Thursday Links

Anyone who calls NYC “suburban” – especially Brooklyn – has never lived in the suburbs. The fact that we have the opportunity get our boojie delights (ie: lattes, weekend brunches, nice bookstores, specialty cheese shops, Mac-not-PC computers, etc.) from independent businesses is testament to this. In Middle America (aka: M.A.) I would have to buy my “frappuccino” (aka: artificial coffee flavored milkshake) at a starbucks and drink to the sound of “rainforest tunes” or whatever crappy music they have on their compilation CDs and would be forced to type my tirade on a hideous Dell computer.

In fact, there’s a theme in 2 of these articles – it’s all apropos of the article on Fulton Mall – there is some middle ground and I think what’s going on is generally good.

I say keep up the protests against Wal Mart but let’s really overhaul Fulton Street and Mall get some more diverse and more useful stores than the glut of nail salons, sneaker shops, video game shops, fly-by-night gift shops, grey market cell phone shops, 99¢ stores and Crown Fried Chicken joints that litter every “ethnically diverse” Brooklyn neighborhood.

To rebut the inevitable, defensive, argument that “the nail salons (etc.) wouldn’t be there if they weren’t demand for them” argument, I say businesses like this are fueled as much by the tepid demand for them as they are by the very, very abundant supply of cheap, crappy merchandise. Why else are there 10 gazillion nail salons on Fulton Street and not one single good hardware store in a neighborhood of DIY homeowners? It’s a sin that Home Depot is the main source of hardware the neighborhood.

Not to mention the lack of good grocery stores in Bed Stuy (other than the Super Foodtown), pet stores in Bushwick (despite the many, many pitbulls and chihuahuas in the hood) and, well, pretty much everything useful in East New York is testament to this.

I’m sure this post will piss off a bunch of people, but not everything has to be polarized, sentimental or about class/race/culture… I’m not even talking about sipping a latte or quaffing a glass of fine wine in the hood… everybody needs grocery stores, hardware stores, laundry, etc. and there’s no use in pining away for “old NYC”. It’s a bygone era so just make the most of what NYC is now by exercising creativity, resourcefulness and entrepreneurship.

All this nostalgia for the “good old days” of 20 years ago or so in NYC is pretty bizarre. Move to Columbus or St. Louis and then let us know if you still think New York is too boring. Move to Brooklyn or Queens if you think Manhattan has become too corporate. Move to East New York — or to Camden or Baltimore — if you pine for the days of street muggings and drug wars. Yeah, it’s a shame there are no more bums on the Bowery. A damned shame that the subways are clean and safe and air conditioned now. And it’s a frigging tragedy that the rape and murder rates in NYC have come down. What IS the world coming to?

you have to read walled in bay ridge. i live one block fom this thing and the pictures do not do it justice. cinder blocks right up to his window. this issue was brought up a community board meeting monday im not sure what happened. i should also say that this is not to my knowledge a developer but rather the guys neighbor for 5 years!

9:33 points out the real reason why the Stepford Wives insult cerain historic neighborhoods in Brooklyn as being too diverse and not safe enough for their families (even though every other house here has very happy children living in it). It’s because they’re the types who would have been living on Long Island 5 years ago. They just don’t “get it”, true city living. I love the new amenities and comforts that are arriving, and the lower crime. Anyone who complains about less crime is an idiot. However it’s a bit silly to see these people decide they want to live in Brooklyn, yet hang onto expectations they’ll find all the same things they’d find in the suburbs like the same quality of life, and fabulous public schools, and non-diverse neighbors, etc.

always nostalgia for different time. but viewpoint of what things are like now and what things were like then (when there was also great nostalgia for the NY of years before that) are trite generalizations and rewriting history.
This city today has so many different languages, ethnic groups, cuisines, etc, is so diverse compared to probably any time in its history.
But you have to get out of your own little neighborhood (or couple neighborhoods) and explore this city…which is much more than Manhattan below 86th st or brownstone Brooklyn.