an open letter to landlords.

kofetyme

Subject: Re: OPEN LETTER TO BROOKLYN FINANCE LOSERS

Flailey wrote:
my world is a veritable cornicopia of the best the world has to offer, fine dining, music, art, incredibly physically attractive, intelligent, and wealthy friends, fantastically attractive sexual partners, and the most recent and desirable illegal drugs.

8) care to share the stash

steve

Gee Flailey. You come across as kind the kind of person most new yorkers wouldn't want to know. What's with the sanctimony?

muk

Subject: Re: OPEN LETTER TO BROOKLYN FINANCE LOSERS

Young Snitch, take notes! Obnoxious + Funny = COMEDY GOLD

You gotta have the Funny part! There's no gettin' around it.

Nice work, Flailey.

Flailey wrote: Hi my name is Flailey and I work in the music biz and live in Brooklyn Heights and want to give you finance guys a little insight into your life.

Let's face it blue-shirters, today at the end of the day you will leave your flourescent-lit office, which is in an faceless nondescript building with a bank on the ground floor. Then you will take the subway to your neighborhood and go to the closest food selling establishment that's part of some recognizable chain, even though you certainly could benefit from a little extra walking. You will purchase food there, and possibly entertainment. Then you will spend the evening stuffing tasteless food into your overstuffed belly on your tasteless overstuffed couch while watching a grotesquely large television, around which your world revolves. You will pleasure yourself listlessly or have a very quick mercy encounter with the quickly fattening steady, then drift off to sleep. Then tomorrow you will do it again.

Meanwhile, I will walk out into the cool night air of the greatest city in the history of world civilization. Though we live in the same place, my world is a veritable cornicopia of the best the world has to offer, fine dining, music, art, incredibly physically attractive, intelligent, and wealthy friends, fantastically attractive sexual partners, and the most recent and desirable illegal drugs.

And nary a stripmall in sight.

You could try to reach the level of success and fashion that I am at, but you almost certainly will not. Within a few years you will tire of this charade and will move with your wife -- who was a "party girl" who loved the finance guys and bottle service but is now fully plumped out, ensconced in a sweatsuit, and talks about sub-zero fridges and granite until you want to throttle her -- to a nondescript street in a nondescript neighborhood. It will be called Scarsdale or New Rochelle or Huntington or West Orange or something. That detail is not important.

On a day just like today, but several years in the future you will leave your flourescent-lit office, which is in an faceless nondescript building surrounded by parking lots. Then you will drive a car that is far too large to a stripmall, also surrounded by parking lots. There you will look around for a spot that is closest to the door, even though you certainly could benefit from a little extra walking. You will purchase food there, and possibly entertainment. Then you will spend the evening stuffing tasteless food into your overstuffed belly on your tasteless overstuffed couch. You will have the urge to maybe pleasure yourself or even have a rare romp with the wife, now fully porcine thanks to the three whiny children she squeezed out, but your now ten year diet of xanax and ambien will make that a physiological impossibility. So you'll drift off to sleep. Then the next day you will do it again.

Forget Brooklyn. Hell forget New York entirely, it's the suburbs for you and there's no point in fighting it. Or just end this charade now. Here's a few pointers:

Rule #1. Be like me. If you're not artistic, musically inclined, or at least fashionable, kill yourself now. Your existence is meaningless.

Rule #2. If you can't handle rule #1 do us all a huge favor, strap on some explosives and blow up an Old Navy or Cheesecake Factory on your way out.

Rule #3. Work in a career where you deal with famous people. Then you can tell chicks that you have business-related convos with 50cent, and then she'll let you have sexual relations with her. She'll be thinking about 50cent, but who cares, you can think about Justin Timberlake or something.

Rule #4. Have fashion sense. You're A SOPHISTICATED NEW YORKER SO FOR GOD SAKES DRESS THE PART. Pour over Details mag and GQ. They have a little list on the bottom where you can by the SAME EXACT CLOTHES Jake Gyllenhaal is wearing. THEY EVEN TELL YOU WHERE TO BUY IT AND HOW MUCH IT COSTS! THIS ISN'T HARD, GUYS!!!!

Thanks in advance. More rules later, but my life is a carnival of visceral experience and vibrant living and I'd better get back to it.

