The Domino Sugar factory in Brooklyn has stopped functioning for a year or so. And just today my sister noted that there was a big ol’ sign plastered across the building with “Save Domino” on it. . . Without knowing the detailed background, I said “sugar factories aren’t exactly the most beloved of institutions.” But when I realized that they were protesting the $1.3 billion housing project; it was clearer why they were unhappy.

At this point though, I ask, is there any way the gentrification can be stopped? I’m all for the protesting and putting up a good fight. But after what’s happening on all fronts in Brooklyn and Harlem and the Lower East Side; New York City seems to be on the verge of eliminating poverty through exclusivity.

Gentrification, real estate, and increasing the gap between the have and have nots just seems like a life in the day of NYC’s neighborhoods. I just passed by another previously abandoned building that will soon be home to the East Houston street hotel.

Last week it was revealed that the average price for a studio in Manhattan is $1,995. Now it doesn’t seem though that average salaries for a majority of the new population in the city is getting any higher. Instead, what’s becoming more common is the 3 roommate lifestyle for people in their late 20s but also now increasing amounts of unmarried 30 and 40 year olds.

So while the bankers and surgeons and coke dealers may have pads to themselves; what I find most amusing about the “reaction” of the surge in pricing of homes is the fact that people have to deal with roomies. That brings about situations that many didn’t have to beforehand. It’s so common for professionals to have roomies that it’s become a regular topic of discussion on the subways and streets. As you walk and run or jog, you find that more people are discussing their roomies than other topics.

Ahh New York, will I be able to afford you on my own someday? I do hope so.