brooklyn!
This was taken from a CMU facebook club posting of people from NY, which I think was taken from the Columbia chapter of the club...who knows. I just find it interesting.
It's true that being from Brooklyn doesn't mean shit anymore. Everytime I meet someone new and I say I'm from Brooklyn, I have to say I'm not from Williamsburg or Park Slope (no one living in those areas are from Brooklyn anymore).
*****IT COSTS $1000/MONTH TO RENT A STUDIO IN HARLEM NOW*****
I saw, the other day, that black residents of Harlem are being forced out of their apartments due to landlords who fail to repair decrepit living conditions only until the residents leave, whereupon rents are raised and rich, generally white, generally young real estate seekers who come into the city from lily-white suburbs, take over the apartment in a desperate act of trying to find a place to live in the housing crunched manhattan tourist attraction that this city has become. I notice this is a growing phenomenon. NYC has apparently become such an 'awesome' place to live that people who have been here since their fucking ancestors came over on the boats (i'm not just talking about Harlem, but maybe about the Meat Packing District, Chelsea, Williamsburg, maybe even LIC) are forced to leave their own neighborhoods. How has it come to this? Will our city become lily-white and available only to the wealthy, when in fact it has been a haven for poor immigrants since its birth?
Secondly, what does it mean to be from Brooklyn anymore? For people born and raised in Brooklyn, you know you've lived a life different from most, tough, street smart, humble, proud, whatever. Brooklyn is your identity; you are Brooklyn. But now look. Williamsburg. Brooklyn is a hangout for young suburban wealthy whitebreads, out of state hipsters, and college students from God knows where. What does it mean to be from Brooklyn anymore? Maybe before it meant being a proud child of hard working immigrant parents. Now it means NOTHING. NOTHING.
Just remember, if you've lived in Brooklyn for two or three years, don't ever, ever, EVER EVER say that 'you're from Brooklyn.' Because you're not. If you lived in the fabled Brooklyn of the 80s and 90s,your ass would be robbed and beaten by now.
That's how we know what it is to be from Brooklyn. That's how we know you don't have it.
And I ain't even from Brooklyn.
*****I LOVE ALL THE SMALL TOWN CHICKS WHO COME TO NYC AND THINK THEY'RE CARRIE BRADSHAW*****
Walking around 110th - 118th street in high heels on a Thursday night pretending you're in sex and the city doesn' t make you a New Yorker.
It's out of towners who think they can become "New Yorkers" by coming in from the burbs, graduating college, making a bit of money, and taking over neighborhoods like the Village, Willamsburg, Astoria, and soon Long Island City and transforming them into hipster, yuppie, or racially monotonous areas, that are taking a toll on the diversity, rawness, and AFFORDABILITY of my beloved boroughs. Brooklyn is probably next because everyone thinks it's the "cool" place to be. I know several neighborhoods in Queens that would never let this happen. Just take the 7 or the F train past the first few stops. That's where I'll be when I graduate. Back where I was born. The real New Yorkers don't usually live the New York Sex and The City, Woody Allen, Hollywood highlife. They're working class people who don't care about the big lights, the tall buildings, or "being a part of it." They're already a part of it, more than anyone can ever pretend to be.
It's true that being from Brooklyn doesn't mean shit anymore. Everytime I meet someone new and I say I'm from Brooklyn, I have to say I'm not from Williamsburg or Park Slope (no one living in those areas are from Brooklyn anymore).
*****IT COSTS $1000/MONTH TO RENT A STUDIO IN HARLEM NOW*****
I saw, the other day, that black residents of Harlem are being forced out of their apartments due to landlords who fail to repair decrepit living conditions only until the residents leave, whereupon rents are raised and rich, generally white, generally young real estate seekers who come into the city from lily-white suburbs, take over the apartment in a desperate act of trying to find a place to live in the housing crunched manhattan tourist attraction that this city has become. I notice this is a growing phenomenon. NYC has apparently become such an 'awesome' place to live that people who have been here since their fucking ancestors came over on the boats (i'm not just talking about Harlem, but maybe about the Meat Packing District, Chelsea, Williamsburg, maybe even LIC) are forced to leave their own neighborhoods. How has it come to this? Will our city become lily-white and available only to the wealthy, when in fact it has been a haven for poor immigrants since its birth?
Secondly, what does it mean to be from Brooklyn anymore? For people born and raised in Brooklyn, you know you've lived a life different from most, tough, street smart, humble, proud, whatever. Brooklyn is your identity; you are Brooklyn. But now look. Williamsburg. Brooklyn is a hangout for young suburban wealthy whitebreads, out of state hipsters, and college students from God knows where. What does it mean to be from Brooklyn anymore? Maybe before it meant being a proud child of hard working immigrant parents. Now it means NOTHING. NOTHING.
Just remember, if you've lived in Brooklyn for two or three years, don't ever, ever, EVER EVER say that 'you're from Brooklyn.' Because you're not. If you lived in the fabled Brooklyn of the 80s and 90s,your ass would be robbed and beaten by now.
That's how we know what it is to be from Brooklyn. That's how we know you don't have it.
And I ain't even from Brooklyn.
*****I LOVE ALL THE SMALL TOWN CHICKS WHO COME TO NYC AND THINK THEY'RE CARRIE BRADSHAW*****
Walking around 110th - 118th street in high heels on a Thursday night pretending you're in sex and the city doesn' t make you a New Yorker.
It's out of towners who think they can become "New Yorkers" by coming in from the burbs, graduating college, making a bit of money, and taking over neighborhoods like the Village, Willamsburg, Astoria, and soon Long Island City and transforming them into hipster, yuppie, or racially monotonous areas, that are taking a toll on the diversity, rawness, and AFFORDABILITY of my beloved boroughs. Brooklyn is probably next because everyone thinks it's the "cool" place to be. I know several neighborhoods in Queens that would never let this happen. Just take the 7 or the F train past the first few stops. That's where I'll be when I graduate. Back where I was born. The real New Yorkers don't usually live the New York Sex and The City, Woody Allen, Hollywood highlife. They're working class people who don't care about the big lights, the tall buildings, or "being a part of it." They're already a part of it, more than anyone can ever pretend to be.