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Ugh, with the financial crisis totally shredding mommy and daddy's investment portfolio, many young adults in Hipsterland are being forced to find jobs. Times reporter Christine Haughney talked to some landlords and people in the real estate industry, who confirm the tragic trend: parents are cutting back on their contributions to rent and apartment down payments, in some cases eliminating their support entirely. Landlord Ernie DiGiacomo says that instead of getting checks from his tenants' parents, some of them are moving back in with their parents!
Unfortunately, this is going to impact all New Yorkers, with longer lines at cash registers now that these diffident roustabouts are flooding the retail workforce. Luis Illades, an owner of Urban Rustic Market by McCarren Park, says he's getting a steady number of applicants who've never held paid jobs—though according to him most are immediately turned off once they discover what a "job" is: "They say, 'You want me to work eight hours?' There is a bubble bursting." (We're so wearing our Mister Bubble T-shirt to Glasslands this weekend!)
It's all a big sad mess, but not everyone's heart is bleeding for those delicate trustafarians forced to fend for themselves. 27-year-old Katie Deedy, for instance, works two bartending jobs while trying to get her designer wallpaper business of the ground. And she's simply got no sympathy for peers whose parents have cut them off: "If I’m going to be completely honest, it does make me feel a little bit better. It’s bringing a lot of Williamsburg back to reality." FML. With kickball season getting into full swing, this "reality" thing couldn't have come at a worse time.
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cue the schadenfreude.
honestly, to each according to his means. but i can't imagine WANTING to be 28 or older and have never held a job. that's just not healthy.
As someone who is just over 28 and has held a paid job for 15 years -- I can say I'd be perfectly happy to have never had a paid job.
for real. i'm over 30 and have been employed since I started doing paper routes at 12. poverty sucks.
I was the urban equivalent of the paper route,
I was a messenger. Actually moved up to a paper route delivering the NY Post to newstands.
Nawwww yall.
These hipsters stroll around looking so hardcore in their curated, ratty "look" and deep down their just a bunch of ignorant pussy babies.
I would be glad to win the lottery and retire at 30, but at least I was a part of the real world once.
If I owned a business, I wouldn't even think of employing someone who had never held a job before. Let them shrivel up and return to New Hampshire.
hahah- *New Hampshire*? Really? That's a new one.
I like to push the envelope, like, you know what I mean? I'm started to get bored with my loft, so I find myself trying to exist outside of a space, you know? Mom? Did you send this months check yet? Can you send it early?
So should I expect more hipsters at my local department store? Or will they consider themselves too good for retail work?
time to shave them beards and get a job.
and register as a Republican as if you're not already.
because if you don't, daddy won't be providing anymore funds. it's the trust fund bailout.
bring home the bacon, bitches!
soy bacon for those "vegan/vegitarian wannabe" hipsters....ugh -gag-
Fuck these blood-sucking fuckety fuck fucks. At 15 I was a busboy working five nights a week to give money to my single mom to help pay the rent. After college I moved out at 20 and never took a penny from anyone. I would offer one of these leechy whiners a babysitting job but I wouldn't trust a deadbeat like that with my kid. Let them hitchhike home.
And still you're not bitter about the experience.
I'm bitter about people who have everything handed to them by mommy and daddy and then squander their opportunities and don't amount to shit.
"slow news day john-- can you throw together some shitty article baselessly deriding residents of williamsburg in all the most tired ways?"
ugh don't you ever get tired of shooting fish in a barrel gothamist?
Maybe you didn't observe that JDS didn't write the original article, the New York Times did, so if you want to bitch to someone, bitch to Christine Haughney. And I'm not sure how "baseless" the article is when you actually interview residents who fall into those generalizations.
Did your allowance get cut?
muhahaha!!
Check plus
Getting tired of making fun of Billyburg hipsters is an impossibility.
I like the tone throughout this post.
My question is, are these articles distinguishing between 20-somethings who actually receive money on a monthly basis from their parents versus the individual whose parents, say, were guarantors on their lease? Because there is a huge different.