One love,
El Flailey

neene

oh dear, dear flailey,
perhaps you don't understand
we are all part of one big machine, each individual a necessary component of the whole
be grateful for the little people who help make your fabulous life so, so fancy free -
someone has to clean up your perfumed turdlettes
do have the grace to be thankful that there is some underling living a tiny existence willing to perform such a task
if they all blow themselves up
or eat themselves into oblivion
who will do life's thankless jobs?


btw, can you get my little sister's band signed?

flailey

neene wrote: oh dear, dear flailey,
perhaps you don't understand
we are all part of one big machine, each individual a necessary component of the whole
be grateful for the little people who help make your fabulous life so, so fancy free -
someone has to clean up your perfumed turdlettes
do have the grace to be thankful that there is some underling living a tiny existence willing to perform such a task
if they all blow themselves up
or eat themselves into oblivion
who will do life's thankless jobs?

Duh, people that live in queens, bronx, staten island, and new jersey.

And maybe the upper east side too.

Brooklyn, and Manhattan south of 23rd street are for 169% true NYC players only. Let's face it neenah, replacing my wardrobe would cost more than you spent on your wedding, and someone here has to take a stand for metrosexual rights.

btw, can you get my little sister's band signed?

Pics?

shank bone mystic

Get me signed too.

Is it okay if I write about decadent and irreverent things that I keep in my fancy sub-zero fridge? I also have some great material about all the fabulous and sexual things that have happened atop my granite counters.

Here's a pic:


Hot enough for you?

neene

Flailey wrote:
Let's face it neenah, replacing my wardrobe would cost more than you spent on your wedding

dubious

Flailey wrote: Pics?

caaahyoko

coyote wrote:
"The artists I'm referring to aren't trying to push out anyone. They're just trying to accomplish something with their life, just like working class parents. Its as simple as that." was said in another post.

I was just trying to point out that not all artists are parent-supported hippies. Hey dude, don't quote me out of context.
What are you, a republican?

:mudSLING!!: :P

erikka

Shank Bone Mystic wrote: Get me signed too.

Is it okay if I write about decadent and irreverent things that I keep in my fancy sub-zero fridge? I also have some great material about all the fabulous and sexual things that have happened atop my granite counters.

Here's a pic:


Hot enough for you?

Fuck Justin Timberlake, I'm sweating YOU, boy. Flailey is dead wrong. Did you get that shit from Details (which makes you the last Details reader on earth)? Is it John Varvatos? Call my sidekick, we'll go out and get hella visceral.

edited to add: ONE LOVE, MOTHERFUCKERS!

escap

raulism wrote: [quote=escap]Perhaps then it's a difference of terminology. To me, someone who is trying to get something done about drugs, guns, crime, etc., is by definition a gentrifier.

escap, are you just trying to push buttons, or do you really believe this?

No, I was being completely serious. If this is just my ignorane of the dictionary definition of the word, then I apologize.

As a little background (and as a way of avoiding the pigeon-holes being created by the humorous posts above), I don't fit into any of the categories discussed so far. Unlike virtually everyone on this board, I was actually born in the neighborhood in which I still live and blog (fort greene), and lived there throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s. However, contrary to the stereotype that "locals" are all working class TWU employees and secretaries, I'm not. When I was a kid, I remember the excitement when the first pizza place moved in--this was a huge step for the area back then. French cafes and mediterranean restaurants?? What a joke!! There was one local restaurant that I ever remember going to, and it was bad. If you wanted to go to a restaurant or bookstore, or needed to buy something for your house, for your kids, clothes, day to day items, or whatever, you were out of luck. Had to get in your car and go to Park Slope or Bklyn Heights for almost anything. It was dangerous--I was mugged on several occasions, my sister was literally chased by a man wielding an axe through the subway station, and my dad came home beaten up badly and had to sleep with a baseball bat that night b/c the muggers had taken his wallet and housekeys and we couldn't get the locks changed for a day or two. We once had two cars stolen in two weeks. Our neighbor owned as many as 40 straydogs at once, and kept a host of stray people in her house as well. When she died, the place was taken over by drug dealers. Yeah, it was a real paradise.

