Though the central storyline focuses on a teenage couple, the story’s core conflict is racial inequality and gentrification. The only reason Dante and Shay must separate is because of the wealthy white couple who buy out Shay’s family home, forcing them to leave New York City altogether. Before Shay and her mother leave the house, Shay’s mother remembers all the plants she bought and cared for—“Plants they weren’t able to keep because now this space—their space—was gone. Bought out from under them. Empty” (6). This description, imbued with a tone of sadness and resentment, indicates the obligatory nature of the family’s move. They are devastated to be leaving, but they cannot afford to stay.

What Shay’s family goes through has been an increasingly common experience in New York City, and especially Brooklyn, since the 1960s. As more and more wealthy white people move into lower to middle class neighborhoods, the people who call those areas home—many of them immigrants and people of color—are forced to move out since they can no longer afford to live in them. The story does not explicitly mention gentrification, but it is firmly in the background, informing every event and interaction.