* difference
Don't write when you're angry that's when the misspelling happens.
I should no.
Oh, I'm not mad at all. I just think there could be some slight generalizations going on, when, yes, there is a difference between your parents GIVING you 250,000 for a down payment on your apartment and your parents signing on the lease so that you can actually move in to an apartment.
A "huge difference" in what sense? A huge difference to the people who would mock you? I don't think there is a huge difference there, actually, in the eyes of those of us who neither have our rent paid *or* our loans guaranteed for us by mommy and daddy.
Do you consider leasing an apartment with a guarantor the same as having a loan guaranteed?
discovering what a "job" is must be like hipster puberty or something...
hey, i have a "job" for ya... tell the guy in the photo that TSOL sucks.
ima pee on them.
"slow news day john-- can you throw together some shitty article baselessly deriding residents of williamsburg in all the most tired ways?"
I had the same "slow news day" thought when I heard this "story" -- without attribution -- on the radio (880) in the car this morning. They mentioned no names (maybe because they were just ripping off the Times without doing any actual reporting) but said that a Williamsburg landlord said parent aren't paying any more, and a store owner said young people are applying for a job who've never had one before.
So I wondered where that all came from, and now I know, thanks to Gothamist pointing to it. I wonder how many people Times reporter Christine Haughney talked to who said things that didn't fit the formula, so were completely dismissed. That is, I can't believe that every landlord she talked to said this stuff about parents, so why no mention of that?
Why don't you take public transportation?
I sense an impending explosion of craftily worded craigslist listings.
Has anyone else noticed that whenever someone rises up in hot, bothered consternation about articles plying hipster stereotypes, it's never in actual defense of the hipsters, only in derision of the article? Why, it's almost as if hipsters are a worthless smudge of poop on the porcelain of Brooklyn's toilet set to which zero defense or praise could be crafted.
Mea culpa for making that a reply when it clearly was no such thing.
Is Williamsburg considered a flyover state?
Great job seeking out attention-whore/fameball Misha Calvert for your article, NY Times. She is cute, though.
No, she's not.
cute? eewwwww. i guess there is no accounting for taste. and that outfit! egad!
I dunno whats better, hipsters being made fun of or the dumb girl in the article who is dismissing the very people who would be customers for her boutique crap wallpaper.
Yeah, this story was my moment of zen for the day. Screw that part of my peer group for making us look bad.
You better get a real job instead of five internships before 30, kiddies.
Welcome to the real world.
sounds good to me, now maybe regular people can get their foot in the door at these internships.
roofle @ hipsters mocking hipsters
What kills me is that I've had the unfortunate experience of ordering delivery from Urban Rustic (a store mentioned in the article as an employer of these newly-impoverished youngsters) and it's amazing how absolutely clueless they are as workers!
why you guys all hating? these guys had the good fortune to have hardworking parents who gave them everything they wanted. Isn't the purpose of working hard to make lots of money is to give some of it to your children? Sure, you can hate on the guys who are dicks and have money but to hate on a dude who just has money is wrong. It's funny that people like you are the ones who are gonna give your children money in the long run. Shakespeare was right, it's all cyclical. From my only love sprung my only hate.
If I were to make REAL money, I would never curse my kids by giving it to them all when I die.
I'd do what Bill Gates will do: Leave only a couple Million of his Multi-Billion dollar fortune to his children.
Fine. But it should be your decision. The government shouldn't have any right to take 1% let alone 50% of your savings.
yeah, just leave a couple of milly to your kids. That's not going to spoil them. Look at the astor's. Money begets complacency. It's weird how the nicest people have asshole children and vice versa.
Completely agree, babyhitler.
In a time where those who didn't save and those who were financially irresponsible are partly to blame for feeding the flames of the disaster, it's a joke to then bash the families that did save.
