Large Number of White People on Putnam
It seems that there is a huge number of new White residents on Putnam Avenue (between Marcy and Throop) in Bed-Stuy; welcome neighbors! My one comment is why are they so unfriendly and uppity? Even when you say hello, they walk on by as if they are too good to speak.
Comments
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Hey C---I may be one of them in a short while (see my thread below). If I do end up moving onto Putnam I promise to say hi and be neighborly!
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Subject: Re: Large Number of White People on Putnam
cthecat wrote: It seems that there is a huge number of new White residents on Putnam Avenue (between Marcy and Throop) in Bed-Stuy; welcome neighbors! My one comment is why are they so unfriendly and uppity? Even when you say hello, they walk on by as if they are too good to speak.
Because that is just how white people are. Fuck them. They'll be first against the wall when the revolution comes. -
"Because that is just how white people are. Fuck them. They'll be first against the wall when the revolution comes."
ummmm.....? -
hey daver -- think you forgot to close your sarcasm tags. you message is displaying as plain text.
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</sarchasm> Beware the edge.
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Subject: Re: Large Number of White People on Putnam
cthecat wrote: My one comment is why are they so unfriendly and uppity? Even when you say hello, they walk on by as if they are too good to speak.
What you took for unfriendliness might be something else. The person you said hello to might not have heard you or might be shy/intimidated.
My wife is very friendly and always says hi to people in the street. Last week she lost her wallet and had to go back and forth between the precinct and the DMV several times. At the end of the day, she was exhausted and angry because of the incompetency of the people she dealt with. As she was walking back home she passed in front of two gentlemen. One of them said hi to her. Because she was overwhelmed and lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear him, therefore didn't reply to him. Then the other gentleman said in a much less friendly and louder tone: "Hey miss, my friend said hi to you!!", which caught my wife's attention. She then said hello to him. The first gentleman replied to her: "Now that you are in trouble, you can speak ...". As my wife didn't like the tone of his voice and had no time to deal with the misunderstanding, she said: "Whatever ...". That gentleman could have posted a message to this board and told his side of the story.
Some of the people you described may be truly unfriendly. However this may not be true for all of them. We all suffer from the disease of generalization. Please do not fall in the same pitfall because of the actions of singular individuals.
Tennisfan -
Tennisfan,
Intimidated? Give me a break!! The fact that you used this word tells it all.
A friendly hello intimidates her? Please!! Is it the hello? or is it the profile of who is doing the salutation?
*cthecat* -
Not all of us are unfriendly. In fact, I'd say most of us aren't.
I'd like to offer up my perspective on that perception, "my perspective" being the operative word here. I can't speak for everyone else.
I am a white woman in the neighborhood. I am friendly and I'm certainly not uppity. Many times I'm the first to offer up a greeting on the street. But for every 2 or 3 wonderful people I pass on the street there is the one sucker that returns my greeting with some lewd and stupid nonsense. While I certainly do not try to judge everybody by that fraction of the population it can get unnerving. And sometimes it comes completely by surprise! You may THINK somebody is just being friendly and all of a sudden you've got a friend following you down the street calling you sexy and sucking their lips.
My point is if somebody doesn't say "hi" the first time don't discount them or the whites in the neighborhood. Most people want to live in a friendly neighborhood and say hi and interact with their fellow community members. It just might take some a little longer than others and maybe the last person they passed on the street wasn't as awesome as you. -
cthecat wrote:
Yesterday I was walking in a lonely street and happened to be behind a lady about 15 feet away, When she heard my footstep, she looked back very quick, then decided to cross the street and walk faster. I even didn't say anything to her ...
Intimidated? Give me a break!! The fact that you used this word tells it all.
A friendly hello intimidates her? Please!! Is it the hello? or is it the profile of who is doing the salutation?
I don't know how friendly your hello was or in what state of mind the person you are talking about was. Please don't read too much into it.
