Brooklyn: The Land of Milk, Honey & Celebrities
The New York Observer devotes quite a lot of ink this week to the County of Kings. In addition to analyzing the borough’s laissez-faire relationship with its celebrity residents, the article notes that the borough has become many people’s first choice as opposed to just a cheaper alternative for those priced out of Manhattan: Gentrification…
The New York Observer devotes quite a lot of ink this week to the County of Kings. In addition to analyzing the borough’s laissez-faire relationship with its celebrity residents, the article notes that the borough has become many people’s first choice as opposed to just a cheaper alternative for those priced out of Manhattan:
Gentrification has finally achieved what cracks, gangs, graffiti, bankruptcy, budget busting, Giuliani, the smoking ban and global terrorism could not: It has rendered Manhattan utterly uninhabitable. These days, the Upper East Side and the Lower East Side have both become the forward positions of what can no longer be reasonably called the bridge-and-tunnel crowd. No point in dressing in rags and belting out lyrics from Rent, because every block of the East Village looks like frat row at the University of Michigan. Brooklyn presents itself as a happy medium between surviving in Manhattan and sequestering oneself in the suburbs, between continuing to live like a college kid and sniffing enough carbon monoxide in your garage to become a happy zombie. In Brooklyn, New Yorkers can rehearse their adulthood without committing to it; can play in their brownstones without feeling trapped inside of them. And Brooklyn is no longer Failure-ville. Even the celebrities—people who dreamed of making it long ago, who came to Manhattan to get famous—show proof of their success in Brooklyn. It is the dream.
Welcome to Schnooklyn [NY Observer]
If you read the posts, it’s the long time residents who started knocking the “new comers”. Funny thing is I rarely experience this stupidity in real life, just on this blog.
As someone who’s lived in Brooklyn for nearly 25 years (and I was over 21 when I moved here!) I get a kick out of thinking I’m still rehearsing my adulthood.
What does that mean, when you become an actual adult you move to the suburbs and wait to die?
Three cheers for Anon 8:51 pm! Instead of the other posters knocking long-time residents, get out of your homes and go to these meetings. Most of the brownstone neighborhoods have some kind of association. If you don’t know where they are, you can look them up on the web. Of course, you all work very long hours, as I do, but contribute to the neighborhood to make it even better. These groups meet about once a month, so it’s not a great sacrifice to participate.
It’s great that everybody on brownstoner is so in to bklyn. but let’s give credit where credit is due. rising real estate prices are only one part of the picture of what’s happening to our borough. and it’s not all such a good thing for longtime residents. so it’s unfair to say that the reason things are going so great in our neighborhoods is because of the influx of rich hip residents or that if they leave things will all fall apart. people who have lived in bklyn a long time did a lot to make things great here. and we in turn owe them a debt of gratitude. AND WE ALSO NEED TO PITCH IN. So if you aren’t already doing so please go to a neighborhood or block association meeting. start up a block association if you don’t already have one. attend local police dept. community council meetings that take place every month or some of the meetings of the community board, write letters to your city council person and pitch in. this kind of civic involvement is what changed so many places for the better in our communities. i go to a lot of these meetings and the next generation of homeowners/renters is not actively involved in our community here just yet. But if people came out to even one local civic activity each year they would be happily met!
“It was inevitable that Brooklyn (and the rest of NYC) would only get stronger and thrive because we (residents, local politicians, business people, neighborhood activists) would not let it die”
Nothing is inevitable if these ‘new people’ you tolerate never decided to come (albeit due to the core of greatness that was still there) all the determination in the world wouldnt have stopped NY from becoming Detroit.
NYC and Brooklyn’s continued survival depends not just on what happened 20 years ago but the investment and and dedication of those 20-30 somethings you are tolerating – because whether you chose to accept it or not, it is the continuing influx and retention of ‘newcomers’ that are the foundation for the economic, employment, housing and recreational life that are essential to maintaining a functional city.
So again I say be careful what you wish for – the minute NYC (brooklyn) is not attractive to these ‘new people’, things can (and will) unwind right back to 1970 or worse 2005 Detroit.
“Snarkiness is not necessary”
You are the same Anon from 1.38pm who said that new 20 and 30 somethings live in a place that “chooses to tolerate them”. Sounds to me like you have issues.
Anon, 12:05 pm, No, to the contrary, I don’t seek or crave attention or recognition. I’m pretty quiet and reserved, otherwise I’d paste my name all over the place and toot my own horn loudly. I support my neighborhood and what the locals have done and endured in the past to bring it to where it is today. I’m not out to convert or chastise anyone, and I hate to see discussions like this turn negative or sarcastic. Just trying to contribute, shed some light on a subject, air an opinion, or make a point as all posters do on this blog on many different issues. Snarkiness is not necessary.
Well then be happy that your hard work bore fruit and people continue to move to Brooklyn and continue to gentrify areas and landmark historic areas that have not been protected. Sounds to me like you want attention and recognition. Well thank you for working hard to preserve the area (I’m not being sarcastic). Well done.
Now you can be happy that you were the
‘original’ resident (now I am being sarcastic) and other people want to live where you live. Like I said in my 12/1/05 post at 1.54pm, all this I was here before you banter is pointless.
David, 10:33 am, Yes, I’m here as long as I imply. I was around in the late 60s-early 70s when my neighbors were fleeing for Staten Island (imagine…), Long Island, and other suburbs. I stayed. I also remember when crime in NYC (not just Brooklyn) was out of control. I remember Crown Heights and Bushwick. I stayed. I also remember Pres. Jimmy Carter visiting a devastated South Bronx. And boy do I remember the horrible government services! But we voted those people out of office before term limits were imposed, didn’t we? Yes, these were tough times, and it spite of the difficulties, our neighborhoods always held together. I never felt that Brooklyn was lost, and my family had no intention of leaving. It was inevitable that Brooklyn (and the rest of NYC) would only get stronger and thrive because we (residents, local politicians, business people, neighborhood activists) would not let it die. It was only in the mid-70s when our neighborhoods (specifically Carroll Gardens in this time period, BH, CH, and PS just prior to that) received landmark status precisely because of our neighborhood activists. We labored long and hard “to save Brooklyn” and, yes, most of it has been saved, and the rest of you are enjoying the fruits of our efforts. (As an aside…As far as the national retail chains are concerned, I’m not sure sure that they are all such a great thing. Downtown Brooklyn had a wide variety of quality retail stores back in the 50s-60s. For me, at least, the national chains all sell the same bland stuff, no variety, nothing interesting or novel. But that’s another debate entirely.) The bottom line is that Brooklyn is the way it is now because of its long-time residents who fought to save their neighborhoods…thus attracting attention and newcomers.