Is this what 14 Townhouses brings?

johnife · May 2007

As I was walking along State this morning, on my way to Sid's Hardware, there was a woman in front of one of the new 14 Townhouses occupying, with her dog and two kids in a double-wide stroller, the full width of the sidewalk. She appeared to be waiting for someone else to exit the house. She was looking directly at me as I approached and, despite my "Excuse me", did absolutely nothing to to relocate herself, her pet, or her children to clear a path for me. I got the distinct impression that she felt that $2.9 million bought her not only a chic move-in dwelling in which she didn't have to lift a finger, but also the right to treat lesser mortals with disdain. Sure the houses are nice, but are the people they've brought?

mrkraayon · May 2007

Maybe she feels that the sidewalk area in front of her townhouse is her property? It's the same sort of thing you see when people buy beach front property and assume that they own the public beach because they dished out a couple million.

anonymous · May 2007

Maybe you should just walk around them and stop whining like a little b*tch. You, sir, are a wealthist. The fact that someone has money doesn't make him/her automatically an inconsiderate snob. Get over yourself.

oiseau · May 2007

I would have just walked through her and her kids and perhaps kicked her pet just for fun. You get one chance to move then I plow into you. Sorry, but that is the only way people learn.

The sidewalk is made for everyone, and no matter how self-important you think you are you have to move that shit over.

anonymous · May 2007

Subject: give me a break.

You have to be joking. Do you have 2 small kids who have to be pushed around in a stroller? Do you know what a pain that is? Do you have any sympathy for the woman trying to juggle 2 babies and a dog? Do you know if she was visiting someone there? Maybe she's from Idaho and isn't used to moving out of the way quickly enough not to annoy easily annoyable NYers.

I live in one of those houses. Give me a break, give people around you a break, care about important issues...

anonymous · May 2007

Subject: The poster is correct

I'm sorry, but those double wide strollers are obnoxious. The sense of entitlement that these Brooklyn breeders have with regards to how much space they're allowed to take up is appalling.

anonymous · July 2007

Subject: stroller etiquette

I just spent the most frustrating couple of days being blocked in stores and on sidewalks by, sometimes literally sideways parked, strollers and parents. Please please please get the strollers out of the way. You can bet that if it were me and my bicycle blocking the sidewalk or me and my shopping cart blocking the sidewalk, I'd be getting some pretty nasty looks and comments from the CH/CG mommies and daddies. I'm done with being apologetic and politely asking, Excuse me, May I go by, please? Move your kid and the stroller out of the way. Don't give your kid the snack in the MIDDLE of the sidewalk. Please move to the side. Don't bring the stroller into the store, park it outside, and if need be, carry the child. I need to shop, too, and I have every right not to have my new shoes ruined and my feet run over by your unnecessarily over-sized SUV stroller. I have a right to walk normally on the sidewalk, and not to have to walk into the roadway to get around you. Use your common sense and maybe even generate a little goodwill towards the Mommy set by moving to the side of the sidewalk, and being a considerate neighbor.

anonymous · July 2007

Subject: Amen

Amen, aggravated. Amen

kikintina · July 2007

I have sympathy about side-walk hogs, but I also know this is a ridiculously over-done complaint, and that everyone gets more aggravated with those who have something (bike, stroller, dog, cell phone, friends walking four abreast, shopping cart, a wide gait) that they don't identify with. However, keep in mind that chances are you've blocked someone once or twice.

I have a stroller and I am very conscious of always moving walking on the "right" side of the sidewalk and saying "excuse me" or "sorry" or whatever is overly appropriate. And what did the guy with a cell phone crazy glued to his ear say the last time he backed up into me and my Bjorn-style carried baby? He said, "What the f*ck, watch where you're going!" Ummmmm. Wasn't he going backwards?

It's all part of sharing public space. Get over it.

anonymous · July 2007

Subject: stroller etiquette

Kikintina, Most of the stroller operators are fine...but a sub-group - the 'sidewalk hogs' are not acting with everyone's best interest in mind. (cell phones are a whole 'nother subject.) The stroller issue is not, as you say, a 'ridulously over-done complaint'.

Clearly, you have not had your new shoes or feet run over way too many times, and gotten a dirty look 'for your trouble'. Have you had to walk into the street to get around them - while mommy leans over cooing and giving the little kid a snack all the while oblivious to the fact that the stroller is full-on sideways blocking the entire - narrow, i might add - sidewalk?

the strollers are too big, and groups that congregate - often 3 or 4 at a time blocking entire walkways - are acting unfairly and disrespectfully. it's gotten to the point that if i see a stroller in a store, I leave or don't go in and i'm not alone in that.

The daddy that nearly ran me over and then blocked me in the store was quite oblivious - having his 'moment' with junior. And many stroller operators look confused or worse - irritated - when I ask them politely to please SHARE the space and move to the side. And when my new shoes were run over, all I got was an irritated look as in - why were you standing there? It's the feeling generated by all this that the stroller operators are entitled to the space and that my request is rude or unwarranted that irks me. If indeed my cart/bicycle or just plain self blocked someone and they asked me to move, I certainly would, with a brief polite apology for not realizing that I was blocking the way. It's the LACK OF the sense of 'we are in this together' that is aggravating me. This should be the case and usually is, but more often lately isn't. And it seems to be getting worse around here.

i was respectful in my post, and you might be too - if we are indeed to SHARE this space or the sidewalk.

kikintina · July 2007

If I take the "ridiculously" out, I hope it's more respectful. And the "get over it" part was definitely a reaction to hearing this over and over again while knowing that I move out of the way move often than anyone else in the universe. (Isn't that what we all think about our own experiences?) I often complain about things I'm sure other people have heard too much because they are part of that group, even if they aren't a "guilty" member.

I agree that each sub-group has its bad seeds (bad hogs) who give the entire group a bad name. I also think that most people have moments when they are less aware than others. That's why I usually keep my mouth shut and wait patiently or move out of other people's ways.

Lovebirds also have their moments, and text messengers seem to have their moments with their technology. So, as I said previously, I think most of us have oblivious "moments." It's those who aggressively force their life choices on the rest of us who make for aggravation.

anonymous · July 2007

Subject: stroller etiquette

Listen, anyone who knows me knows that I love and adore the many kids in my extended family - and yes, they've heard all this from me. I've pushed a stroller, and know how awkward they are, and bulky and heavy especially with junior and all the 'stuff' in/on it. I'm not unsympathetic. I just want a little appreciation for the fact that there are other people aside from the stroller set in the neighborhood and we have an honest right to the sidewalk/walkways.

I needed to vent, I'm done now. Thanks for listening.

Tune in next week when we go after the lovebirds, texters, cell phone abusers and people that don't clean up after their dogs!

kikintina · July 2007

This time I get to say: amen, aggravated, amen.

Is this what 14 Townhouses brings?

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