Tennisfan -
Subject: friendly?
its nice to be friendly to strangers but lets be realistic - especially for a woman, the majority of unsolicited hello's from strangers are not "friendly."
sometimes I dont want to talk to anyone when I walk down the street. not even someone I know - but certainly not a strange man, black white or green, and especially not to a group of more than one male. please - I am a female in new york in 2008 - I would be an idiot to smile and respond to anyone and everyone who says something to me. if you all have a problem with that, then its your problem. but dont blame it on race - blame it on the sad realities of being female in this world. -
Hey cthecat: I live in Bed Stuy myself and there is definately an influx of white people to the area. I live on Monroe St near Franklin Ave and the white people in my area can sometimes seem a little rude when approached but most aren't. If I say hello in passing, i'd say it's about 50/50 chance that i will get a hello back or just a blank stare. Either way, i don't let it stop me from being friendly or changing who I am. I guess it's going to take all of us some time to get use to one another. I like diversity in a neighborhood as well, so I say to all the white people that's coming to Bed Stuy a BIG hello and welcome to the neighborhood!
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yes! I love gentrification/whitepeople haters! it helps put me in my place!
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Cthecat - where's the love? People new to a place are often a bit shy or standoffish - and it is NYC, not everyone moves here with the expectation that it is going to be Mayberry. Perhaps you might want to work on being less judgmental and less quick to generalize from the individual to a perceived racial group.
When I moved onto Putnam (but a different block) I found people confused me with the other white guy who lived on the block all the time. I didn't take offense. One of my neighbors refused to talk to me at all until my son started living with me - then I guess he decided I was actually there to live and not just renovate and flip. And I too tend to be aggresively friendly of the street (my Dad grew up in downstate Illinois), and get the same 50/50 response rate regardless of the skin hue of my "target." It is just life... Perhaps better not to give kindness if you are going to "demand" a specific response. -
Subject: Hey Denizen
What block on Putnam do you live on? Have you seen my thread about moving with my family to Putnam and Throop. DO you have anything to add to the discussion? Would love to hear your thoughts on living with your son on Putnam. Thanks in advance. -
cthecat wrote: A friendly hello intimidates her? Please!! Is it the hello? or is it the profile of who is doing the salutation?
...I have to wonder why the person who was trying to say "hello" was so insistent that she respond, actually. Personally, if I smile at a stranger on the street, but they don't respond, I just figure they're having a bad day or are worrying about something, and I don't take it personally. I don't go chasing them down the street demanding that they respond -- I don't need validation QUITE that badly...
*cthecat* -
Yes, Queencallipygos, I wonder the same. There doesn't seem to be anything "friendly" about a hello that's intertwined with only thinly-veiled aggression.
Another white woman's input: I pick and choose who I say "hi" to on the street, especially when it comes to men. I make no apologies, either. These exchanges inevitably lead to an inappropriate comment and me regretting returning the hello. It sucks being a female in NYC in 2008. I might add that I've also been yelled at and chastised for not returning the hello from guys. It's a no-win situation- I'm a white bitch if I don't say "hi" and I'm an open target for sleaze if I do. I, too, have been followed down the street by men who won't take a hint. THAT SUCKS.
Yeah, I don't return every hello either so sue me. -
Yes, I will continue to say hello because the genture is my way of extending warmth to new arrivals and I am all for a "friendlier" neighborhood.
To the females who have posted, I am also a woman and can relate to the problems that can arise from extending a smile or returning a hello to men on the street; so I agree. I also agree that sometimes the recepient's head is elsewhere or they had a lousy day.
Despite all of this, I my original observation still holds. -
<SMH> Man, if someone hails you hail them back and keep it moving. Whats so hard about that? A lil good morning/afternoon/night never killed anyone niether. I read the most ridiculous things i have ever seen in life on this board. Thanks for the much needed laughs. I am a displaced victim of your takeover so I really need the comic relief right now.
*sidenote* this forum actually was very healing to me the past few days. I have had beyond an enormous amount of animosity and resentment for you "newcomers" and avoid looking at you as I want to spit in your face then smash it in the brick wall. Then I saw your little mugging map and several ridiculous fear posts and laughed for DAYS! Must not be a very nice feeling to be scared shitless every time you want to go to corner store and know that everyone hates you. HAHA I can walk wherever I want whenever I want. So now I pass you people and smile except you don't know that inside I both laugh at you and pity you. Have a nice day. Enjoy Brooklyn. -
And we would want to say hello to you, guest at 5:14, why? Interesting vibe from you - I must greet you whenever you demand it, but by the way you are "this" close to spitting in my face and then smashing it in a brick wall?
