'Port Sleene'? Yeah, That Has Quite a Ring to It
Brooklyn Paper columnist Dana Rubinstein spies a new maybe-trend: The Slope-ification of Fort Greene. Evidence? More boutiques, more strollers, more white people, more coffee shops, more high-end grocers like Union Market coming. It’s a glass half-empty sorta thing (“Fort Greene has acquired a distinctly less edgy vibe. Stores cater to the arrived, rather than the…
Brooklyn Paper columnist Dana Rubinstein spies a new maybe-trend: The Slope-ification of Fort Greene. Evidence? More boutiques, more strollers, more white people, more coffee shops, more high-end grocers like Union Market coming. It’s a glass half-empty sorta thing (“Fort Greene has acquired a distinctly less edgy vibe. Stores cater to the arrived, rather than the up-and-coming, the mainstream, rather than the avant-garde.”) but hey, at least the water is designer (“there are far worse things than looking like Park Slope”). And of course, what trendspotting nabe article would be complete without a couple possible new names for the area: “Park Greene. Or Fort Slope. Or Port Sleene.” Wait a sec, has Fart Grope been spoken for?
My Copycat Neighbors [Brooklyn Paper]
Fort Greene photo by Daniel A. Norman; Slope photo by wallyg.
that would be fort greene, loser
Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green! Fort Green!
a drug den? you mean a few tweens occasionally smoking a dooby? like i said a you’re a pussy.
I miss the old Brooklyn when most of you folks wouldnt dare go to Brooklyn Heights, let alone Park Slope.
1:48…it’s already changed.
Most of the newcomers to Ft. Greene are money grubbing neurotic freakshows.
I bet you 1:46 (the first 1:46) is the same person who ends their more forceful declarations with…
PERIOD
Fort Greene was cool to me because it’s always seemed international to me. When I first started to go there, in the mid 90s, I was visiting friends who had moved there from France, Africa, Morocco, Holland — and I saw the area through their fresh and passionate eyes. They seemed to love it for its quintessential New Yorkness — between the brownstone architecture and the strong black community, there was something in Fort Greene that only New York could offer them; the very reason they were here. It had a rebellious, outsider feel where the pride of the area was inherent; not based on money, accomplishment or school stats, but based on independence and resilience. I think my outsider friends identified and felt welcome there unlike in any other neighborhood in New York.
I lived in Williamsburg at the time, and I and most of my friends there were artists. We were inclusive, self-sufficient and pretty much disengaged from the community around us; we did whatever it took to get by, and continue to work, which was hard enough. We didn’t have time or interest in discovering new york or communing with our neighbors.
So my visits to fort Greene were surprising, refreshing trips. There, people seemed so aware of each other, of every nook and cranny of their few-block radius, so happy to live there and happy to be a part of each others’ lives, despite many problems like rodents, drugs, dirty streets. My friend Sophie took me to numerous ethnic restaurants (there seemed to be only those at the time!). My other friend Maurice introduced me to everyone on his block, within a span of one afternoon. And another friend, Alan, introduced me to BAM, which was such an eye-opener — foreign theater companies being given this incredibly large and well-equipped venue to put on unconventional productions to large, packed houses.
It seems to me, having now lived here for several years, that Fort Greene continues to draw Australians, Chileans, Zaireans etc . . . and I hope this never changes.
“but they are really nice dealers and good product, which they definitely do not have in Park Poop.”
They deliver in the Slope. No need to go into the park at night to score in the nicer neighborhoods.
It’s all legit.
I’ve bought perfectly acceptable dope in Prospect Park, thank you very much.