journalist request: (still) hating on the Slope

The only complaints about Park Slope (other than the rents) I've heard are: too many strollers and too many yuppies/hipsters. Maybe too many clothing stores and sushi/pan-Asian restaurants. But even those who make these complaints preface it by saying "I love Park Slope but . . . " I seriously don't think I've ever heard anyone say "I hate Park Slope".

When I lived in Manhattan, I got tired of my friends telling me how awesome Park Slope was, and only out of dire necessity did I move here, to be honest. But once here, I was dumbfounded how awesome it is, and still can't imagine moving back to "the city".

Seriously, what's to hate? I'd scrap the article if I were you. It'll be all sizzle no steak.

gags2008 wrote: The only complaints about Park Slope (other than the rents) I've heard are: too many strollers and too many yuppies/hipsters. Maybe too many clothing stores and sushi/pan-Asian restaurants. But even those who make these complaints preface it by saying "I love Park Slope but . . . " I seriously don't think I've ever heard anyone say "I hate Park Slope".

When I lived in Manhattan, I got tired of my friends telling me how awesome Park Slope was, and only out of dire necessity did I move here, to be honest. But once here, I was dumbfounded how awesome it is, and still can't imagine moving back to "the city".

Seriously, what's to hate? I'd scrap the article if I were you. It'll be all sizzle no steak.

I'm with you gags2008. I know there are people who don't like Park Slope, but in 10 years of living here I've never gotten anything but a positive response from people when I tell them where I live. Who knows... maybe I just meet polite people?? :P

"I think Paul Auster still lives there, no?"

I think so . . . I think Maggie Gyllenhall (sp?) lives here. I don't even know what she looks like but everyone always says they see her on my block and at Taro sushi, which is my fav sushi joint (ok - yes there ARE too many sushi places, but taro is always PACKED).

Evilbert wrote: [quote=anniewilde]And by the way, while we're being racist and provincial again (and thanks for proving my point, btw). "Arab" immigrants never rioted "in Paris." First, the people rioting weren't "Arabs"--they were a mixed bag of franco-francais (aka white people), West Africans, North Africans (Arabs?) and various others. The so-called "Riots" never even touched anywhere near the boundaries of Paris.

For a college professor with an ivy-league education you seem laughably un-informed.

Do some reading, sweetie:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_civil_unrest_in_France

The suburbs of Paris you so love to point to as icons of social progress remain, sadly, a dangerous slum.

What is an "arab" anyways? It seems you can choose to define or not to define yourself as an "arab" by mix and matching a plethora of factors -- ethnicity and/or nationality and/or political views and/or language and/or religion, etc.

Oh, I'm sorry. Was I supposed to stick to the topic of stalking celebrities?

When I was walking home from work tonight something happened that made me think of this thread. There was a minor bicycle accident on 7th Ave around St. John's involving a delivery guy and a serious biker. The biker and his companion had full biker gear, helmets, pads, outfits, lights, etc... The delivery guy had none of this, just one of those bags to keep food hot. Biker guy gets all up in the delivery guy's face, yelling at him that he was going the wrong way. Delivery guy is picking up his bike and bag. Biker guy's companion turns to the cop car stopped at the light and says, "Could you please pull over and write up a report for us?"

Here's what I saw: An accident between a delivery guy making maybe minimum wage and a guy whose bike and gear probably costs as much as the delivery guy makes in a month. Awesome. Now, in my opinion biker guy's tone of voice was filled with douchebaggery. The way his companion spoke to the cops smacked of self-righteousness. As I walked away I thought to myself, "Now that's why people hate Park Slope."

caseopele wrote: When I was walking home from work tonight something happened that made me think of this thread. There was a minor bicycle accident on 7th Ave around St. John's involving a delivery guy and a serious biker. The biker and his companion had full biker gear, helmets, pads, outfits, lights, etc... The delivery guy had none of this, just one of those bags to keep food hot. Biker guy gets all up in the delivery guy's face, yelling at him that he was going the wrong way. Delivery guy is picking up his bike and bag. Biker guy's companion turns to the cop car stopped at the light and says, "Could you please pull over and write up a report for us?"

Here's what I saw: An accident between a delivery guy making maybe minimum wage and a guy whose bike and gear probably costs as much as the delivery guy makes in a month. Awesome. Now, in my opinion biker guy's tone of voice was filled with douchebaggery. The way his companion spoke to the cops smacked of self-righteousness. As I walked away I thought to myself, "Now that's why people hate Park Slope."