Both you and Cthecat (neither of whom are registered to send private messages to btw) seem to be going out of your ways to provoke a spiteful (or is it "spitful") thread. [I mean really "uppity"? Give me a break!] Yet despite that people have answered you openly with subtle and persuasive discussion of how this isn't one sided. Did you read any of those posts, or are you just wallowing in the hate? Really, can any of us believe you are telling the truth when you claim you are welcoming people or being sincere in your hellos? -
cthecat wrote: Yes, I will continue to say hello because the genture is my way of extending warmth to new arrivals and I am all for a "friendlier" neighborhood.
And no one is saying you can't, and no one is saying you shouldn't.
To the females who have posted, I am also a woman and can relate to the problems that can arise from extending a smile or returning a hello to men on the street; so I agree. I also agree that sometimes the recepient's head is elsewhere or they had a lousy day.
Despite all of this, I my original observation still holds.
If everyone keeps in mind that everyone's got their own shit and business to deal with -- or they could just be HEARING IMPAIRED, for goodness' sake -- and doesn't take it personally if they say "hiya" and don't get a response, then...I think we're good, eh? -
Guest, you are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity. Farewell.
cthecat, please continue to say hello, and realize that you can't judge all white people based on a few that you've run across, just as all black people can't be judged on the wet dream fantasy spitting/smashing of Guest. -
daver wrote: , just as all black people can't be judged on the wet dream fantasy spitting/smashing of Guest.
LOL at the typically ignorant small minded and racist broad sweeping assumption that i am black. Case in point.<SMH> -
Anonymous wrote: [quote=daver], just as all black people can't be judged on the wet dream fantasy spitting/smashing of Guest.
LOL at the typically ignorant small minded and racist broad sweeping assumption that i am black. Case in point.<SMH>
Guest = Wigger. -
Anonymous wrote:
and you people wonder why everyone hates you
Guest = Wigger. -
"you people"
Please don't stop posting. My mornings would not be complete without the laughs you've been providing.
It's kind of like how I will read the Post once in a blue moon just to read what the crazies are spinning. -
Anonymous wrote: [quote=daver], just as all black people can't be judged on the wet dream fantasy spitting/smashing of Guest.
LOL at the typically ignorant small minded and racist broad sweeping assumption that i am black. Case in point.<SMH>
Actually, your race is totally immaterial to the point. You may have to think that one through a little, though. -
Anonymous wrote: <SMH> Man, if someone hails you hail them back and keep it moving. Whats so hard about that? A lil good morning/afternoon/night never killed anyone niether. I read the most ridiculous things i have ever seen in life on this board. Thanks for the much needed laughs. I am a displaced victim of your takeover so I really need the comic relief right now.
I am afraid that you are targeting the wrong people. If you were to blame someone, it would probably be the president you have elected (thanks to whom the economy is in the toilet), and the real estate firms and speculators who are only interested in profiting from the gentrification. Most of the young professionals and families who have moved to Bed-Stuy couldn't afford Manhattan or Williamsburg (let me tell you that they are not necessarily white). Basically we are all in the same boat.
Of course neighborhood change is often viewed as a miscarriage of social justice. But there is also the issue of control over your own destiny. People need to have control over what happens in their community. They need to feel like they are a partner in that growth. The long-standing residents of the community will benefit from improvements in service, etc. Who would not want to see more restaurants, more stores and less abandoned houses?
History has an inexorable way of repeating itself and there is nothing your narrow-minded cynicism can do about it. Fortunately we have met very welcoming people who truly want to improve the neighborhood and who we can work with. If you have too much time in your hands, please save yourself a lot of anger and enjoy the beautiful day!
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daver wrote:
DUH thats my point. I never mentioned a word about race. YOU brought up race and assumed I am of a particular race. YOU outed yourself so you go think it thru.
Actually, your race is totally immaterial to the point. You may have to think that one through a little, though. -
Anonymous wrote: [quote=daver]
DUH thats my point. I never mentioned a word about race. YOU brought up race and assumed I am of a particular race. YOU outed yourself so you go think it thru.
Actually, your race is totally immaterial to the point. You may have to think that one through a little, though.
The whole thread is about race. I didn't bring up race. Check the thread title for reference. I never assumed you to be one race or the other, and couldn't care less. I made a point ABOUT race and prejudice because it is relevant to what the thread is about. -
daver wrote:
The whole thread is about race. I didn't bring up race. Check the thread title for reference. I never assumed you to be one race or the other, and couldn't care less. I made a point ABOUT race and prejudice because it is relevant to what the thread is about.daver wrote: just as all black people can't be judged on the wet dream fantasy spitting/smashing of Guest.
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