Street Clutter in Brooklyn?
City Room, a New York Times blog, published a rant from Julia Willkie over the weekend about the cluttered streets and sidewalks in Manhattan. She cites sidewalk vendors, superfluous “honor boxes” for free publications, and an excess of phone booths among her primary woes. She quite dramatically writes: “The center of the Upper East Side…
City Room, a New York Times blog, published a rant from Julia Willkie over the weekend about the cluttered streets and sidewalks in Manhattan. She cites sidewalk vendors, superfluous “honor boxes” for free publications, and an excess of phone booths among her primary woes. She quite dramatically writes: “The center of the Upper East Side is beginning to resemble a hardened hooker of the night.” What we would like to know is if street clutter has become a problem for any of us in Brooklyn. Readers, what do you think—do the crowds of Seventh Avenue in Park Slope or Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg get you down? Is there a Brooklyn equivalent to Ms. Willkie’s slightly overwrought description of Manhattan’s crowded streets?
Complaint Box: Street Clutter [NY Times]
Photo by makemusicnewyork
ES & D, dh.
One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about Brooklyn is that it’s not Manhattan. The types of crowds one encounters in the East Village, SoHo, etc. are exactly what I don’t need to see where I live. So, while I am often glad when there are a few better retailers emerge in my neighborhood (Crown Heights) and its great when a formerly empty house or apartment building is bought and brought back to life by a caring owner, I’m always wary about “gentrification” going too far, and creating the conditions I’ve sought to avoid.
“what proportion of regular brownstoner posters know where bloomingdales is?”
59th and lex and broadway btw spring and broome.
When people ask my sister and I if we still we reside in Brooklyn we happily reply, “Yes!” For us “the city” is an necessary requirement for employment. We love the scale and the scope of living in brownstone Brooklyn and lament that we’ve been discovered. It’s true DL living.
there are plenty of bloomingdales around the country. It is a chain store no matter what aura they are trying to push.
And those that fall for their marketing ploy are dopes.
BTW – I do find all those free newspaper boxes clutter and ugly and offensive(besides dirty and mostly abondoned)…far worse than some of the buildings complained about on Brownstoner.
finally i have a way to find out the answer to a question I’ve been wanting to ask for a long time, at risk of offending the whole brownstoner population.
what proportion of regular brownstoner posters know where bloomingdales is?
Well you’re wrong Dave 😉
I consider anything above 42nd Street to be UES.
Bloomingdales center of the UES? the UES STARTS at 59th street Dave.