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September 15, 2009

Street Clutter in Brooklyn?

City Room, a New York Times blog, published a rant from Julia Willkie over the weekend about the cluttered streets and sidewalks in Manhattan. She cites sidewalk vendors, superfluous "honor boxes" for free publications, and an excess of phone booths among her primary woes. She quite dramatically writes: "The center of the Upper East Side is beginning to resemble a hardened hooker of the night." What we would like to know is if street clutter has become a problem for any of us in Brooklyn. Readers, what do you think—do the crowds of Seventh Avenue in Park Slope or Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg get you down? Is there a Brooklyn equivalent to Ms. Willkie's slightly overwrought description of Manhattan's crowded streets?
Complaint Box: Street Clutter [NY Times]
Photo by makemusicnewyork

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This is one of the reasons I like my part of bed Stuy so much. It is sooooo quiet over here. At first I thought that this was awful that i had to travel to Ft. Greene or BoCoCa for restaurants and higher end food shopping but now I think it's great. Frankly there aren't that many places aruound me that could have a store in them anyway so it's really very pleasant.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2009 11:20 AM

Bedford Avenue - no one goes there anymore, it's too crowded.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 15, 2009 11:27 AM

And wtf is going on in that picture? free american apparel t-shirt day at spike hill?

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 15, 2009 11:27 AM

quote:
and an excess of phone booths among her primary woes

wow, id like to get in that time machine she did to travel back to 1981. :-/

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 15, 2009 11:27 AM

The Horror! The Horror!

Must be nice for life to be so uncluttered by the important things that these issues can take center stage. Seems like her rant is against the clutter being in her neighborhood (blocks from Hizzoner's plush pad), not the real issue of a truly dirty city.

Gotta say, however, that whoever thought of those flower filled park spaces in front of Macy's and on Broadway, down on 23rd and 9th, and wherever they crop up, was a genius. The other day, those spaces were filled with happy tourists and locals, having a break, and enjoying our sometimes fair city. Nice. They work well downtown Brooklyn, as well.

I'm all for beautifying the city, but this woman annoyed me to the point that whatever good points she had, and there were a few, were lost in the sense of entitlement. Too bad.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at September 15, 2009 11:29 AM

i work in prime soho, so im used to the ridiculously large crowds. coming back to brooklyn is a god send it seems so tranquil. im not a huge fan of tranquility, but at the same time it's a welcome relief from soho which is a nightmare trying to manuever.
*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 15, 2009 11:29 AM

It always amazes me what stupid sh*t people will waste time whining about.

Posted by: Lo Kee at September 15, 2009 11:30 AM

most of the clutter is human. If people just followed the same rules on the sidewalk that they do on the road, we'd be fine.

signal before you turn.
don't stop in place.
stay right.
no parking.
don't go slow next to someone else going slow.
don't drift out of your lane.
please get out of my way. You know I need to get by, don't fake it.

Posted by: joe_the_bummer at September 15, 2009 11:33 AM

ditto, Lo Kee.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2009 11:33 AM

Joe...I couldn't agree more with you. The number of jackasses I run into who slow down or stop so they can talk on their phone is ridicluous.

Also, another pet peeve of mine is people coming out of a store and into the flow of foot traffic or, even worse, someone trying to cut across the flow of the sidewalk. I usually have a strong word or two for them that they tend to dislike.

And, women drift.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2009 11:39 AM

don't even get me STARTED on people in wheelchairs cluttering the damn sidewalk.

kidding, kidding.

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 15, 2009 11:42 AM

"The center of the Upper East Side is beginning to resemble a hardened hooker of the night."

I used to live on the UES and I would assume that the "center of the UES" is Bloomingdales and it has ALWAYS been hellish around there especially on Lexington with more narrow sidewalks.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2009 11:48 AM

what does that quote even mean tho?

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 15, 2009 11:50 AM

Bloomingdales center of the UES? the UES STARTS at 59th street Dave.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 15, 2009 11:50 AM

I consider anything above 42nd Street to be UES.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2009 11:53 AM

Well you're wrong Dave ;)

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 15, 2009 11:55 AM

finally i have a way to find out the answer to a question I've been wanting to ask for a long time, at risk of offending the whole brownstoner population.

what proportion of regular brownstoner posters know where bloomingdales is?