Countering all this were people like my parents--liberal, educated newcomers to the area who were charmed by its historic buildings, mostly worked in the arts or nonprofit, and were committed to turning the area around. They formed block associations, crime patrols, started neighborhood clean-up days, planted community gardens, lobbied local politicians to make positive changes, etc. And yes, there was a neighborhood backlash against them. Many of the poorer residents resented their go-getter attitude, disliked their different culture, and feared the rising land values that came in their wake. They were, in other words, the original GENTRIFIERS.

To me, as a kid, which side to take was a no-brainer. One side stood for preservation of a poor, violent status quo, and the other for revitalization and change. I can understand how you might not like newcomers who bring in a different culture and attitude, and price you out. That's your right. But I was thrilled to see the efforts that the "pioneer" generation had made bearing fruit.

Fast forward to today. Suddenly, it's those same liberal artists who clearly represented the first wave of gentrification, and who did so much good for the community, who are trying to turn around and shut the door behind them. From my perspective, I'm happy to see the way FG has prospered, but I also see the prosperity as being very fragile; some bad luck and we could easily undo all the hard work that's gotten us here. We've got more work to do, and we need to keep the momentum. Not every block is S Portland. Hearing people who didn't even live here glamorizing the neighborhood's past makes me want to beat them senseless.

Of this latest generation, I know a corporate lawyer, a b-school student, a guy who works in fixed income, and other such evil creatures. Not one of them likes chain restaurants, wears Abercrombie and Fitch, prefers bland homogeneity over diversity, or fulfills any of the other ridiculous stereotypes being bandied about. In fact, they all love places like Madiba, the farmer's market, the local bookstores, Habana Outpost, and all the other types of places that most people on this board love. In fact, the few chains in the area (like Blimpie's and Applebees) are overwhelmingly frequented by the old, working-class generation, not the yuppie generation. I guarantee that if you take a survey of the financiers, the lawyers, the ad agency reps, the marketers, and other such objects of fear and loathing, virtually none will say he or she wishes there were more chains and more homogeneity in downtown Brooklyn. So please, stop crying wolf, admit that you are ALL gentrifiers, and then mind your own business and stop sweating what kind of shoes the people around you are wearing!

flailey

erikka wrote:
Fuck Justin Timberlake, I'm sweating YOU, boy. Flailey is dead wrong. Did you get that shit from Details (which makes you the last Details reader on earth)? Is it John Varvatos? Call my sidekick, we'll go out and get hella visceral.

OH YOU KNOW HOW WE DO UP BY THE PROMENADE, GIRLFRIEND!!

Better acks around, seriously. Six foot plus tall giant waterfront loft with three exposures and river views owning hard as a rock 169% true NYC player in on the scene here. I'll get visceral all over some freaks anytime, just holla back. Chumps will be standing around on Flatbush wondering who the hell that fly metrosexual kid with the perfect hair is. Like they always do.

Anyone steps to this and the mexicans will have to build a shrine complete with flowers and those tall glass candles. I'm repping all creative types in the 718 and i-bank fools can eat a fat one.

Bring a baggie, blue-shirts. You'll need it to carry your teeth home.

EL FLAILEY
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS LIVING
LONG CASH HAVING
WEARER OF TASTEFULLY CHOSEN BLAZER, $185 JEANS

cythren

Flailey wrote: [quote=erikka]
Fuck Justin Timberlake, I'm sweating YOU, boy. Flailey is dead wrong. Did you get that shit from Details (which makes you the last Details reader on earth)? Is it John Varvatos? Call my sidekick, we'll go out and get hella visceral.

OH YOU KNOW HOW WE DO UP BY THE PROMENADE, GIRLFRIEND!!

Better acks around, seriously. Six foot plus tall giant waterfront loft with three exposures and river views owning hard as a rock 169% true NYC player in on the scene here. I'll get visceral all over some freaks anytime, just holla back. Chumps will be standing around on Flatbush wondering who the hell that fly metrosexual kid with the perfect hair is. Like they always do.

Anyone steps to this and the mexicans will have to build a shrine complete with flowers and those tall glass candles. I'm repping all creative types in the 718 and i-bank fools can eat a fat one.

Bring a baggie, blue-shirts. You'll need it to carry your teeth home.

