Discount Sneakers in a Duplex World

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But a great deal of new luxury housing is built or on the drawing board for Downtown Brooklyn, from the BellTel Lofts one block north of the mall to the new condos one block southwest at 110 Livingston Street. With the influx of affluent neighbors, related plans to refurbish Fulton Mall have worried Ms. Cruickshank and some other patrons of the vibrant shopping strip. The mall, they fear, will no longer be for them.

“This mall caters to African-Americans, Latinos, Caribbeans,” said Ms. Cruickshank, sitting in Albee Square at the mall’s edge on an unseasonably balmy afternoon last week. Nearby, a jewelry counter displayed 200 styles of gold door-knocker earrings, and a small running-shoe shop offered Nike Air Force Ones decorated with candy-colored glitter and pictures of Tupac Shakur.

•“When they close down all these local shops that cater to our hair, the clothes we buy, the food we eat, where are we going to shop?” Ms. Cruickshank asked. “Round up 10 people here, and I guarantee you they won’t say they want a Banana Republic. We don’t want another Manhattan. Let Brooklyn be Brooklyn.”