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
what does that quote even mean tho?
*rob*
“The center of the Upper East Side is beginning to resemble a hardened hooker of the night.”
I used to live on the UES and I would assume that the “center of the UES” is Bloomingdales and it has ALWAYS been hellish around there especially on Lexington with more narrow sidewalks.
don’t even get me STARTED on people in wheelchairs cluttering the damn sidewalk.
kidding, kidding.
*rob*
Joe…I couldn’t agree more with you. The number of jackasses I run into who slow down or stop so they can talk on their phone is ridicluous.
Also, another pet peeve of mine is people coming out of a store and into the flow of foot traffic or, even worse, someone trying to cut across the flow of the sidewalk. I usually have a strong word or two for them that they tend to dislike.
And, women drift.
ditto, Lo Kee.
most of the clutter is human. If people just followed the same rules on the sidewalk that they do on the road, we’d be fine.
signal before you turn.
don’t stop in place.
stay right.
no parking.
don’t go slow next to someone else going slow.
don’t drift out of your lane.
please get out of my way. You know I need to get by, don’t fake it.
It always amazes me what stupid sh*t people will waste time whining about.
i work in prime soho, so im used to the ridiculously large crowds. coming back to brooklyn is a god send it seems so tranquil. im not a huge fan of tranquility, but at the same time it’s a welcome relief from soho which is a nightmare trying to manuever.
*rob*
The Horror! The Horror!
Must be nice for life to be so uncluttered by the important things that these issues can take center stage. Seems like her rant is against the clutter being in her neighborhood (blocks from Hizzoner’s plush pad), not the real issue of a truly dirty city.
Gotta say, however, that whoever thought of those flower filled park spaces in front of Macy’s and on Broadway, down on 23rd and 9th, and wherever they crop up, was a genius. The other day, those spaces were filled with happy tourists and locals, having a break, and enjoying our sometimes fair city. Nice. They work well downtown Brooklyn, as well.
I’m all for beautifying the city, but this woman annoyed me to the point that whatever good points she had, and there were a few, were lost in the sense of entitlement. Too bad.