Airbnb listings in gentrifying New York City neighborhoods are causing higher rent and further gentrification, displacing residents and attracting wealthier ones.

It’s a story many New Yorkers are familiar with. After years of eating at their favorite mom-and-pop restaurant or grabbing a coffee at their local bodega, it’s suddenly…gone. And in its place is Chase Bank, Whole Foods, Starbucks or some other corporation or fast-food chain.

Gentrification is a massive issue in New York City — increasingly pushing low-income residents, minorities and local businesses out of their familiar neighborhoods as they gradually transform into the “next hottest block.”

People from…

I didn’t know what I was getting into when I started watching Broad City, the Comedy Central TV show about two twenty-somethings trying to navigate New York City. In the very first episode, main characters Ilana Wexler (Ilana Glazer) and Abbi Abrams (Abbi Jacobson) scramble across the city, trying to collect money for a pop-up Lil Wayne concert. They end up in an unusual situation due to a Craigslist ad, where they clean a man’s apartment in their underwear for $200. The man then oddly pretends to act like a baby, diaper and all, to avoid paying them. …

“Ignorance is bliss.”

For many, this is not only a phrase, but a preferred way of living. Remaining blind to the truth, admittedly, can have its perks. When it is too ugly to bear, sometimes it feels better to just pretend that you hadn't seen it. However, although the tactic may be appealing, it’s simply unjust to ignore the truth. We see this “ignorance is bliss” attitude beginning long, long ago, and a classic representation of it can be found in Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave. For those unfamiliar with the tale, it begins with prisoners who are chained…