Brooklyn Ron is Ron Howell. He is a fourth generation Brooklynite, an African-American gray beard (Spanish-speaking and of Caribbean descent) who believes Old Brooklyn is the heart of New Brooklyn and that New Brooklyn is devouring its heart day by day.
Powers-that-be don't like to acknowledge it, but Brooklyn is often referred to as the black borough of the city, because African-Americans make up a full third of its population of more than two million souls.
But today large numbers of those very people, and long-time Latino residents, are in grave danger of being displaced, as ongoing gentrification barrels through the borough, fostered by monied interests downtown and across the river.
What's needed today is a bridge between the Old and the New Brooklyn.
On this site's banner (above), Old and New Brooklyn are represented in a blending of two photos taken by prize-winning photographer Ozier Muhammad. On the left are the Downtown Duffield St. homes (said to have been part of the Underground Railroad in 19th century) and on the right are the new Oro condominiums going up Downtown, blocks away from Duffield St.
Can a bridge be constructed joining the two? Brooklyn Ron thinks so. After all, this is a borough associated in the minds of many around the country and the world with a bridge.
