HUMBOLDT PARK — The fight over gentrification in Humboldt Park has struck again, this time landing squarely on the face of Grandma J's Local Kitchen.
A fight over the 'G'-word has struck again, this time landing squarely on the face of Grandma J's. (Facebook/Grandma J's Local Kitchen)
The owners of the cafe and eatery posted a photo of their defaced storefront glass — an anonymous message scrawled in black marker, which read "Get out of Humboldt Park / Don't gentrify us / We won't be Wicker Park" shortly after the shop was scheduled to open Monday morning.
The message was taken in stride by Grandma J's owners who responded to the anonymous anti-gentrification scribe with a bit of good will.
"Come on kids really??? I have been living in Humboldt Park on and off for 20 years and am going on my 3 year anniversary for Grandma J's this Saturday .... And you choose now to tell me to get out ? Can't we all just get along ?" the shop's Facebook message read.
The damage follows rising tensions between some Humboldt Park newcomers, homeowners, renters, longtime residents and activists who have taken their fight to Riot Fest, EveryBlock and the upcoming Bow Truss Logan Square, which is scheduled to open this month feet from the Illinois Centennial Monument at the neighborhood's commercial center.
After anonymous signs warning against gentrification were placed on Bow Truss' Pilsen shop in January, owner Phil Tadros told DNAinfo Chicago that he planned to bring good coffee to Logan Square, not gentrification.
"It's difficult to have a conversation when people are hiding. If you want to have a conversation you don’t hide behind vandalism or art, you have a conversation," Tadros said in March, after offering to meet with protestors.
Since May 22, a high-profile EveryBlock post entitled "Boycott" has garnered more than 450 comments by calling for a boycott of Humboldt Park businesses that meet certain vague criteria. The post claims that neighborhood shops that haven't welcomed newcomers to the neighborhood should be shut down.
"It's time for businesses to pay in the pocketbook for their sentiments. It's time for businesses to prosper who treat all the same," the post read.
(Facebook/Grandma J's Local Kitchen)
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