FLATBUSH, Brooklyn — Flatbush. Neighbors call it “rapid gentrification.”

“Some of the businesses that were here, were here for a while, and it’s sad to see them go,” said Dudley Sylvian sitting inside his tax firm office Sylco Consulting. It is pretty much the last business on the block that doesn’t have a for rent sign hanging above it.

During the past few weeks, Cortelyou between Flatbush and 22nd has said goodbye to the barber shop and to the bakery. The cleaners were cleared out before that.

“Rents are pretty high,” Sylvian said. “A lot of the businesses are minority owned, you know struggling to make ends meet to survive and bring something home to the family.”

“This is really disheartening for many of us, this is rapid gentrification happening in our community,” said Imani Henry, the lead organizer of Equality for Flatbush. The group tracks rising rents and helps displaced tenants.

Read the entire piece featuring grantee Equality for Flatbush here.