Flatbush Avenue Will Never Be The Same Again
Tomorrow morning, Marty Markowitz will don his dungarees and grab a shovel to help developer Ron Hershko celebrate the groundbreaking of the two Ismael Leyva-desgned towers at 306 Gold Street and 167 Johnson Street. (Alright, he’ll probably have a suit on but whatever.) Gold Street will be a 40-story tower with 303 condo units while…
Tomorrow morning, Marty Markowitz will don his dungarees and grab a shovel to help developer Ron Hershko celebrate the groundbreaking of the two Ismael Leyva-desgned towers at 306 Gold Street and 167 Johnson Street. (Alright, he’ll probably have a suit on but whatever.) Gold Street will be a 40-story tower with 303 condo units while Johnson Street will top out at 35 stories and have 214 apartments. In addition to being the tallest tower in Brooklyn, the development will also be distinguished by its amenities, which include a squash court, a swimming pool and an indoor basketball court.
Downtown Glitz Jumps Flatbush [Brooklyn Papers] GMAP
Huge Towers for Flatbush [Brownstoner]
No I’m implying your comment:
“You have to peel back the layers behind those stares to know the difference. And the stare that a black man gets in Bay Ridge is quite different from the stare that a white man gets in Bed Stuy.”
is idiotic
Exactly right, Anon 3:42 — the neighborhood is small enough that any unfamiliar face is likely to get some looks. It doesn’t mean anything, just surprise.
Anon 03:31 PM, I would say that they’re both equally bad. But are you implying that Babs was staring because she was getting ready to set it off and “steal your wall, watch and Ipod”.
Whoopsie! I see I set off a live one there (sorry I wan’t here earlier to diffuse it) and I certainly meant no offense to anyone’s race — I wasn’t even thinking about it — merely describing them, and Anon 2:14 above is exactly right — their race wasn’t surprising at all (the people in the liquor store were white, black, and asian, so just about all bases were covered there) — it was their attire and attitude — PLG really doesn’t have a hipster contingent (yet, I guess), so that was pretty funny.
And in my neighborhood (at least on the side streets — the avenues are sometimes too busy for such common courtesies) people do say, “Hi,” to each other, whether they know them or not.
And for the record, I am white. My boyfriend is black. My landlord is Guyanese (he’s a mix of asian, indian, black, and white). My neighbors are of all races. I have never felt unwelcomed by anyone here, regardless of their race. And those guys in the liquor store were not made to feel unwlecomed at all — the whole thing lasted about a half a second, then they stepped up and ordered what they wanted, said good night and left.
But please, my comment was based entirely on the fact that they were hipsters, nothing more. I’m very sorry if I offended anyone.
And wouldn’t it be nice if these terms could be used as simple descriptions rather than carrying all this weight?
I think the only one getting tarnished here is Babs. Seems like you’re on an agenda to defame her to me.
I remember getting stared at, by ‘locals’ sitting on the stoop of a brownstone, in Bed Stuy. It made no difference that I was also black. Fact is that I was a new face. It unnerved me a bit and my immediate response was to check my clothes and zipper just to make sure nothing was out of the order. It took a while for me to realize that it was a ‘cultural’ thing and sometimes a stare is just a stare, nothing more, nothing less.
Anon 3.08pm implied it was less problematic if people stare at white people in a black neighborhood if:
“someone staring at you because they’re surprised or slightly distrustful or scared of the changes that you’ll bring to the neighborhood”.
Again, flip the races around and that statement would never fly. Maybe a group of prejudiced white people are staring at a black guy in an all white neighborhood because “they’re surprised or slightly distrustful or scared of the changes that you’ll bring to the neighborhood”. Doesn’t make it right in either case. Defending bad elements who behave in a biased way or way that would be interpreted by most as racist or prejudiced in some sense is a losing proposition. Better to focus your efforts on getting people to act with some sense of decorum and not trying to explain away their bad behavior. Defending bad apples only leads to further stereotyping of the entire group as having the same attitude as the bad apples.
Anon@ 3:08 – which stare is worse -the ‘get out of here or get your a$$ kicked’ or ‘you better run or Im gona steal your wall, watch and Ipod’
Sure, right. How about everyone stop staring and making people feel uncomfortable, whatever your motives. Quit defending bad behavior, it tarnishes a whole group of people when you try to do so.
There’s a wealth of differences between someone with a lot of money telling you to pack your things and hurry up and get out of the neighborhood because your type ‘doesn’t belong here no more’,
vs.
someone staring at you because they’re surprised or slightly distrustful or scared of the changes that you’ll bring to the neighborhood.
And if you can’t see the difference then you’re still stuck in your black vs. white world.
Since when has staring become a crime. Impolite maybe.
I used to conduct business in Bay Ridge as an appraiser and I can’t begin to tell you the number of times that people ‘stared’ at me while I was walking down the street. Not to mention the number of times that real estate agents in the area assumed that I was a delivery boy despite the fact that I was wearing a dress shirt, tie, slacks and dress shoes.
You have to peel back the layers behind those stares to know the difference. And the stare that a black man gets in Bay Ridge is quite different from the stare that a white man gets in Bed Stuy.