EL FLAILEY
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS LIVING
LONG CASH HAVING
WEARER OF TASTEFULLY CHOSEN BLAZER, $185 JEANS

***YAWN***

neene

flailey
dude
somehow you have strayed
this is your board: http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=10

no wonder there's been so much confusion
get back to your peeps and let us simple folk be

supercool

All you people on this board are so lame. Brooklyn is so over, it's worse than Manhattan by now. Prospect Heights is as lame as Cobble Hill it SUCKS, that damn sushi place on Franklin attracted soooo many yuppies. Sheepshead bay was cool for a two week period in February of 2004 but then this guy I didnt like who looked like he might be a yuppie moved into the building seven blocks down from me, then it was SPENT so I was like out of there in a second. I decided to check out completely. Now I live in an imaginary borough, my neighbors are all these talented Ewok-like creatures, not a single one of them even knows what finance is and they all HATE white baseball caps except for kicks to be ironic every once in a while. My multi-colored ewok friends speak 54 foreign languages, they're all artists, writers social workers AND nurses, working class OF COURSE and extremely sensitive creatures. It's SO COOL here, real bohemian. Wish I could tell you more but I've already may have endanged my "neighborhood" by telling you fools too much.

smackdown

Escap Wrote:
It was dangerous--I was mugged on several occasions, my sister was literally chased by a man wielding an axe through the subway station, and my dad came home beaten up badly and had to sleep with a baseball bat that night b/c the muggers had taken his wallet and housekeys and we couldn't get the locks changed for a day or two. We once had two cars stolen in two weeks. Our neighbor owned as many as 40 straydogs at once, and kept a host of stray people in her house as well. When she died



How old are you Ecsap? I lived in FG for many years and I don't remember anything like this. In the late 60's prostitutes owned South Portland Street, and there might have been other activities in the area but nothing like you have described that I can remember.

escap

smackdown wrote:
How old are you Ecsap? I lived in FG for many years and I don't remember anything like this. In the late 60's prostitutes owned South Portland Street, and there might have been other activities in the area but nothing like you have described that I can remember.

Well, I'm not lying and I don't think I was hallucinating throughout my entire life. And since the quote you chose was of direct personal experiences of mine, it would be pretty bizarre if you did in fact remember them. I could go on at length about some of the seriously fucked up stuff that happened to friends of mine as well, but this crime or that crime is not the point here. S Portland going from being "owned by prostitutes" to the top-rated block in all of NYC should speak for itself. Perhaps you miraculously avoided any danger, and magically located some secret block that was lined end to end with cafes and bookstores, but I knew of no such things. FYI, I'm in my early 30s.

ltjbukem

i admit: i am a gentrifier. but i'm not from the midwest. i was born in the LES, grew up in queens, went to school in pittsburgh graduated, came back home, lived in the west village for two years, moved back to queens to save money and at that point decided i wanted to move to fort greene in 2001. i'm not sure why, but i was attracted to the neighborhood when i went to BAM to watch a few plays. i looked to buy back then, was never able to settle on a place.

then in 2003 moved to a rental for 2.5 years and then to another in fg.

i am a gentrifier and i like to wear nice suits with pick stitching, wear sea island cotton dress shirts and love to spend money on kicks. in fact, i was there the first day that premium goods opened. who knows that place?

but in return for gentrifying this wonderful neighborhood, i give back to the community by volunteering my time with kids via imentor.org .. check it...he goes to george westinghouse on tillary/flatbush.

would you respect me more if i lived in the UES with the rest of my ilk?

>Of this latest generation, I know a corporate lawyer, a b-school student, >a guy who works in fixed income, and other such evil creatures. Not one >ofv them likes chain restaurants, wears Abercrombie and Fitch, prefers >bland homogeneity over diversity, or fulfills any of the other ridiculous >stereotypes being bandied about. In fact, they all love places like >Madiba, the farmer's market, the local bookstores, Habana Outpost, and >all the other types of places that most people on this board love. In fact, the few chains in the area (like Blimpie's and Applebees) are overwhelmingly frequented by the old, working-class generation, not the yuppie generation. I guarantee that if you take a survey of the financiers, the lawyers, the ad agency reps, the marketers, and other such objects of fear and loathing, virtually none will say he or she wishes there were more chains and more homogeneity in downtown Brooklyn. So please, stop crying wolf, admit that you are ALL gentrifiers, and then mind your own business and stop sweating what kind of shoes the people around you are wearing!

