New York City: the dark light of this nothing

Over a ten year period (1990-2000) the neighborhood saw a 14 percent decline in its Black population, and was the only neighborhood in New York City that experienced a decline in the number of Hispanic residents. A uniformity has emerged among the newer population, one which is visible in the Park Slope Parent, and also in the younger set, described by Pete Hamill in Brooklyn Revisited:

"I am watching the new people walk on my old Seventh Avenue, a steady stream coming home from the subway. All are in their twenties, most of them gym-thin. Shoulder bags hang from their shoulders while other bags form humps on their backs. Their thumbs flick across tiny keyboards. They talk into cell phones. They never make eye contact with anyone."