This is also why I'm so against the estate tax. We should be encouraging savings. Instead we promote fiscal recklessness and transfers of wealth. Just as it's nice to have a Mom and Pop store have the sons and grandsons keep it going, it's fine to have the Waltons, Wegmans, and Rooneys keep it in the family.
The ire should not be on these families, but on those in the margins who are buying flat screen TVs and nice cars while not putting anything into a 529 or savings account.
Those are the people we should all rip into.
But instead, too often we try to protect them with laws, welfare money, and regulation, and demonize those as racist or elite if you attack the lowest socio-economic class.
I'm sorry, those "in the margins" are victims of institutionalized economic violence. You want to scold the working class for spending their extra money as they see fit? Way to patronize, buddy.
On another note: Just because you're a rich parent, you dont have the responsibility of raising your kids to understand the importance of having a job? Are you kidding?
Whose less responsible? The guy who works 60 hours a week and decides to buy a nice TV, or the guy who raises his kid into an adult that has no idea how to support themselves?
Victims is a strong word. Though I agree that many policies intended to help them actually restrain the lowest class (payroll taxes and minimum wage), no one can completely blame government for their lack of economic prosperity. Nor should it be an issue when raising a child as happiness is not inextricably linked to money.
Who are you arguing with on that? Cause I didn't say that. Nice strawmanning.
Another nice strawman. I think, on a personal level, that parents---regardless of socioeconomic status---to be responsible. And usually that requires gainful employment so you're not dependent on the state.
So neither is responsible in your scenario. Of the two though, I would say a father who blows his income on superfluous goods while neglecting his children's needs and using public assistant to feed and cloth them...that guy is less responsible.
Woah woah woah. I never said that minimum wage and payroll taxes essentially hurt the working class. Nor do I think that "institutionalized economic policies" are responsibility of the government. But that's another argument.
I pulled a straw man or two here, my message board etiquette must be horrible.
Yes, parents need to be responsible. People need to not spend outside their means, regardless of where they come from. But as long as there are children dying of curable diseases, I can hate the rich.
And if you can give me a good practical example of how abolishing the minimum wage has been productive for balancing out the socio-economic classes, I'm all ears.
The estate tax doesn't kick in until $3.5 million, and that is supposed to be raised to $5 million if Congress follows through on their plan.
I really don't think the estate tax discourages savings for a vast majority of the population.
When you add up a home (though the insane market has abated), cars, annuities, IRA, 401k, pension, and whatever else you have saved, many blue and white collar workers can hit that figure.
I think you're arguing against your own point. By claiming that many workers can hit the limit, that would appear to support my assertion that the estate tax doesn't discourage saving.
And while it is possible for workers to hit the limit, it is still very rare (there are many exemptions). Only 15,000 estates paid tax in 2007, when the limit was $2 million. ~6,500 estates are expected to pay tax under this year's cap.
No, because it still places an incentive to spend or to circumvent the rules. That's my main concern with the estate tax.
You'd be surprised at how many 30-somethings have mom and dad cover their asses. I'd say two-thirds of the Lower East Side and Williamsburg.
I feel sorry for the parents who worked hard their whole lives, yet have to pay a lazy-adult-offspring "tax." Albeit, it's a self-imposed tax, but as long as the recipient is blood-related, it's not really welfare — or is it?
Receiving money from another source when you haven't earned that money is welfare, whether it comes from family or the state. Familial welfare recipients think that they're somehow better than people who receive welfare from the government, which is a huge factor in why people hate on them, because familial welfare recipients were raised with far more opportunity to earn a living.
Why? Otherwise you die and most of it goes to the government.
And your welfare quote is laughable. Say that comment not to those who's parents paid their college tuition and bought them a car, but tell that to those who never got to meet their parents---the ones who grew up in foster care. And tell them that parents who buy a new pair of shoes, or a new shirt, or a new CD for their kids are just providing them welfare, and you're better off for never having to have to live in such a situation.
One can be dependent on their parents for capital, and still be responsible and independent in other facets of life.
