Extra, Extra
Extra, Extra
Extra, Extra
Extra, Extra
Early Addition
There goes the neighborhood? Some Harlem residents are distressed at a sudden “epidemic” of Smart Cars parked around the ‘hood. One blogger even came out of retirement to marvel at the sight of a Smart Car parked on the street; apparently it’s a symbol of gentrification on steroids and proof that Harlem is “over.” But at least one commenter on Harlem Fur isn’t having it: “I am a teacher who moved to Harlem last year so that I could afford my rent. Blogs like this confused the hell out of me. Why is it okay to rave about the new pet store and the new restaurant but then.. oh god.. someone buys an eco-friendly trendy car, and your response is to say, ‘I'm moving out?’”
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
Why are people so distressed about gentrification? It's not all great, but for the most part it's good.
The rents have to go up to support the neighborhood and to maintain buildings. No one, 60 years ago, was pissed off when the neighborhood(s) went to hell and stayed that way for this long. Now that people want to move back to the area and help keep it from deteriorating, people like this one are pissed because their rents are going up, that's it?. I'd be upset too, don't get me wrong, but it's not always "about you."
On a side note I think it would be pretty hilarious to see a gangsta driving one of these...
NEWSFLASH: people are stupid!
The Harlem Fur commenter really needs to go back and read what HF wrote.
Also, the Smart Car phenomenon has nothing to do with Harlem or the gentrification of Harlem.
Whatev, I live in Harlem and recently saw a black smart car with tinted windows and chrome rims parked on Freddie D & 142nd street. Awesome, for so many reasons.
The Smart Car starts at only $12,000. Maybe people are just buying it because they can afford it. If Harlem is supposed to be for the budget-minded (like this guy who moved there to afford his rent) then Smart Cars makes sense don't they? Get over the whole gentrification whining already.
I'm missing the connection between Smart cars and gentrification, thus making me feel dumb.
Car: Smart
People: Stupid
SWPL.
nnnathalie, are you for real? That is so hott i def wanna see that one.
I wish Smart Cars were alive. They'd be screaming prejudice at such profiling of their kind.
Why does a cheap SmartCar equal gentrification but the black full size super expensive Escalades with spinning rims the guys from the housing projects down the block from me all drive doesn't? Is it because one indicates a higher level of intelligence then the neighborhood is accustomed?
"recently saw a black smart car with tinted windows and chrome rims parked on Freddie D & 142nd street."
that's how i roll, son!
& what!!
The Smart Car is perky in appearance, and I like it's look and package, but don't let it fool you. It is not that great on gas as it appears it should be. The European versions get better gas mileage but are a little too slow off the line to match US driving habits. Not drag racing, but getting up to speed on a controlled access highway.
It's a shame that New York City for the most part does not allow perpendicular parking. It would shine in that department.
The Smart Car in Harlem hoopla is overblown. Basically just some uptown bloggers who take every available opportunity to pontificate on signs of change. The appearance of the Smart Car in Harlem just happens to something that seems incongruous on a visceral level and somehow culturally fraught -- so it has been seized upon.
Most of them (Harlem Fur, for instance) probably actually favor it. Others (NYC the Blog, perhaps) seem to be inclined to look down on it, in the same way that "real New Yorkers" scoff at big box stores. Somehow it's not gritty enough. Too effete, or not effete enough. Whatever.
Back on planet earth, the Smart Car is something that makes sense for a lot of urban people, regardless of their neighborhood. It's efficient and relatively inexpensive.
It's not as if the Four Horsemen are going to fly out of the trunk (if it had one).
oh wow, this is great. Curbed has a sighting of a fourth Smart Car! on the corner of St Nicholas and 149th.
!!!
Everyone loves band wagons and scape goats.
I see those things around my neighborhood a lot. It would be nice if every car on the street was one.
That being said, they're no bargain for what you get. Crappy acceleration from a 1-liter 71-horsepower 3-cylinder engine, good but not fabulous gas mileage (33/41), only two seats, no trunk and the feeling that you could definitely be smushed by the nearest Toyota Yaris or Honda Fit. And that base model doesn't even come with A/C, power windows/mirrors or a radio!
down with whitey. Respectable people of color drive Escalades with fresh rims.
Do any of the Smart Cars have curb feelers?
Small cars are the only thing that makes sense in this economy. Frankly, I would love to see the bright yellow hummer on my block replaced by the car in the picture above.
Frankly, this response smells a lot like the attitude that states that being educated or speaking in full, grammatically correct sentences out means you're "acting too white." ARGH!
In other words, people aren't upset because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the "white" thing to do. double ARRGH!!! When are people going to realize that that kind of attitude is insulting to every non-white person in America !!!!
I agree JCBra. You'd get better gas milage with a Prius, and you won't look as ridiculous driving it.
I love the caption under the picture.
"And it's over."
The owner of the Yello Smart Car comes forward:
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/nyctheblog/966277194564027721/#29087
Emmanuel Goldstein is a hipster!
Frenchification, not Gentrification!
When I was in Paris last year, I counted literally DOZENS of Smart cars parked between the apartment building I was staying in and the nearest metro station--a few hundred yards at most. And that didn't include Smarts actually driving down the road. Anything that makes NYC seem more like Paris is OK by me, so merci beaucoup, bonne nuit, and a bientot to you all. Kiss, kiss.