if you want to travel back in time how the nyc of the 80's

Subject: Re: if you want to travel back in time how the nyc of the 80

armchair_warrior wrote: look like just goto east new york and brownsville :P. everytime i go through that area reminds me of the 80's.



oh first to write here haha.

I was taking the L through East New York (at least, I think it was East New York) a little while ago and I was thinking about how ridiculous the "Brownstone Brooklyn" obsession is. Sure, East New York is not "picturesque" like a long row of brownstones, but it certainly is far from being ugly or unsightly in any true architectural or city-planning perspective. As much as I like the brownstone aesthetic, I have begun to think that the whole fetish aspect of it all is really just a kind of elitism. Unlike lofts, which at least pretend to fit into the urban fabric as it exists, blemishes and all, brownstones inspire a kind of self-segregation, an aesthetic setting-apart. "I may live in [x nasty place], say brownstoners, but I'm in a brownstone and that makes me special."

So screw that, you know?

[ / rant ]

Subject: Re: if you want to travel back in time how the nyc of the 80

Anonymous wrote: [quote=armchair_warrior]look like just goto east new york and brownsville :P. everytime i go through that area reminds me of the 80's.



oh first to write here haha.

I disagree. I have been in the eastern parts of Brooklyn of late and they do not resemble any part of the city I remember. Especially with the growing trend of developers buying up real estate in the late 90's and present. HPD's housing restoration programs and NYC Auctions are obsolete because abandoned buildings have been purchased and rebuilt. Statistically, the quality of life issues have improved (Though that might be all smoke and mirrors) throughout the city. I can remember an article, my father read to us (1973), in the NY Post (Pre Murdoch) where the cover had the Chrysler Building up for sale for a whopping $10M. $10M, today, doesn't even cover the fraction of a down payment for a Trump penthouse.
If you want to see the NYC of the old, visit Washington DC along NY Avenue (How ironic to be located on that Avenue) and north of it, right off the BW Expressway. Also, Serpico is a great film for reliving the former sites of NYC (As well as it's evolving personality)

I remember when all of Belmont Ave in Brownsville/E. NY looked like the Hanoi trail. Now, row houses with driveways and flower pots. If you really want to see what E. NY looked like during the '70's either go to North Philly or the slums of Nashville.