Park Slope Stroller Nazi Story Getting a Little Stale
We’re not exactly sure why this was a front-page article the the NY Times Sunday Real Estate section—seems more like City section material to us—but, there it was, another article making light of the number of strollers (and implicit bourgeois existence of their pushers) in Park Slope. The fact that there are a lot of…
We’re not exactly sure why this was a front-page article the the NY Times Sunday Real Estate section—seems more like City section material to us—but, there it was, another article making light of the number of strollers (and implicit bourgeois existence of their pushers) in Park Slope. The fact that there are a lot of young families (some of whose matriarchs aren’t averse to a little public nursing) in Park Slope just ain’t news anymore, so let’s just settle the fight for the soul of the slope once and for all in the hopes that another article never has to be written on the subject. In the words of The Times article, is Park Slope “Hipster Hell” or “Parent Heaven”? Update: As of 4:30 today, there were 216 votes for Parent Heaven and 158 votes for Hipster Hell.
The Park Slope Parent Trap [NY Times]
Photo by Kansas Liberal
This is a tangental question but when did it become socially acceptable to allow infants into real restaurants? I can’t take going to the slope for dinner out anymore. Everytime i go there is always at least one parent with a screaming infant in the restaurant, who btw refuses to go outside to quiet there kid. The best was the last time i went out and one family had a screaming infant and a toddler who just had to bring their noisiest toy to dinner. When i was a child these type of things were a major social faux pas that would get you booted from restuarants, now no one blicks an eye. Why is that?
I gotta say, the number of strollers in the picture isn’t even that great. And not a single bugaboo! So much for that gripe. Would you all rather if every parent brought the stroller inside with them?! Probably because then you could complain even more. And using a baby bjorn or snugli instead? Gimme a break. Try walking around for a couple hours on a hot summer day with your kid in one of those, your purse or other bag and whatever you might be out to get, like groceries. Let’s face it, you all love the stroller issue because it allows you to complain endlessly about a minor issue. As an earlier poster said, you’d be even more annoyed by a parent walking at a snail’s pace down the sidewalk with a two-year old. Plus, I guarantee that with the attitude most of you have, the kid would get knocked into constantly.
Hey, in the burbs kids get carried around in an SUV, in the city you need a stroller. It’s nicer than sticking the kid in a wheel barrow. Y’know?
What a false dichotemy. Was Park Slope ever cool? Awesome park, Great place to raise a family, But I don’t think a hipster has set foot there since the late 80s — or maybe ever.
I would love to see someone either walk or carry my one year old to Key Food, buy groceries, and carry it all home.
10:06 am You know nothing.
Next . . .
After 15 years in different parts of Brooklyn I moved to the slope early last year – and happen to live right around the corner from the tea lounge. It’s very rarely as packed with strollers as the pic above shows. Usually it’s full of hipsters – and aging hipsters like me 😉
I think the stroller nazis and their offspring are no worse here than anywhere else in Brownstone Brooklyn. Maybe there’s slightly more strollers per capita and, sure there’s the occasional brat acting up while mommy and daddy ignore the tantrum, but that’s a rarity – and behavior that’s certainly just as common outside the Slope.
Me, even as a single person who’s tolerance for bratty children and Dr. Spock-driven parents isn’t what it could be, I love it here. Granted, there are more diverse neighborhoods, but could be a helluva lot worse.
Wow, I can’t believe someone would actually drive a sports car (and a Boxter, no less – what, he couldn’t afford a 911?) down a street, with a personalized license plate. What’s this world coming to?
In other news, walk your darned baby already! If most of my friends can do it (and I wd love to share pictures from this weekend at Brooklyn Bridge park of numerous toddlers walking around), then you can too. Don’t be so damned convenient.
Give me a break. I do so much more work as a freelancer than I ever did when I worked in a “real office” with a “real boss.” Look at Brownstoner himself who had the time to put together a labor intensive daily blog while he juggled his “real job” on wall street.