Our Borough, Ourselves
For the past month the Observer’s been running a weekly column called “Brooklyn, the Borough.” Each installment is a first-person account written by Nicole Brydson, who grew up in Manhattan and did some time in Greenpoint and Hell’s Kitchen before recently settling in Prospect Heights. In grand old Observer fashion, the column sorta reads like…
For the past month the Observer’s been running a weekly column called “Brooklyn, the Borough.” Each installment is a first-person account written by Nicole Brydson, who grew up in Manhattan and did some time in Greenpoint and Hell’s Kitchen before recently settling in Prospect Heights. In grand old Observer fashion, the column sorta reads like “Sex and the City,” but instead of bed-hopping and social climbing the focus is one woman’s quest to identify herself via her new borough. Here’s what Brydson’s learned so far:
Lesson 1: Finding the right neighborhood is tough. Williamsburg=”hupsters.” Park Slope=”pretentious mommy-daddy colony.” Fort Greene=”just about perfect,” but a little too pricey. Prospect Heights=True love, at the right price.
Lesson 2: It’s possible to decorate on the cheap. Getting gear from Lowe’s and IKEA is all well and good, but how ’bout that beige carpet from the sidewalk? “So far, no bed bugs!”
Lesson 3: Gentrification is a bitch. “I feel destined to simultaneously be gentrified and gentrifying, but to most people I just look like the new white girl on the block.”
Lesson 4: Don’t expect sanity from a real estate agent who asks you to sign a lease on the hood of her Jag.
Looking forward to more!
Escaping Hupsters for New Prospects [Observer]
An Electric Boyfriend Works the New Apartment [Observer]
Destined to Be Gentrified and Gentrifying [Observer]
My Angel Gave Me Hell [Observer]
God…congrats 1:18!!! I’m so jealous. That building is looking BEAUTIFUL!!! When do move-ins start? Still looks a little ways away….
You will enjoy the neighborhood, but probably spend most of your time in the park when it’s nice or Park Slope, anyway.
No real need to go north of you, although there are a couple nice places on Vanderbilt.
I am in newly arrived transplant to Prospect Heights and I am in contract at Richard Meier’s On Prospect Park. It is lovely and provides sweeping views on GAP and Propect Park. I must say that the Observer’s blog is correct that there is a degree of racial tension. I am right next to St. John’s Place (or Crazy Lane as it is known on the Prospect Heights message board) and I didnt know of it’s infamous status until recently. I feel some resentment-and underlying tension in the neighborhood and there are some disgruntled people of color there. That being said, I know that there are some really nice African American folks there too. I look forward to becoming a member of the community, summer nights under the stars at Prospect Park and riveting exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum.
12:59, I don’t even want to respond to you because you are so defensive, but I will briefly.
I live in Park Slope (own actually) and love it. I love the moms, love the dads and love the kids. Love the cute boys the most. Don’t want to live anywhere else, in fact.
I’m allowed to have observations that differ from yours.
Clearly something about my post hit home, or you wouldn’t have gotten so defensive.
This is an anonymous blog about real estate. Of course things aren’t as simple as they are stated in these posts. There’s no reason to be….most people…like you it would seem aren’t even able to see through their own low self esteem for me to really spend too much more time on this.
Your mom and dad coddling comment leads me to believe you aren’t too bright.
“My point in all of this was not to have a conversation about being gay or the things associated with it.”
“The point is…”
that even though you have no kids, and are no expert on kids and despite being in a position where you should be a little less judgemental and a little more sympathetic – you can’t help but take a shot at the park slope mom stereotype.
BTW – try to put a little more thought into your premises – do you really think that G.W.Bush was raised in the manner you suggest and do you really think that’s how simple things are (i.e. tell a kid he/she is wonderful and then they immediatly become arrogant and intellectually lazy)? – I mean a good % of this country probably figures your gay b/c YOUR Mom and Dad coddled you.
I know this seems off-topic but in reality I can’t figure out how people (like you and the author here) can be so intellectually hypocritical and not even see it!
projects are normaly not a good place for a white person
12:51
Her articles are lazy, insensitive and ignorant. She gives reporters a bad name.
Nope, the “meanest” people around are on Gawker. This pales in comparison. Small potatoes.
the threads on this blog are leading me to believe that whether in brooklyn or houston, “home = castle” types are often the meanest people around.
Wow, 12:42. I had not even read all the articles. They just get worse and worse. She’s like an anthropologist in Brooklyn.
The NY Observer, much like the Times, is a piece of shit. They fill up too many pages with these ridiculous pieces written by 20-something poseurs that possess NO substance or talent. She probably got rejected by Gawker and was picked up by the Observer.