Slope Stroller Overabundance Making One Guy a Shut-In
Longtime New York Press columnist Jim Knipfel has a new rant about Park Slope stroller culture that sets the bar high for future diatribes on the subject. This is how it begins: This morning as I was leaving the bank, a woman recklessly pushing her armor-plated double stroller down the sidewalk veered sharply and unexpectedly…
Longtime New York Press columnist Jim Knipfel has a new rant about Park Slope stroller culture that sets the bar high for future diatribes on the subject. This is how it begins:
This morning as I was leaving the bank, a woman recklessly pushing her armor-plated double stroller down the sidewalk veered sharply and unexpectedly into an elderly man walking with a cane. He, in turn, fell into me. I was able to catch him and hold him upright and he seemed to be okay. Just a little flustered. The woman, of course, had said nothing, apparently considering an apology or even a simple excuse me unnecessary under the circumstances. She was a mother after all, and therefore privileged, so she simply continued careening on her way.
Knipfel says that the number of strollers in the Slope, as well as the neighborhood’s dog breed preferences (it’s really mostly the strollers, though) mean he can only leave his apartment for more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time, because he finds the situation out on the streets too harrowing and exhausting. The writer says that for the past year he’s been counting the number of strollers he sees in the Slope (“I’m averaging 1.45 strollers per block. Think about it—there has been at least one stroller, and usually more, for every block I’ve walked. It’s insanity.“) Knipfel takes issue with the air of entitlement that he sees a lot of the neighborhood’s parents displaying and notes that he sees a good number of kids being pushed around who look too old for strollers. Also, he says, it’s not a subject that can be broached in polite, public Slope discourse: “The child-free adults in the neighborhood mutter and complain about the problem, but only behind closed doors, and usually in whispers. They don’t dare say a negative word when they’re outside, for the simple reason that they’re terrified, most of them. Indulgent, affluent parents are too powerful a lobby (and what’s more, those strollers can really hurt when you get rammed).”
The Statistics of Contempt [Slackjaw]
Photo from dailyheights.com
Good comparison, Biff!! IRELAND…a country basically known for their heavy drinking!!!!
1:31:
I’ll take the families over the mob any day of the week. And judging by the numbers on Property Shark, there are actually MORE families with children in CG than in Park Slope. Look it up. And btw, here is a lovely article of just how peaceful your precious CG is…NANNY STEALING AND ALL!!!!
http://www.gowanuslounge.com/2008/05/03/carroll-gardens-nanny-poaching-react-o-matic/
1:23#1, why do you assume 1:19 is a woman? Anyway, if you think he or she having a beer in the afternoon with his/her kid nearby is shameful, you would love Ireland, where I’ve seen kids around 9 years old pulling pints in their parents pubs or other children who are playing across the street as their parents down the Guinness. Not saying it’s right, but I don’t think it’s exactly criminal to have your child with you while you’re enjoying an afternoon beer, unless your getting shitfaced.
1:29 – maybe – but they sure know how to reprimand their kids – they beat the crap out of their kids for getting out of line – right away to – even if it is in public or a store or something …
“He doesn’t THINK he can, he CAN and HAS!”
At what price, 1:28?
He will go down as the worst president in history and has an approval rating which would be considered abysmal by any definition of the word.
So 70% of the people in this country hate his guts.
What a fine legacy.
It always about the here and now, there should be some thought to what happens down the road…just like these parents should realize that by not reprimanding their kids now, they should not be shocked when they find their little 13 year old Quinten on 7th Avenue doing blow in a few years.
I’m so glad I don’t live in PS. For some reason in Carroll Gardens we don’t have this conflict. The people without children are simply not so judgemental, or maybe the parents aren’t so obnoxious. Or maybe the streets simply aren’t so crowded. In any case,my general feeling is that if you are sucker enough to live in PS without children – then suck it up. PS is a family oriented neighborhood period – families are the foundation upon which that neighborhood was built. If you have a problem with strollers, move to Clinton Hill or Williamsburg or Red Hook. Or better yet, Manhattan.
“thinks he can make up his own rules whenever he feels like it, without a thought to the repercussions for others.”
He doesn’t THINK he can, he CAN and HAS!
Look I dont think being a mom is the hardest thing – it is a pain in the ass sometimes but hardest thing – come on….
BUT – while being a mom in PS is quite a bit easier then in some 3rd world country – it is also easier to be a childless adult as well – therefore all of your assholery behavior is also not acceptable and the least you could do is not hold moms to a higher standard then you hold yourself.
“Because entitled white people do not discipline their children.”
And it’s been happening for generations.
We have a cokewhore for a President who doesn’t know how to follow authority and thinks he can make up his own rules whenever he feels like it, without a thought to the repercussions for others.
Get ready for a whole new batch coming our way soon!!!