Wow! talk about jumping to conclusions. What makes this a uniquely Park Slope story? How do you know these bikers live in Park Slope? Things like this happen everywhere. Of course, if you are looking for a reason to hate something, you can find reasons to rationalize your hatred anywhere. Just so you know, douche bags live in every neighborhood.

Thinking about this some more, why didn't this exchange make you hate pimped up bikers?

anyone who lives in ps knows the positives and negatives of the neighborhood. in case those who hate it haven't noticed, almost everyone who lives there seems to love it. that's what's most important.

living somewhere else and commenting (as if you are an expert in many cases) on a neighbohood in which you do not reside makes you sound incredibly foolish.

if you all loved your own neighborhoods more or weren't so unhappy, maybe you wouldn't have so much time to hate another which has no direct impact on your life.

then i wasn't referring to you, caseopele. not everything is about you.

if the shoe fits...

wish i knew where you lived now. you certainly don't do your neighborhood any favors. AT ALL.

hateville, brooklyn?

well sweet tea, i think you add intelligent comments either way.

is it such a foreign concept to treat individuals as such and not lump thousands of people together as one large single entity and then saying that isolated comments or actions made by certain people make for a rotten neighborhood?!

caseopele wrote: When I was walking home from work tonight something happened that made me think of this thread. There was a minor bicycle accident on 7th Ave around St. John's involving a delivery guy and a serious biker. The biker and his companion had full biker gear, helmets, pads, outfits, lights, etc... The delivery guy had none of this, just one of those bags to keep food hot. Biker guy gets all up in the delivery guy's face, yelling at him that he was going the wrong way. Delivery guy is picking up his bike and bag. Biker guy's companion turns to the cop car stopped at the light and says, "Could you please pull over and write up a report for us?"

Here's what I saw: An accident between a delivery guy making maybe minimum wage and a guy whose bike and gear probably costs as much as the delivery guy makes in a month. Awesome. Now, in my opinion biker guy's tone of voice was filled with douchebaggery. The way his companion spoke to the cops smacked of self-righteousness. As I walked away I thought to myself, "Now that's why people hate Park Slope."

Heh. I saw something almost exactly like that happen in Clifton, NJ except that it wasn't a delivery guy, just some middle class minority Mom trying to turn into a drug store parking lot. Being me, I think that I - ehem - may have intervened. Could it be that rich bicyclists are asshats or could it be something in the water in Park Slope that makes them that way?

NINE PAGES!

That is impressive. Does this break a record?

belzjm wrote: then i wasn't referring to you, caseopele. not everything is about you.

if the shoe fits...

wish i knew where you lived now. you certainly don't do your neighborhood any favors. AT ALL.

hateville, brooklyn?

Of course not, silly of me to think it was. I'm probably just jealous because I don't live in the holy city, oops I mean Park Slope, anymore. Sob...

jeffrey wrote: [quote=Jamzer]NINE PAGES!

That is impressive. Does this break a record?

Banned for limited exposure.

Eh Carny?



Guilty as charged, but please cut me some slack. I tend to stay on the Park Slope Board.

LittleRedMenace wrote: Hey Caseopele! I can't believe you used the word 'douchebaggery" as I was certain that I had made it up. I don't know WHERE you could have heard it unless it's getting around.

Haha, I have a friend who loves to call people douches and I guess it's rubbed off on me. It's one of my favorites.

Oooh, I guess you live in hateville too? Hateville in the hizzouse!

Subject: "Arabs" and Wikipedia

I suppose this is more evidence of intellectual snobbery, but the last time I checked, "Wikipedia" wasn't a very reliable source of info. In fact, if you're actually interested in learning about the riots, there are a lot of good sources--mostly in French. There's even a French Wikipedia--and the articles are different. I am amused by the comments about my childhood, and would be happy to return the favor, but that seems a little silly. Regardless, everything that's being said sort of reinforces my point, and the silliness about "Arabs" is really, really foolish--and provincial. It's also clear that people don't understand what Parisian "suburbs" are. The areas in question where there were riots are quite far from Paris proper. Initially, I was attacked for being a fan of Northeastern Paris, which is, in fact, a racially mixed area--unlike Park Slope, but not a "suburb." But I don't think that any of this is really the point.

This was a thread about why people hate Park Slope. I, personally, have lots of friends here, have lived here on and off for years, and am basically fine here. In fact, I might soon become one of those dreaded Brownstone owners. However, I have many caveats, which I spelled out in a facetious, tongue in cheek fashion that I think befits the topic. In return, I got a firestorm of anti-Arab, silly, parochial trash, and repeated citations of Wikipedia. That would be like a French person insisting that a French website had the inside dirt on some Brooklyn scandal.