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October 17, 2008

When Noah Baumbach Was Young

jake-dobkin-park-slope-1008.jpgThink you're old-school Park Slope? A Facebook group called Thirty Something and Grew Up in Park Slope has gained about 500 members since it was started six months ago. As per The Times this morning: "At the time, Park Slope had enough families that it could be a haven for children, but it was far from child-proofed, providing an ideal environment for the heightened sensory experiences that kids never forget." Which is how Gothamist founder Jake Dobkin, shown at left in the PS 321 playground, got to be such a tough guy!




Posted by Brownstoner at 9:09 AM | Comments (9)
Categories: Park Slope

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So which Brooklyn neighborhoods, if any, provide that sort of experience now?

Posted by: Architerrorist at October 17, 2008 9:31 AM

Thay all do! Our daughter was raised here - on the edge of downtown Brooklyn. Pierpont park, PS 321, the Mom and Pop stores that used be on Smith and the men who played dominos all day, indoor soccer, Pete's ice cream on Atlantic -- they are all great memories for her and the kids she grew up with. And the kids growing up here now will have different ones. None better or worse -- just different.

Posted by: BH76 at October 17, 2008 9:42 AM

whenever im walking around the neighborhood and see kids the first thing i think is lucky bastards. haha.

-rob

Posted by: PitbullNYC at October 17, 2008 9:49 AM

I grew up here and recognize people from the pictures--pretty cool! Ah, the days of Al's toyland!

Posted by: PHfamily at October 17, 2008 10:38 AM

Architerrorist has obviously never been to a brooklyn public school.

Posted by: Santa at October 17, 2008 11:44 AM

Not quite 30 yet but grew up in the neighborhood and remember well the days of Al's Toy Land. I miss the corner sicilian slice from Bens Pizza, a lost neighborhood treasure.

Posted by: SWY at October 17, 2008 1:31 PM

I used to get my Star War figures from Al's Toy Land in the early 80's, they always seemed get them in before the other toy stores, and I was coming up from Cobble Hill.

Posted by: lifer at October 17, 2008 1:42 PM

Born in Brooklyn, raised in Brooklyn, Work in Brooklyn.
I love Brooklyn.

Posted by: Xander Crews at October 17, 2008 6:09 PM

Santa -

I've put 3 kids through 321 and and now public middle schools. They certainly did not receive a Noah Baumbach childhood, as much as I would have liked it. The leftist leaning, self-absorbed intellectuals that allowed their children to roam free in a gentrifying (rather than gentrified) neighborhood are few and far between. Giant child-safety bars surround Park Slope for better or worse. I'm not saying it's a bad place to raise children by any means, but it's not the same neighborhood it was in the 70 and 80s...

Ditmas Park? Kensington? Jackson Heights?

Posted by: Architerrorist at October 18, 2008 11:18 AM

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