Thats the intersection of Church Ave. and McDonald Ave. Who knew silver rod goes way back like that? and the greater is now obviously Astoria Federal.
I don't go as far back as that but I remember The Greater, Waldbaums where rite aid is now, cow tree barber shop, The Beverly Theater (ok, its really only one vague memory of falling asleep watching superman 2 and I might not be totally positive it was the Beverly but still)
Kensington Brooklyn. Great place but why do these new comers want to change it so badly and make it Park Slope or Williamsburg or some other hipster/yuppie haven. They want coffee shops, they want bars, they want this, they want that. Why cant they just be happy with what is here and what is here is plenty.
I seriously think the new comer people who want all these things here hate any kind of traveling. They expect everything to come to them. They say they don't want to change this place into Park Slope but the things they want will do just that. You know I'm sure that when Park Slope had their influx of out-of-towners they used to say, "we don't want to make this place Manhattan. We're not trying to change it. we just want some nice things here" and then BAM! Fort Greene out-of-towners - "We don't want to force anyone out. We just want some places to drink coffee and discuss art blah,blah,blah" and then BAM! Eventually Brooklyn is going to be the same exact thing in each neighborhood, high rents and cornballs as residents.
You can easily enjoy whatever yuppie thing you crave by taking the train like 2 stops and going to Park Slope. Its less than 5 minutes! And besides theres already bars here. Whats wrong with Shenanigans? Dennys? Too many blue collar workers for you? Not enough peeps with shaggy haircuts, t-shirts 2 sizes too small, and black hipster rimmed glasses? well why don't you just use that same "takeover the neighborhood" mentality and apply it to those places.
Anything you NEED you can easily get around here. Anything you WANT is just but a train ride away.
--holla back dun
4/13/07
In the next millineium i'll still be old school
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
I want to move to Kensington... cause you're there.
be there in a month. see you soon!
Well said!!! Heavens forbid you have to buy an unlimited Metrocard and ride the train ten minutes. Or buy a car and drive for five. Opening a starbucks certainly changes the character of the neighborhood.
Also, I'm sick of yuppies who live in Ditmas Park saying they live in Kensington. You live in Flatbush! Anything past Coney Island Avenue is Flatbush so go write on another blog. If you live near Bobby's, you live in Flatbush.
I just moved in - too many Park Slopers/Manhattanites moving in. I got drawn to the area because of it's diversity and I DON'T WANT IT TO CHANGE. I want my kids (when I have them) to grow up here so that it's natural for them to have Bengali friends, Russian friends, blue collar friends, and white collar friends. What an education! I don't want them spoiled by the Park Slope yuppie mentality.
I love being able to go to the 99cent store! You know how much money I save every month? I love getting pedicures. I love having shops from all over the world just around the corner.
I'd willingly sacrifice my yuppie coffee to keep this neighborhood the same.
The people who are complaining haven't explored the neighborhood enough to know what's available. The coffee at Hot Bagels is awesome. They just don't offer lattes.
I've been living here for 3 years and I just want a decent bar. I don't want a shitty hipster bar with 5 dollar PBRs, just a decent bar I can hit that's close to home. Not too much to ask. And I don't mind taking the train, I take it constantly.
ok, mafoo...i ain't no foo! admit it! you're a hipster. come on! just admit it! your PBR reference totally gave you away. you know why? cause the working families of kensington don't drink PBR. do you know who drinks PBR? hipsters do...that's who! and guess what else, mafoo...the people of kensington don't need a "decent bar." the residents of kensington have survived for many a year without said "decent bar" and they could and would continue to do so if it wasn't for troublemakers like you. bars and PBR are not made for kensington and the people who have called it home for decades, they are for young folks such as yourself from whatever out of town place you're from, who have money to burn, time to waste and no respect for the people who are trying to get by and survive and raise families in the neighborhood they grew up in.
gentrification is not a conscious act. people don't move into an area thinking, "oh, i need a coffee shop, and a dog run, and a fucking health food store". that shit follows them. it's completely on auto-pilot.
there are some young urban professionals (yes, yuppies) that just can't afford to live in new york anymore. everyone, except for bankers, doctors, and lawyers, are equally affected. and i am one of them. i have no desire to change your neighborhood. but sadly it will happen whether i want it or not. blame those that make obscene amounts of money, and follow materialistic lifestyles. some of us are just trying to make a living wage, and live with some dignity, instead of in a basement apartment the size of a closet that's infested with vermin. cause that's what the alternative is, if we 'outsiders' stay in the neighborhoods you think we belong.
walk a mile in someone else's shoes...
