Longing for the Williamsburg of the Late Nineties
Transplanted Californian Rasha Refaie waxes nostalgic about the her experience in Williamsburg at the end of the millenium: My tree-lined street by the East River was a derelict outpost back then, an Island of Misfit Toys. Now it is an enclave of adorable affluence, with the mother of all cranes parked around the corner, ready…
Transplanted Californian Rasha Refaie waxes nostalgic about the her experience in Williamsburg at the end of the millenium:
My tree-lined street by the East River was a derelict outpost back then, an Island of Misfit Toys. Now it is an enclave of adorable affluence, with the mother of all cranes parked around the corner, ready to build a 200-foot high condo building made of glass. It feels like the West Coast around here: scrubbed, cutened, packaged with ardor. I’m caught between the two Williamsburgs I’ve known – it feels like I no longer share the same reality with anybody.
When I first came, my best friends Sam and Anne lived across the street, renting a first floor apartment from a hard-boiled Brooklyn couple with one silent son. We ran back and forth between our homes, sat on trash-picked furniture, drank water out of yogurt cups and at night drank beers with names we couldn’t pronounce and sang songs.
When W’Burg Wasn’t Adorable [NY Newsday]
Leave Rasha (a woman, you ignorant cretins) alone!
I moved to williamsburg in ’95 and always thought of myself as part of the first part of the wave of hipsters that ruined the place. I do appreciate the writer’s nostalgia for the days when the place was less overrun by hipsters.
On the other hand it’s hurt by being pretentious (it wasn’t humiliating to live here) and in the late 90’s there wasn’t a big ‘crack addict’ crowd in the ‘burg so mentioning them over and over again rings false.
The biggest offense is to call Moshe’s Bread “Soviet Style” … it was spartan yes – it was a wholesale bakery, with a little store attached- but its bread was GREAT especially the oat/7 grain (can’t remember exactly what it was called) warm out of the oven … ah, mem’ries.
The crack heads are gone, the new coffee shop is too nice, and they’re even serving “upscale wines” in one of the restaurants. It must really be intolerable.
A postscript to my previous post:
Reading my message I realized that my exclamation (I WIN!) might be mis-interpreted. It was in reference to my moving to Williamsburg in the dark ages ( ie. I WIN the Williamsburg pioneer contest) rather than about selling my place for a huge profit. I did make a lot of $$$, but I also spent about 20 years upgrading a place that had no plumbing or electricity when I moved in.
I WIN! I moved to Williamsburg in 1978–Jimmy Carter was in the White House. I moved out a year and a half ago selling my place for 25 times what I paid for it. As others have noted, the end of WBurg story has been written several times now. I remember how amazed we were when Kasia’s opened–finally a place to eat out. I used to have to walk all the way to Greenpoint just to buy groceries. I have to say, the thing that amazes me about what has happened is that other than being deemed “hip” Williamsburg has nothing going for it other than being one stop from Manhattan and now that one has to fight to get on the L train in the morning–even that advantage has been lost. Face it–it’s really ugly. Other sections of town discussed on this blog at least have some kind of architectural attraction. I suppose one can claim to enjoy the industrial “bleakness” or astheticize some other aspect of the neighborhood, but I think that sounds like priveledged kids being proud of themselves for roughing it. Kind of like “drinking water from yogurt cups” if you know what I mean. I have to admit, it mystifies me. Looking forward to reading the article about the “good old days of 2005.”
all i am saying is that it is a tired story and i am surprised someone thought that perspective was worth a spot in the editorials- i do enjoy hearing about people’s experiences but these can be written in much more interesting ways and without the preface of “from the desk of a true pioneer” don’t people just move around anymore- and often in their 20’s?
Halden “the failed” is a mandatory prefix whenever you reference the Dinkins Administration (lest anyone forget)
Anon 12:19 – I wasnt saying that noone was in W’burg in the late 80’s-early 90’s only that you were brave to move there then.
Halden “the failed” is a mandatory prefix whenever you reference the Dinkins Administration (lest anyone forget)
Anon 12:19 – I wasnt saying that no none was in W’burg in the late 80’s-early 90’s only that you were brave to move there then.
I loved living in the East Village in the 1980s when I was in my 20’s. Twenty years and thirty pounds later, I’m happy being middle-aged in Park Slope. The Newsday article seems more like nostalgia for one’s youth.