They Spoke Up About Gentrification But No One Listened . . . Until They Voiced Those Concerns In A Dying Medium Perfectly Suited To The Gentrifiers Themselves

A case study in “knowing your audience”:

They saw abandoned brownstones renovated, cracks on sidewalks fixed and new families move onto their Harlem blocks.

They witnessed swanky, new restaurants open up — and they watched helplessly as the cost of housing shot through the roof.

Four Harlem natives watched the gentrification of their neighborhoods unfold, and now they’ve written a play about it.

The playwrights — all in their early 20s — have mixed feelings about the new businesses, towering new luxury apartment buildings and new faces in Harlem, and just want to see the rich culture of their neighborhoods preserved.

. . .

The play, which focuses on three young women dealing with the affects of their changing neighborhood, is in its final week-long run at the historic National Black Theatre and runs Friday through Dec. 11.

Is it also an example of irony? It’s too early in the morning for me to tell . . .