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As a buppie, I usually stay out of these conversations, but tonight I came home to a mob of frat/preppie types outside of an old theater/church/concert venue in Washington Heights and I was shocked by how uncomfortable the crowd made me feel. As a black woman, I've realized that drunken (white) dudes in madras plaid pants and untucked Oxford shirts scare me more than the wannabe gangsters I pass on the street every day. They all looked a little too Robert Chambers for my taste. (Does that reference make me really old?)
Nah, I looked it up when I got home and saw it was just some jam band concert. If I had known that they would all be too stoned to bother me, I wouldn't have felt so anxious.
Nah, I looked it up when I got home and saw it was just some jam band concert. If I had known that they would all be too stoned to bother me, I wouldn't have felt so anxious.
DITC...you are gravely mistaken with your assumptions, as I am not outnumbered 25,000 to 1.....it is really the few bad apples that ruin areas, and hold entire communities hostage. I also find it strange that you equate someone choosing to stay in a community that lacks the kind of mentors, stability, community focused inviduals with "cleaning up like Guiliani." I guess no matter what I do...choose to stay and help make my community better, or leave to somewhere better and abandon the place...to you its always bad or somehow sinister. That is a very sad point of view indeed.
And I also find it strange that you believe I want Mott Haven for myself. and I am being selfish...that's a new one. Who the heck wants the crime ridden projects, the litter everywhere, the extreme poverty, the ghetto subculture that dominates, the bad schools, and on and on...not I! I am trying to make things better for EVERYONE by staying....I am not laying the red carpet out for the Hipsters/Yuppies as you may believe, but what I am doing is making life better for my community by providing an anchor for others to hold onto, depend on, and look to for help, advise, and support, whether it be helping to get more trees planted on our block, more garbage cans, or stop signs at a dangerous intersection..b/c at the moment..I am the only one doing them!
And for the record I do not come on here to preach about how great I am, I come on here to demonstrate that one person can make a big difference...on my block we are on 3 trees so far...and counting!
I remember in an earlier post you said something about needing "new faces" in your area, and you seem to be an advocate of breaking up the homogeneous ethnic enclave type environment. Remember there are not only bad apple trouble makers in baggy jeans and tims, but also in yuppie clothes, hipster clothes, hick clothes.
Well I respect the fact that you are trying to plant trees, its a small thing that contributes positively.
Remember, real change is taking the existing community and helping them, even the few bad apples. Talk to people in the community maybe someone would be interested in training kids to box or something, that stuff keeps kids off the streets.
I was on the D train the other night and saw about 20 white yuppies get off at 145th compared to 2 blacks which goes to show you that the "Harlem cleanup" was just a racial/economic cleansing of the area. Thats not real change.
As a buppie, I usually stay out of these conversations, but tonight I came home to a mob of frat/preppie types outside of an old theater/church/concert venue in Washington Heights and I was shocked by how uncomfortable the crowd made me feel. As a black woman, I've realized that drunken (white) dudes in madras plaid pants and untucked Oxford shirts scare me more than the wannabe gangsters I pass on the street every day. They all looked a little too Robert Chambers for my taste. (Does that reference make me really old?)
I think your referring to the United Palace theater up on 179th. They have all kinds of concerts there now.
Bah, I pick on hipsters, but I don't hate 'em. In fact, I wouldn't pick on them if I didn't envy them a little bit. They're very fortunate, pretty, and young and have New York at their feet.
DITC...I think your assertion that the reduction in crime rate was based on "racial clean up" of the neighborhood is laughable. When the crime overtook the neighborhood..it was based on racism...when the city takes action to decrease the crime and make Harlem more livable..it is racist also. You have a very sad perception of life indeed.
MOTT HAVEN UPDATE:
-I was outbid on a single family house in the Longwood section (borders North-East Mott Haven) by a white lesbian couple! I saw them moving in...and needless to say...the crew cuts and army boots were a dead giveaway.
-The same day (Saturday) there were three fairly raggedy white youths (approximately 22 years old) each with hoodies over their heads going to the local bodega for some items...I have never seen them before in the area and I guess these are the Hipsters everyone speaks of. I had no opinion other than complete shock..as even I am not used to seeing new faces in the community.
I have already spread the word in the community and these were generally the responses:
-Lesbians received a warm welcome overall.... "I would rather live next to lesbians than ****....maybe they will bring more of their girls around" was the general vibe.
-The Hipsters were more ambiguous response. "Who cares" and "Aha"...were generally the reactions...I think that's because the residents around here have no concept of what a Hipster is other than the fact that they were white.
-I was outbid on a single family house in the Longwood section (borders North-East Mott Haven) by a white lesbian couple! I saw them moving in...and needless to say...the crew cuts and army boots were a dead giveaway.
-The same day (Saturday) there were three fairly raggedy white youths (approximately 22 years old) each with hoodies over their heads going to the local bodega for some items...I have never seen them before in the area and I guess these are the Hipsters everyone speaks of. I had no opinion other than complete shock..as even I am not used to seeing new faces in the community.
I have already spread the word in the community and these were generally the responses:
-Lesbians received a warm welcome overall.... "I would rather live next to lesbians than ****....maybe they will bring more of their girls around" was the general vibe.
-The Hipsters were more ambiguous response. "Who cares" and "Aha"...were generally the reactions...I think that's because the residents around here have no concept of what a Hipster is other than the fact that they were white.
That's my report.
Lol you're way off. Hipsters are the anti-hoodies. They have tight clothes and are usually fruity like the rainbow. Alot of them have unkept long hair. Those "whites" you saw were probably Puerto Rican. As PR's are white anyways. If not then you have whites who have fed into the ghetto culture of Mott Haven.
Its sad that Mott Haven may in fact be the first area of the Bronx to receive gentrification. Its mainly because its a well-known neighborhood with a bad rep. Similar to Bushwick, Bed-stuy and Harlem. You haven't seen any of that in Tremont/Fordham because these neighborhoods aren't really that famous. Damn shame.
lol I like the first answer.
The 2nd not so much.
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