Posted by: joe_the_bummer at September 15, 2009 11:58 AM

there are plenty of bloomingdales around the country. It is a chain store no matter what aura they are trying to push.
And those that fall for their marketing ploy are dopes.

BTW - I do find all those free newspaper boxes clutter and ugly and offensive(besides dirty and mostly abondoned)...far worse than some of the buildings complained about on Brownstoner.

Posted by: Petebklyn at September 15, 2009 12:02 PM

When people ask my sister and I if we still we reside in Brooklyn we happily reply, "Yes!" For us "the city" is an necessary requirement for employment. We love the scale and the scope of living in brownstone Brooklyn and lament that we've been discovered. It's true DL living.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at September 15, 2009 12:02 PM

"what proportion of regular brownstoner posters know where bloomingdales is?"

59th and lex and broadway btw spring and broome.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 15, 2009 12:03 PM

One of the things I've always enjoyed about Brooklyn is that it's not Manhattan. The types of crowds one encounters in the East Village, SoHo, etc. are exactly what I don't need to see where I live. So, while I am often glad when there are a few better retailers emerge in my neighborhood (Crown Heights) and its great when a formerly empty house or apartment building is bought and brought back to life by a caring owner, I'm always wary about "gentrification" going too far, and creating the conditions I've sought to avoid.

Posted by: East New York at September 15, 2009 12:03 PM

ES & D, dh.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 15, 2009 12:05 PM

Well said ENY.

The only time I notice "clutter" on 7th Ave. is on Sundays, which is pretty understandable.

Older people - middle-aged people I mean - are the most oblivious on the sidewalk. They stop to orient themselves at the top of subway stairs, or suddenly on the street, without ever moving to the storefronts to get out of the way. Or they walk abreast with a three foot gap between them.

I am at Ground Zero of strollerdom; any ideas that strollers are unpleasant to share the sidewalks with are completely unfounded. Most of the moms and nannies fall all over themselves to be polite.

Posted by: infinitejester at September 15, 2009 12:14 PM

"The center of the Upper East Side is beginning to resemble a hardened hooker of the night"

So true! And yet for completely different reasons than the ones the author is asserting...

Posted by: lalaland at September 15, 2009 12:22 PM

> any ideas that strollers are unpleasant to share the sidewalks
> with are completely unfounded

I respectfully disagree. During my years in Park Slope, it appears that some folks have mistaken their Bugaboos for a icebreakers, and other people on the sidewalk as obstructing ice.

Posted by: DitmasSnark at September 15, 2009 12:30 PM

I can't believe it took that long for the stroller debate to start.

Posted by: new2hood at September 15, 2009 12:46 PM

Waah Waah - I mean I agree their are far to many payphones in Manhattan (can't we just remove the phones and put up a few billboards and be done with the pretext?)

But if the cities problem is that it is too crowded, then you really dont have too many problems.

Posted by: fsrg at September 15, 2009 12:48 PM

i've never gotten hit by a stroller, but i have been hit by obnoxious bikers.

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 15, 2009 12:50 PM

Mothers w/ kids are the worst. Yesterday at the curb of 7th Av & Garfield there were 3 mothers w/ strollers plus 5 kids ages 4 or 5 standing solidly on the corner chatting. Further along, in front of the church near Key Food, 2 more stroller moms w/ 3 kids - standing between the wall of the church fence & the substantial planters when there's that huge, roomy plaza in front of the bagel place not 8 steps away. Both groups were totally oblivious to how they were blocking passage for anyone else.

Posted by: Arkady at September 15, 2009 12:52 PM

Ditmas, I am amazed by that. I honestly have never encountered any 'tude. Funny how things can be so different.

Posted by: infinitejester at September 15, 2009 12:53 PM

i really have the urge to say the "C F" word right now. is that really a bannable offense?

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 15, 2009 12:56 PM

CF?

Posted by: DitmasSnark at September 15, 2009 1:00 PM

rhymes with rotch root

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 15, 2009 1:11 PM

in a top notched suit

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 15, 2009 1:13 PM

I hate those "honor boxes"!

Posted by: Ringo at September 15, 2009 1:17 PM

I originally misread it as "hardened hooker of the right" and immediatley thought she was talking about Ann Coulter!

