in the analytic process (1996:14). Visual Sociology demonstrates human agency by capturing the efforts of people to create or modify the spaces they occupy, or as Bourdieu might say; the practices which produce their habitus. John Grady

Mark Gottdiener: 

Visual Sociology and Vernacular Landscapes are connected via Spatial Semiotics, or "the study of culture which links symbols to objects.” (Gottdiener, 1994:15-16) According to Gottdiener the most basic concept for urban studies study is the settle­ment space “…built by people who have followed some meaningful plan for the purposes of con­taining economic, political, and cultural activi­ties. Within it people organize their daily actions according to meaningful aspects of the constructed space."(1994:16) Despite this agency, of course, neighborhoods are not autonomous. They are tied into national and global economic systems and are therefore affected by a wide range of supply‑side forces. As Symbolic Capital, ethnic enclaves are products and sources of both social and cultural capital. Vernacular landscapes of all varieties of urban neighborhoods reflect both the social and cultural capital of its residents. Visual Sociology of vernacular landscapes allows us to “see” how we all are both products and producers of space. Mark Gottdiener

Lute Fisk: 

Lute Fisk Although the main ethnic continuum which runs north south through the neighborhood is Asian-Latino there are some other interesting visual stops along the way. A few decades ago this part of Sunset Park was an old Scandinavian (Norwegian) neighborhood and was referred to by locals as Lapskaus Boulevard. Lapskaus is a Norwegian beef stew. Today one has to search very heard to find signs of their eighty-year long dominance. One ethnic fossil is a small variety store on Eight Avenue that has was a Lute Fisk sign in the window. I had to explain to my students that lute fisk is a dish, served especially during the Christmas holidays, that is made from salted dried cod. Other signs of this senior ethnic group are the Protestant (Lutheran) churches in the neighborhood that, now in Chinese characters or en Espanol, announce religious and other services. In a few instances, students also found Scandinavian names such as “Larsen” displayed in the front of neatly landscaped single-family houses on the side streets.

Shape Up: 

Shape Up

Jewish Balconies: 

It must be noted here that a major change in the appearance of the northeastern section of Sunset Park has been due to the expansion of the Orthodox Jewish population that has radiated outward from its demographic and commercial center on 13th Avenue in Borough Park. As with the Chinese population, subway lines have played a major role in Borough Park’s development. Just as Sunset Park was an extension of Manhattan’s Chinatown, Borough Park was connected to the legendary Jewish community of The Lower East Side. Long before the publication of the 2000 Census, my students already recognized ethnic change by the spread of Hebrew characters on store signs, Stars of David, Yeshivas, synagogues, schuls, and mikvahs. They easily recognized the strictly segregated groups of males and females, the wigs or covered heads and long dresses of women, and the bearded, men wearing black hats, suits, white shirts and no ties. Much more difficult for them to understand are mezuzahs affixed to doorways, and the succahs built on the balconies of apartments, or in the yards. Mezuzahs are encased bits of scripture, and succahs are outdoor eating areas used during certain religious festivals. Jewish Balconies

Latino Grocers: 

As to local stores catering to Latinos, or bodegas, outside one of them is a sign hand-written Spanish claiming that “real” Nicaraguan food is sold here. If the “Spanish spoken here” postings (en espanol) are insufficient clues, others hawking Productos Tropicales, Dominicanos, or Mexicanos, are prominently posted, as well as national symbols such as flags, or patriotic color schemes. But here caution must be exercised. For example, and for good reason, several of my students misread the Mexican red, green, and white tricolor as an Italian ethnic marker. More certain icons of Mexican presence are various stylized illustrations of Our Lady of Guadeloupe (Vergine de Guadalupe) in the windows of homes and businesses, or sometimes painted on exterior walls. It was also not difficult for my students to decipher the origin of the “Acapulco Car Service” on Seventh Avenue, but they were less likely to place the names of towns and cities, like Xalapa, displayed in the windows of shops which provided long-distance telephone services. Photo 9. Dominican Grocery Store, 2002. Latino Grocers

Dominican Chimis, Brooklyn: 

Dominican Chimis, Brooklyn

Latino RIP, Brooklyn: 

Latino RIP, Brooklyn

Puerto Rican Restaurant: 

Puerto Rican Restaurant

Mexican Belmont, Bronx: 

Mexican Belmont, Bronx

Italian Bensonhurst, Brooklyn: 

Bensonhurst has benefited by ebbs and flows of Italian, especially Sicilian, immigrants since World War Two, many of whom have homes in both Italy and the United States. In contrast to Greenpoint, the Italian shopping street, 18th Avenue that was renamed in 1992 as “Cristoforo Colombo Boulevard,” attracts many non-Italians. Polish shopping areas point more inward than do Italian ones. This has as much to do with immigrant and ethnic attitudes as to perceptions by outsiders. In American cities, Italian neighborhoods, festooned with red, white, and green signs and flags, are places where people go to shop and especially to eat. Italian restaurants are a virtual ethnic industry; what I have called in other places “Ethnic Theme Parks” or “Disneylands.” (Krase, 1997) In contrast, in Brooklyn's Polonia one finds few "fancy" restaurants and even fewer eateries, which seek to attract outsiders. Of course Bensonhurst is not totally open to outsiders, its ethnic insularity is reflected in the large number of local Caffes, town and regional social clubs, and Italian record stores which are generally off limits for non-Italian-speaking visitors. Italian Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

Italian Bensonhurst, Brooklyn: 

Italian Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

Chinese Bus, Philadelphia: 

Chinese Bus, Philadelphia

Russian Mail Service, Brooklyn: 

Russian Mail Service, Brooklyn

Afro Caribbean Day Care Center, Brooklyn: 

Afro Caribbean Day Care Center, Brooklyn

Afro Caribbean Stone work, Brooklyn: 

Afro Caribbean Stone work, Brooklyn