d-miriam

Young Snitch,

I'm curious - why do you use Ayatollah Khomeini as your avatar? Are you trying to be humorous?

bkuser

I've been reading this thread with some amusement. I have just moved into the Ditmas Park vicinity where there is some major "gentrification" going on. There is still quite a bit of diversity and I support any of the local establishments best I can. In fact, in the last 4 months, a Park-Slope-worthy restaurant opened, a home furniture store from Park Slope opened a 2nd location, a nice smallish coffee/cafe (on the other side of CIA) has opened, and a wine store is opening in a few weeks.

I don't know about you all, but being a single woman who can't afford her own place in Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, Carroll Gardens, etc., I did the next best thing: found a reasonably priced apt. in this neighborhood that looked to be promising in the coming years. Am I such a bad person to hope for some of the booming businesses that made Park Slope or Carroll Gardens the way it is now? Or to hope new places open up so my apartment goes up in value? Or to hope that such new places will attract more people to make the neighborhood more lively? Personally, I don't think so. It'll take some time, but i enjoy seeing new businesses arrive. Anything that allows us to stay around rather than run to Manhattan or Park Slope.

What's wrong with the businesses already here? Well, honestly, there's only so many times I can go out for pizza, fast food chinese, and mexican (that one is fantastic). Variety is good, diversity is good, didn't we say? Even the new swanky restaurants serving american fare, while great and welcome, could use some more variety with a top notch japanese, thai, vietnamese, columbian, peruvian, etc restaurant.

The food co-op is not bad, but not much in the selection of fruits and veggies. I still pick up the more exotic things in Park Slope because the local population hasn't reached a level to demand more. There are quite a few 99-cent stores but how many times do I need to visit those? There are some delis (but nowhere with the variety of flowers.. if any) and even a Duane Reade. I would love just a quarter of the things Park Slope has. And I'm guessing I'm not the only one as more and more people get pushed out of Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, etc. and move here.

The truth is... it's not all i-bankers and trust fund babies who cause a neighborhood to "change". It's also the middle class who are unable to afford any place and they meet and find a great new neighborhood. And it will continue to happen. Sure, one day i-bankers will come here too with their snottish attitudes. But I'll really have the last laugh (as will many of you who have been the early "trailblazers" of a nabe that later became hot) -- I'll have paid a crazy low price to own my place now, and they'll be paying high rent or pay even higher prices to buy and stay.

sterling2000

Here's a good piece:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5569466

I was walking home last Friday with a guy from my building who does commercial real estate investment in Florida and other parts of the country. He's got a take on gentrification and newcomer vs. local reaction that I liked. OK, here goes, things can't get much worse on this topic...

In neighborhoods with high %'s of intact, multigenerational families of immigrants in owned residents there's a greater acceptance of the cycle of gentrification. When the wave of gentrfiers arrive, the residents stand to make a profit on their homes. An extended family (i.e. lets say Italians or Hispanics in Carroll Gardens, old Park Slope, etc.) living in a 3-family townhouse sells their place at a large profit and moves elsewhere (i.e. Florida). Where there are lower %'s of homeownership, native residents have everything to lose and nothing to gain, hence the stronger opposition.

As for my building of owner-occupied gentrfiers, 25% of of the residents have been here since the early 1970's and some smartly bought their apartments in the 1980s for under $20K apiece now valued at 20+ times that amount. As for the newcomers, it isn't about race but economics -- there's a nice diversity that isn't programmed by naturally developed.

The whole kick-off of this topic, like any discussion on this board, seems to devolve into broad generalizations...so I thought I'd contribute my own.

flailey

cythren wrote: [quote=Flailey][quote=erikka]
Fuck Justin Timberlake, I'm sweating YOU, boy. Flailey is dead wrong. Did you get that shit from Details (which makes you the last Details reader on earth)? Is it John Varvatos? Call my sidekick, we'll go out and get hella visceral.

OH YOU KNOW HOW WE DO UP BY THE PROMENADE, GIRLFRIEND!!

