Friday Blogwrap

As much as I agree with your point, you are wasting your breath, 9:05. Montrose Morris loves to hear him/herself talk and is inacapable of expressing a point succinctly. MM is also hypersensitive about CH and cannot let a negative statement go unanswered. That is why it is so much fun to needle him/her. This was true when he/she posted under the names of Brower Park and Crown Heights Proud.

Jesus Christ, Montrose. Must you recycle the same potted, verbose, tired sermon in every thread? If nothing else, take the time to improve your signal-to-noise ratio. Think of it as a courtesy to your readers.

Thanks, Montrose.

Actually, people like you and Bob Marvin are change agents and, whether you think of yourselves this way or not, influential people.

By renovating your houses and providing examples to others, and by writing balanced commentary about your neighborhoods, “Brownstoners” are helped in making decisions that are moving Brooklyn forward.

Bob Marvin, I think, has been in PLG for a long time, and probably is best to judge how much the borough has grown. I can hardly believe it myself. There was a time when ALL of Brooklyn, including Park Slope, was written off. (I should know. My grand parents fled their brownstone on a “name” street in Park Slope in the 1930’s because the neighborhood was “changing.”)

NOP

NOP, who, from his address, has obviously done well in life, is a big booster for his childhood home. A neighborhood that is in most ways much changed from what he remembers, 50 – 60 years ago. Totally different population, different income levels, different culture, and different problems. Yet he still loves it, and on this blog has been a fierce supporter against those who have no agenda other than an ax to grind, for reasons I still don’t understand.

I don’t care if he owns half of CH. As far as I can tell from his posts, and I don’t know him personally, he doesn’t own anything here. Who cares? Why can’t he, or I, or Bob Marvin in PLG, or Brownstoner in Clinton Hill write with pride about our neighborhoods? How can any of us be propping up our property values by comments on a blog? My one little house in Crown Heights, which I have no intention of selling in the forseeable future, is going to influence the hearts and minds of millions? Please. I should have that much power. If a man like NOP did have that kind of influence, CH would be a better place.

ALL neighborhoods have value. Value to those who live there, as our homes are the most expensive commodity any of us are likely to have, no matter how much or how little we paid. Value as the places we raise our families, places we spend our money, perhaps worship, streets we walk down every day, whether to go to work, or walk our dogs. Value as a community of fellow human beings with whom we interact, both good and bad. We are defined by our communities, whether good or bad. ALL of our neighborhoods have histories, every building, every park, every street was built and named for someone who was important in his/her time and place, for people to enjoy and prosper in. Nothing has changed in that respect.

Some neighborhoods, like Crown Heights, Clinton Hill and Bed Stuy, started out as upper middle class and wealthy enclaves, especially on certain streets, and like many neighborhoods all over the country, rose, fell, and are rising again, because they are beautiful, have easy access to transportation, and are being recognised as viable, desireable and worthy places to live. None of this hides or disguises that all of these places have social issues to be addressed, problems to be overcome, and may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

The only vile backwaters here are the minds of those who cannot, for some inexplicable reason, live and let live. Who seem to have a mission in life to “educate” the masses on the horrors of life in these communities. People who are incapable of understanding that a pride and love of one’s neighborhood encompasses the good and bad, the positive and negative. NOP is proud of Crown Heights. Good for him.