Eddie Murphy Revives ‘Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood’ to Lampoon Gentrification
Saturday night was a watershed moment in late-night television. Eddie Murphy returned to SNL for the first time in decades. As host.
In so doing, many of his iconic characters also returned, including Gumby and Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood. The latter being a riff on Mr. Rogers in the low-income Harlem of the 1980s. Well, this new parody aged in kind, with gentrification taking the topic of conversation.
The title card of the sketch plays on the demographic theme by showing an old tenement flanked by construction and a silvery condo building. Robinson enters the door and begins his dressing routine while singing about how the neighborhood has changed (“the check cashing place turned into a bank/the elevator works and instead they don’t stink/the white people came and changed everything/but I am still your neighbor”). He then defines the “magic trick” called gentrification (“white people pay a lot of money and then, poof, all the black people are gone”) and discusses “squatters rights.”
Eddie Murphy starred on SNL between 1980 and 1984 – when creator Lorne Michaels had left – and is credited with saving the series from cancellation. His more recent absence (and distance) from the show was largely to do with a wise-crack from David Spade during his Weekend Update segment in 1995.
Recent Stories
New Condos Teased at 15-Story ‘One Essex Crossing’
Each month brings more significant updates for Essex Crossing. On the heels of the International Center of Photography launching its new flagship, the billion-dollar Lower East Side development this week rolled out more info about the CetraRuddy-designed condo tower at 202 Broome Street (aka Site 3). Dubbed One Essex Crossing, the fifteen-story newcomer features 83 […]
Broome Street Gets an Exclusive Nightclub by Omar Hernandez
Where Happy Ending once tormented this Broome Street block, and Better Days was anything but, something uber-upscale is now replacement. Perhaps even too upscale for its own good. By now you’ve probably seen the well-placed hype pieces about the newest nightclub at 302 Broome Street, led by nightlife impresario Omar Hernandez. He converted the space […]
Ten Injured, Including Firefighters, in Massive Mulberry Street Blaze Last Night [Updated]
The three-alarm blaze that engulfed 70 Mulberry Street last night spread quickly, destroying the upper levels of the historic Public School 23. The fire started shortly after 8:45pm on the fourth floor. Firefighters from Ladder 20 and police from the 5th Precinct were the first responders. More than two hundred fire personnel ultimately arrived to […]
3-Alarm Fire Engulfs PS 23 Building on Mulberry Street
Shortly before 9pm this evening, a three-alarm fire was sparked at 70 Mulberry Street (at Bayard). Within minutes, the historic building – erected in the nineteen century as Public School 23 – was in flames. More than one hundred firefighters were called to the scene to battle the blaze which is apparently confined to the […]
The Year of the Rat Scurries In
It’s the Year of the Rat! This week marks the 21st year of New York City’s Lunar New Year celebration, and no doubt the organizers are scurrying around in preparation for a veritable smorgasbord of festivities. As in years past, the festivities will kick off with the explosive Firecracker Ceremony Saturday morning at 11:00am (January 25) […]