My grammar and spelling has been atrocious in this thread. I apologize and will edit my own posts better.
Bottomless Chips, you didn't get the point of my comment.
My point was not whether welfare was bad, my point was that all welfare is welfare. If you get money from someone else to help you live, it's welfare. That's what the word means — someone else looking out for your welfare. It's not a bad thing. On the contrary, I think it's necessary on some level for society to function. We all have hard times.
Still, I'm sorry, but I fail to see how getting money from your parents qualifies you or anyone as "independent." You are a dependent. You're on the dole. When I had to get unemployment several years ago, I was temporarily dependent on that government service. But for christ sake I didn't walk around telling people I was "independent" and had a job while I was on the dole. C'mon.
Who are your parents getting money from? Nobody? Then they're independent. But if your parents pay some of your bills, you may not be a full dependent but you sure as hell aren't independent. And let me clarify: I'm not knocking you if you get money from your parents, but please — you make yourself look like a fool if you try to say that you're as good as flying solo when mom and dad are propping you up.
Seriously, send them many thank-you cards because a lot of us don't have such luxuries.
You're both BH and BC missing the point of the story -- that a bunch of kids who relied on their parents for money are now up shit's creek because their parents can't afford to carry them any longer.
And the kids never bothered to develop any careers or skills to fall back on in case the parently gravy train stopped.
And the parents enabled them, never forcing them to make their own way in the world.
So is that OK?
I don't think BH and I were commenting on the initial story as much as we were lamenting the typical comments about reliance on parents. And usually the comments label the parents as enablers or too rich for their own good.
Your comment at #11 is an example.
I'm not a parent but I know I would never try to spoil my child, but what is spoiling? It's all relative to those who have parents who scrape by. But I think there's a good chance that I'm 55, sitting in an empty home with my wife and after years of a desk job and living a modest life I decide to give my kid $500 a month so he/she can buy a new shirt or nice dinner or take a girl out on a nice date...and I disagree with the notion that I'm weakening my son or daughter by doing so---that I'm making him/her less responsible or independent.
Again, my son or daughter will hopefully not be a moron and be cognizant that their life was made easy by their father's $500 stipends and that the finer things in life came after their father worked and saved. And if they want the same for their kids it will take some hard work, too.
That is what I think people forget with the discussion on the estate tax, hipster's "rich" parents and so forth.
Now, in order to give my hipster daughter and suicide girl daughter that money 25-30 years from now, I must get back to work.
Good convo, all.
I remember seeing some girl (in Prospect Park) last week wearing a t-shirt that said "Broke is the New Black".
I wanted to light her on fire.
Honestly though, it'll be great if these people just leave the city. We won't miss you.
yes yes, we are all aware that WIlliamsburg is filled with "hipsters," and like EVERY youth stereotype, surely some of them have parents willing to give them money. I don't see what the difference is if your parents are paying for your rent in Williamsburg vs. your rent in Manhattan, but whatever...
This is such a "non-story."
And then of course people get up in arms "HOW DARE THE HIPSETERS COMPLAIN! I WALKED TO WORK UPHILL BOTH WAYS YADDA YADDA" etc etc. Yes we all know how hard you non-hipsters had it. So full of integrity and work ethic. I'm not sure starving children in Africa would agree you have it that tough either as you comment from your personal computer. The fact that laziness and problems are all relative is lost on most.
Yeah, "lazy" is relative.
So, relative from my position, I'm allowed to despise those who don't have to work for a living. I don't think anyone whose posted on here has complained about how horribly tough they've had it. Yeah, I've worked at least, 40 hours a week since I was 16. I'm proud of that and don't regret it at all.
This is your problem, paulie. Why are you so bitter about what others have and what you don't have?
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's...
All I, and anyone, should ask for is fairness. And I think one family member helping another family member out is fair. I don't want to be given that family's money by the government.
What am I bitter about? I must have missed something. Being angry about the disparity in social classes is a virtue that has nothing to do with the narcissism inherent in bitterness.
