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
IT’s funny how people just call everyone yuppies as if you didn’t wish every day that all you had was some more money so you could sit on the internet even more!
i wish i lived in park slope.
it’s by far the most beautiful neighborhood in nyc, in my opinion.
Fortunately, 10:32, you live elsewhere so it doesn’t matter what you think.
This thread proves it… Park Slope Sucks.
This is obviously a Slope-centric site and therefore a pro-kid site.
I have nothing against pro-creating, but given the earths current ecological situation, I’m wondering why more people don’t shoose to adopt.
Guess that won’t help the stroller situation, but I really don’t understand this having-kids frenzy—especially from a “green” generation.
I cannot for the life of me believe that I actually read all of these posts. Some quality trolling, some sad indignant responses to said trolls, decent non-sequiturs… in other words, par for the course on this shopworn “stroller mafia” thread.
Anyhoo, let me just say this about Knipfel. I saw him strolling(!) down 5th Ave the other day sans cane–so the fucktard CAN see somewhat. Also, he wears a really stupid hat. Guys who wear HATS that aren’t baseball caps (which are stupid enough) are truly dipshits. Knipfel, go back to the late 80’s and stay there. You’re over.
186!
I’ve come to gather that whether people realize it or not, it’s probably what parents with strollers represent, rather than the phenomenon itself, that gets them so worked up, but that said, if your biggest worry in life (or in your immediate environs) is bumping into the occasional stroller, I’d say you’re doing ok.
(And no, I’m not a parent)
I’ve come to gather that whether people realize it or not, it’s probably what parents with strollers represent, rather than the phenomenon itself, that gets them so worked up, but that said, if your biggest worry in life (or in your immediate environs) is bumping into the occasional stroller, I’d say you’re doing ok.
(And no, I’m not a parent)