Better acks around, seriously. Six foot plus tall giant waterfront loft with three exposures and river views owning hard as a rock 169% true NYC player in on the scene here. I'll get visceral all over some freaks anytime, just holla back. Chumps will be standing around on Flatbush wondering who the hell that fly metrosexual kid with the perfect hair is. Like they always do.

Anyone steps to this and the mexicans will have to build a shrine complete with flowers and those tall glass candles. I'm repping all creative types in the 718 and i-bank fools can eat a fat one.

Bring a baggie, blue-shirts. You'll need it to carry your teeth home.

EL FLAILEY
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS LIVING
LONG CASH HAVING
WEARER OF TASTEFULLY CHOSEN BLAZER, $185 JEANS

***YAWN***

LINK TO YOUR GIANT WATERFRONT PROMENADE LOFT WITH THREE EXPOSURES AND RIVER VIEWS?

Didn't think so.

You cannot afford, deal.

sevenoneeighty

"Gentrification" happens when the majority of existing local populations ( lets call them the "gentrifiees") do not understand, realize or act on the potential value of their neighborhood or surrounding area ( no judgements as to why, that is a differnt topic all together). Typically they are not policitcally active (don't vote or participate in community improvement as much)and are marginalized by the existing shop owners ( overpirced, dirty stores with plexi and poor selection of quality foods) and politicians ( lack of proper traffic signals/maintenence, better roads, neglected public works in general) alike.

The trend is for outside forces ( "gentrifiers") to look at the existing area with a fresh outlook and a higher demand for services and amenities that the local existing residence do not understand or know how to obtain (again no judgements on the "why" aspect). These people are typically but not always, more educated, participate in community activism at a higher and more consistent degree and get the attention of the politicians and even shop owners ( who start to clean their stores when they see the writing on the wall ( or now lack of it, so to speak).

If gentrification is seen as a bad thing by so many( I think most people on this board are not OLD school [here before and during the crack days] but some may be and I could be wrong), what can be done to assist the local existing polulation secure their foothold in a changing area? I know this issue will not be solved on this board because it is pretty complex.

IMO gentrification can be a very good thing for an area that has been marginalized for decades. But simply moving newer, richer, more educated people in an area at the expense of forcing all of the existing residents to other marginalized communities is only part of the story.
What reposonsibilities or opportunites do the EXISTING residents who are watching all of this happen (gentrifiees) have to mobilize to preserve their existence? I don't know the answer here, I am simply trying to examine the question from a differnt perspective. Are all people being "forced" out of their neighborhood because of shifting economics victims or do they have some say in their fate? Or are the economics simply impossible to overcome at this stage?

alecorock

All that El Flaily sh%# is tounge-in-cheek... right? Am I missing something?

erikka

Alecorock wrote: All that El Flaily sh%# is tounge-in-cheek... right? Am I missing something?

I guess, but I'm not sure what they're mocking given there's not a lot of blazers and 360-degree loft views in this forum because no one really gives a shit. If s/he's going for "funny" they've failed miserably.

flailey

erikka wrote: [quote=Alecorock]All that El Flaily sh%# is tounge-in-cheek... right? Am I missing something?

I guess, but I'm not sure what they're mocking given there's not a lot of blazers and 360-degree loft views in this forum because no one really gives a shit. If s/he's going for "funny" they've failed miserably.

This one's just a little bitter because she thought we had a "relationship."

Don't get me wrong, I'll always remember that day we got blasted on yayo and spent the afternoon smoking blunts, watching Sanford & Son, and sexualizing each other. But a man like me has got to be out and about.

sarah

I realize that message boards, by their very nature, are verbal. That we use words, our faces thankfully hidden by computer screens, to share ideas, make jokes, offer insights, insult one another, and try to make sense of our worlds.

For one reason or another, we are here. We can judge whether or not we ought to be here, or whether we deserve to be here, but we are here.

From here, now what? I struggle with these conversations because we I don't see how reaching a conclusion about gentrification would change any decisions we have made about how we ended up here.

