Rosie Revisited
First Rosie was on Brian Lehrer. Then we blogged about it. Then she led a panel at WNYC. Then New York Magazine cornered her and blogged it. Here’s a clip from the New York Mag post: Perez got pretty slammed on the Brooklyn blogs for her comments. As much as I find Rosie Perez to…
First Rosie was on Brian Lehrer. Then we blogged about it. Then she led a panel at WNYC. Then New York Magazine cornered her and blogged it. Here’s a clip from the New York Mag post:
Perez got pretty slammed on the Brooklyn blogs for her comments. As much as I find Rosie Perez to be a decent actor, sexy and certainly part of NYC’s charm, I must say comments like these make me want to kick her in the shins, wrote one commenter on Brownstoner. We cornered Perez after the show, and she was happy to clear up what she worried was a hostile comment. What I really wanted to say was that, yes, I’m nostalgic for the past, but I’m also excited about the present and hopeful for the future,” she explained. “Things do change. Water always has to flow or else it becomes stale. But with change, you can bring along some of the good minerals that came from the top of the waterfall.” She said she’d read some of the blogs and seen the nasty comments. “I think it’s their guilt of being the gentrifiers. They don’t know how to take it,” she said. “But I had to look at myself and I realized it came off a little hostile, to be honest.
Her parting words? “Even if you’re in a bad mood, just give me a nod. We’ll do one better: Come to the Flea tomorrow, Rosie, and we’ll buy you a pupusa!
What's Your Take? Leave a Comment
the neighborhood needs to have a mtg about the flea.
at first i was one who thought, oh. come on! it’s fun. what’s the harm? those cranky QOAS people!
that was then. it is almost impossible to get up and down lafayette on a saturday. half of the time i have to walk in the street because the sidewalks are crowded from curb to stoop.the neighborhood-which really is not that big land wise(maybe 1/2 that of, say park slope) is very noisy, congested, constant car traffic bikes, it’s as bad as being in the city on a weekend. that the flea is also a big factor in FG’s status as place to be seen not to live, is almost besides the point. the flea is just too big and it seems that as big as it is, gauging by the relentless press attention, the organizers want it to be bigger!
seriously what does FG/CH get from the flea? certainly loughlin gets some $ but while it is a fine school,alma mater of “Action” Jackson!) it’s a private school -meaning it has other sources of income. maybe some local resturants get some $ but now that there’s enough food vendors to open a resturant, that seems unlikely. the intentions are good but with a third flea opening a fun quirky market is now a chain. i begrudge no one getting the chance to earn a living-especially now, but the rights of those who live here should be as high of a priority as those who want to make money and then clear out .
what about the flea being open once a month? between the spillover from habana(nice guys who actually do A LOT for the area and the flea, saturdays are like being stuck in a mosh pit.
i think community board 2, tish and the flea folks need to have a sit down.the flea is fun but now it’s close to infestation.
I think a meeting is a GREAT idea, and I wrote to Mr. B. asking him to do it. Invite Rosie and Nelson George! Ask Brian Lehrher/WNYC to sponsor! Every MLK Day, he does a wonderful panel discussion on race at the Brooklyn Museum. I’ve been once and I was so impressed.
Roberta
white, single mom to a 13-year-old girl from China raised in Clinton Hill and now in Bed-Stuy
cool.
For those interested, the Clinton Hill Co-Ops were built between 1943 and 1955, in response to the WWII housing shortage (NYT article “Equitable Life Sells Brooklyn Development” July 7, 1958). So far, I see no mention of community activism against the ’41/’42 sale or later demolition of the Pouch Mansion (No. 345) in the Brooklyn Eagle at fultonhistory.com or in the NYT. The Brooklyn neighborhoods which supported the Navy Yard entered a “downturn” about 60 years ago when WWII’s economic boom ended, the growth of car culture (help from with Robert Moses) enabled suburban growth (even farther out in what is now Brooklyn), etc. That downturn is the same one that only ended within the last ten years, but may now be replaced by this one.
Chorosch, your suggestion of a community meeting is wonderful and your points are on target, but a community meeting may only foster more community anger. I witnessed inability to listen and take residents’ concerns seriously, eye-rolling, denigration, and manipulation by those with power and privilege at last summer’s Brooklyn Flea meeting. Flea owners eventually worked to alleviate the concerns of nearby institutions, yet residential neighbors were shut down, shut out, told “live with it” (we do). This was a very negative experience for some residents used to being able to work directly with local businesses, and this enterprise is enormous.
One of the saddest and most telling comments at that meeting was Mr. Butler’s own early statement that he had lived in the neighborhood for four years and the meeting was the first time he was truly meeting his neighbors.
Clearly everyone up here loves Brooklyn (or at least I would hope so). And yet, for me, Chorosch had the only interesting and intelligent comment regarding this story.
I wish more commenters took Brownstoner to task and challenged him to do something substantial instead of encouraging these anonymous bickering fests.
All of this talk about her cleavage is ridiculous and silly. She obviously wasn’t wearing the outfit in the photo above on at the WNYC event.
Here’s an actual pic. Quite respectable actually.
http://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2009/05/really-rosie.html
“gotcha” ? i’ve been white my whole life LOL!!!
peace out- ccol?
Ramona – your “gotcha” moment of “I’m white” doesn’t detract from the fact that you limited your comments about a clothing style to “white men” not hipster men. I tried to engage you on the kids issue with giving you the benefit of the doubt on your racial subtext (which is pretty strong!); you chose to ignore that. The “other” I referred to can just as easily be a tension between the classes as races. I still can’t get why you think belittling a certain style of clothing would advance this conversation. In my middle aged body I would feel no more comfortable in little boy clothes than I would in the still here (after 20 years!) habit of waddling around with your belt on your thighs and your ass hanging out. Oo that felt good to write, but it wasn’t responsible, respectful or on topic.
Ramona, whatever your race it takes work to have these conversations and a sense of generosity of spirit which most of us find it hard to maintain. Good luck with Phineas, Kofi, Ashante, and Fiona – I hear they are having a toddler scooter drag race of Dekalb today!