God’s Row: houses of God v. the god of commerce
James Angelos has this report on the NY Times about churches in the Bronx:
. . . While the faithful often attribute the proliferation of churches to the will of God, a few earthly factors help explain their numbers in this particular part of the Bronx.
Starting in the 1970s, in a trend echoed throughout much of the city, Wakefield was plagued by crime that drove many of the neighborhood’s residents, among them large numbers of Italian and Irish families, to the relative safety of the suburbs. In response to their departure, many of the butcher shops, travel agencies, pharmacies and other small businesses along White Plains Road closed, leaving behind empty storefronts.
During the 1980s, immigrants from the Caribbean began replacing residents who had left. The immigrants brought with them faiths like Pentecostalism, and they established fledgling churches in the cheapest and most convenient places they could find, the White Plains Road storefronts widely available at low rents.
The houses of worship do not, however, inspire praise from all quarters. Some along White Plains Road contend that the churches take up ground-floor space that might otherwise be occupied by large stores capable of luring shoppers to the area. As the churches cater to the longings of the soul, some claim, they slow the forward march of commerce . . .