What we can do now is make choices about how we interact with our community, how we become engaged in authentic human relationships. How we share a common interest (although perhaps this is a stretch) to see our community, and all communities, reflect a more just society. Vote, advocate, protest, create, support- for more affordable housing, for a higher minimum wage and more job opportunities, better public education, more human services for our human brothers and sisters who are oppressed by institutional discrimination. Regardless of where we find ourselves on the spectrum of human experience.

I apologize if I sound preachy- job hazard, I suppose. I was hoping more to inspire, not to accuse, not to judge, just to shift the conversation a little.

Proceed. (terrible movie reference)

sevenoneeighty

I realize that message boards, by their very nature, are verbal. That we use words, our faces thankfully hidden by computer screens, to share ideas, make jokes, offer insights, insult one another, and try to make sense of our worlds.

Hey Sarah,

But that is in fact the point of the boards ( at least one of them, I think).
I doubt anyone will move from PH because of what is posted here but it is an opportunity to voice a opinion and do a "sound check" with other like minded ( or not like-minded) people who exist anonymously in a city of millions. You could just start talking to total strangers at your subway stop about these topics also, but this is easier for many folks (for better or worse).

I didn't think you were preachy but I also think intellegent dialogue in these times is needed. It's presumably what separates us from the goldfish. The web offers anonymity for users that they don't have in other realities ( like the users who post unders separate user names, for instance, to hurl insults instead of dialogue).

But to one premise of your post: Yes, we are here for differnt reasons and have differnt stories. I dont think it is unproductive to attempt to understand, debate, challenge or agree each other through words (or writing). I thought we were all here to talk about those choices you speak of. In some cases poeple need to know how to

"Vote, advocate, protest, create, support- for more affordable housing, for a higher minimum wage and more job opportunities, better public education, more human services for our human brothers and sisters who are oppressed by institutional discrimination".

I am interested in the perspective of others - in this case gentrification- on the topic because it is part of our daily experience. In my experiences I have more oftern heard gentrification referred to as an all out horrible thing and have heard many stock answers ( "you yuppies are terrible and ruining our 'hood) without as much true dialogue or analysis about it from a group of people who are from a particular area or group: my neighborhood: prospect heights. So for me, it is good to post and talk about these things.

This IS our town meeting....

But, yea, from a global perspective, we're all gentrifiers aren't we?
Is anyone here from the Sioux Nation or other indigenous group of this continent?

escap

Sarah, it would be cool if you could have the sound of angels in the background while that post is read. On the other hand....

Sarah wrote: Vote, advocate, protest, create, support- for more affordable housing, for a higher minimum wage and more job opportunities, better public education

....please don't get me started. [-( [-(

sarah

Thanks for your reply, SevenOneEighty. I think the reality is that I'm not cut out for these boards. I hear what you are saying, and I guess I just don't find this venue as helpful for me. But I appreciate the honesty of your response!

cythren

Flailey wrote: [quote=cythren][quote=Flailey][quote=erikka]
Fuck Justin Timberlake, I'm sweating YOU, boy. Flailey is dead wrong. Did you get that shit from Details (which makes you the last Details reader on earth)? Is it John Varvatos? Call my sidekick, we'll go out and get hella visceral.

OH YOU KNOW HOW WE DO UP BY THE PROMENADE, GIRLFRIEND!!

Better acks around, seriously. Six foot plus tall giant waterfront loft with three exposures and river views owning hard as a rock 169% true NYC player in on the scene here. I'll get visceral all over some freaks anytime, just holla back. Chumps will be standing around on Flatbush wondering who the hell that fly metrosexual kid with the perfect hair is. Like they always do.

Anyone steps to this and the mexicans will have to build a shrine complete with flowers and those tall glass candles. I'm repping all creative types in the 718 and i-bank fools can eat a fat one.

Bring a baggie, blue-shirts. You'll need it to carry your teeth home.

EL FLAILEY
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS LIVING
LONG CASH HAVING
WEARER OF TASTEFULLY CHOSEN BLAZER, $185 JEANS

***YAWN***

LINK TO YOUR GIANT WATERFRONT PROMENADE LOFT WITH THREE EXPOSURES AND RIVER VIEWS?

Didn't think so.

You cannot afford, deal.

Hahahaha. Nope, definitely can't afford, and don't care either. This online entity is pretty damn awe-inspiring, yet I reserve props for cultural producers, various other creative types, activists and academics.