RE:battlesword,
I'm sorry but I completely disagree with some of your points. People most definitely move into the area thinking they need the coffeshops, dog runs, etc. especially those who are not the working type who have disposible money and think they deserve whatever they want. It doesnt just follow them like you say it does, sorry but its not a coincidence. look at each neighborhood that has undergone the change we're talking about, you think that just "follows them", that its just a coincidence that certain people move in and certain businesses move in.
and if we look again at the neighborhoods that have undergone this change, its not people who make obscene amounts of money who follow materialistic lifestyles that have caused the change. its pretty easy to divert the attention to rich people and blame them but they're not the ones in these neighborhoods. the obscenely rich are elsewhere not kensington.
"walk a mile in someone else's shoes... "
yeah, whatever. woe is me for the yup. why dont you try walking in the shoes of those individuals and families forced out of their homes cuz they no longer can afford it and have no other options. sorry, but apparantly you dont know this - you are not the victim.
i never used the term "coincidence" - the thing with blog comment postings is you often don't have a chance to fully explain the complexity of your thinking.
no, of course not, it's no 'coincidence' that amenity-providers such as we've described move in. but that's a result of opportunistic commercial interests that want to capitalize on people with a little more disposable income. usually the two happen hand-in-hand, simultaneously.
i suppose some douchebags probably move in and demand things like dog-runs, as that is under municipal jurisdiction. and that's unfortunate, and self-absorbed, in my opinion. but that said, even poorer people have dogs...shit.
plus, the idea of 'obscene' is relative. of course, people with your idea of 'obscene' amounts of money are living in other areas, like brooklyn heights (if we're keeping to bk here), etc...but look at williamsburg - a neighborhood that still remains relatively 'krappy'? there have been plenty of young bankers just out of school moving into that neighborhood that are making 6 figures at 23. not that's obscene to me. and if you have an influx of people with those kind of means moving in, it fucks everything up for everyone.
all i was saying is that things aren't as cut-and-dry as people make it out to be. there are some professionals out there who are not making oodles of money, but who have a right to live in a comfortable home, and if that means moving to an area that was once undervalued, than there is no fault in that. i'm sorry.
one thing that people forget is that it is often long-time residents that benefit from gentrification as they are often property owners in the area. they can also hold some of the blame for being opportunistic and expecting either market rate or above for their properties, whether selling or renting.
so what do you suggest? people who are in a higher income level just stay away? move somewhere else? stay out of new york? that's just ridiculous.
if you're really concerned with the state of things, move to a country that doesn't have a free-market economy where the almighty dollar is worshipped above anything. especially quality of life for its residents.
or, even better, vote for politicians that will make good on promises to provide affordable housing. now there's a thought.
one last thing:
of course you can blame the rich. they are the ones that have made every other neighborhood unaffordable - thus pushing people of moderate incomes to the periphery. and the rich include the spoiled kids that are moving in that have the advantage of mommy & daddy subsidizing their rent...which once again, drives prices up for everyone else.
like ms. wrigley wrote, the "melting pot - has become the billionaires' city".
the rich are slowly killing the city, and eventually even THEY won't even be able to live here because those that service them will have moved so far out of range of the city that they won't have an interest in the commute to work for their minimum (or below) wage job. and employment alternatives will exist within their own new neighborhoods.
i say let the city die, and then move back in when it's free from the Trumps and others that have no idea what makes a city vibrant.
could take a while though.
Post a Comment