Posted by: BH76 at September 15, 2009 1:18 PM

watch the loot

Posted by: infinitejester at September 15, 2009 1:19 PM

think that the bedford crowd is watching a band play. seen them there before. they only shut the street down a few times in the summer, and it's fine really.

don't think anywhere in brooklyn is too crowded.

soho is RIDICULOUS as is the high 50's / low '60's east side / central park.

i am super over working in Soho for sure.

am seriously considering moving my biz to williamsburg.

Posted by: wine lover at September 15, 2009 1:37 PM

> rhymes with rotch root

Ah. But of course. I was mistakenly thinking "fustercluck."

Posted by: DitmasSnark at September 15, 2009 1:45 PM

oh wine lover.. not today.

and rotch root would make a great name for a plumbing company!!

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 15, 2009 1:51 PM

I was trying to navigate 7th Ave on Sunday and I just ended up walking in the street.

Posted by: rh at September 15, 2009 1:52 PM

I don't find people with children and strollers as much as a problem ...as those with cellphone, ipods, whatever that can't walk straight line, stop suddenly (especially at top of subway stairs) because OMG like a text message just ARRIVED and i gotta read it right NOW. and they were like and i was like.

Posted by: Petebklyn at September 15, 2009 2:52 PM

rob - not what today? working in williamsburg? why not? save a ton. i'm over Soho - i'm agreeing with you. it's more convenient to going to photo shoots in manahattan and having meetings i guess, but that's about it.

Posted by: wine lover at September 15, 2009 3:11 PM

I love my street. People just wander around on my unbusy, who cares street, spaced out, dropping junk food packaging. That's about it. No crowds, no strollers, no phone booths, just dorito bags and cupcake wrappers. I can deal with it.

Posted by: donatella at September 15, 2009 3:16 PM

Here's a bright idea - if a particular street is too cluttered for you - how about NOT walking on it?

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 15, 2009 3:24 PM

Why am I bother to comment...? Oh, yes, we want to keep the "clicks" up on Brownstoner...or whatever they call it...for advertising.

Anyway, yes, I have to say I agree with Robert. Soho can be horrible to navigate! Just atrocious!

I do prefer Fort Greene...I can't think of any terrible sidewalk clutter. Sometimes there are a lot of people but that's a good thing. Pequeno must have been in trouble with the City (aside from the violations they recently had). They had tables out to the curb, not just on their deck. It started with them putting small tables along the deck but on the sidewalk. Eventually, they put tables at teh curb. It was tough walking through that but I didn't complain and simply avoided it. I guess someone else complained or the City took notice. I think Cafe Lafayette was doing the same thing at one point and ceased.

We have very narrow sidewalks up the south side of Lafayette with tree roots and uneven sidewalks. It's hard to get a stroller or "granny cart" (like the one I use) over the tree roots but other than that, the sidewalks in Fort Greene aren't bad. Certain areas of Manhattan are a world away in that respect.

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at September 15, 2009 3:54 PM

Hope these idiots don't end up in my nabe. Standing outside of a club, bar, restaurant looking in -or- listening to a band? It doesn't make sense (find something else to do dammit!)

Posted by: The Who at September 15, 2009 3:57 PM

Lafayette with a stroller is really bad, BrooklynGreene. There's that one spot... anyways, there were a few times last winter when I was just getting over the broken ankle and pushing the stroller and the snow banks on the curb prohibited me from going in the street and that damn tree... well, I quickly learned to use the other side of the street.

However, all of Fort Greene beats Williamsburg for its construction-clogged sidewalks. There's a few buildings there (finished now) that I want to go back and egg. Or smash windows. Or create artistic graffiti. Or something.

Posted by: Heather at September 15, 2009 6:51 PM

I've got nothing against people on the sidewalks...that's how we get around and a sign of life. What I do have a problem with are the "honor boxes" and even worse, the vendors. I don't care whether they're selling fruit, incense, t-shirts, hot dogs or pretzels. Why does NYC have to give an individual easy access to setting up some kind of business venture on a public sidewalk? In some crowded areas, the private entrepreneurs take up a large chunk of the public sidewalk.

Posted by: nyc_Hugo at September 15, 2009 9:12 PM

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September 15, 2009

Street Clutter in Brooklyn?

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