I'm just saying its easy to scoff at the problems of those that "have it easier" than you- but there will always be someone that has it harder too- and whatever problems you have look just as silly to them.
To fault people for having parents that can help them out is pretty ridiculous, as babyhitler pointed out. Sure, those parents have a bigger responsibilty to teach thier kids about appreciating thier position, but that doesn't mean every kid whose parents throw in on thier rent is someone that should be ridiculed by a bunch of angry people on the internet.
I can't beleive the Times ran this story. ugh.
I don't know how people can feel ok with taking their parent's money. My parents are loaded but I don't even let them pay for dinner. Maybe that's just me.
"My parents are loaded but I don't even let them pay for dinner"
Why not? What are you trying to prove, and to whom?
Relax, let them spend money on you if they want to. What's the harm?
I cannot even believe this is common; I know it's a stereotype but are there THAT many people living in Wmsbrg on their parents' dime and have never had a job? Really? I just cannot believe it's very common.
This was my reaction also. Just how many of these walking stereotypes are there? Enough to write an article? Sure. But how significant is this?
"Why not? What are you trying to prove, and to whom?
Relax, let them spend money on you if they want to. What's the harm?"
So they can't hold it against me later. "Why can't you -insert task here-? I gave you money." lmao.
I suppose not everyone grew up with crazy parents.
Wait, what's my problem? I'm bitter about what I don't have? Where did you get that idea?
You want to know what I'm bitter about? I'm bitter that I wasn't the guy who got to tear up Tom Brady's knee.
Philadelphia is so much more affordable than Williamsburg and it's almost hip! Mom says that she's worried about me in that loft in Northern Liberties and having to park the Subaru on the street but my trust officer loves the money we save and Whole Foods is less than 2 miles away!
I have 2 kids in private school, a mortgage on a single-family home in downtown Brooklyn, and a car payment. I coach multiple sports. I volunteer at my kids' school. I head a sales team for a $100 million company, a position I earned after years of hard work, and a job I enjoy. Stories like this make me wanna puke. My kids know how important it is to work hard and be self-reliant. If they want to move back in with us after they finish school, that's fine, but there's no way they'd expect me to pay their rent for them like they were invalids.
The people in this story are losers. Losers. Failures. And their parents failed, too.
I have 2 kids in private school, a mortgage on a single-family home in downtown Brooklyn, and a car payment. I coach multiple sports. I volunteer at my kids' school. I head a sales team for a $100 million company, a position I earned after years of hard work, and a job I enjoy. Stories like this make me wanna puke. My kids know how important it is to work hard and be self-reliant. If they want to move back in with us after they finish school, that's fine, but there's no way they'd expect me to pay their rent for them like they were invalids.
The people in this story are losers. Losers. Failures. And their parents failed, too.
Wow - you're awesome.
This is why she needs to steal Colt 45s. Did everyone forget this already?
http://www.gothamist.com/tags/mishacalvert
Wait, everyone knows only hipsters read gothamist, right?
Looks like someone is already on speaking to these disgruntled masses and finding something for them to do
(albeit something that still doesn't pay): http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/crg/1209751298.html
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Don't forget to cash in all your PBR cans before you haul your asses back to Youngstown OH! EPIC FAIL, Billyburg hipster trustfund morons!
Yeah, because one of the hardest-hit rustbelt cities is flush with trust-funds.
I'm so happy that I got to lock up these ass wipes for a solid two years. I feel more sympathy for the criminals in Brownsville Brooklyn. At least they actually grew up in a shit hole with a shit life and mom and dad never around to teach them how to read or write. When I was a cop in Brownsville I used to hate putting these poor bastards away. Williamsburg on the other hand... not a wink of sleep lost listening to these whimpering shit bags crying through the bars in the holding cell all night long while they awaited their fully paid ride down to central bookings.ZzzzZzzzZZzz
Thank you, Officer Dim!
Ha!
I thought the trust-fund-hipster was an inflated stereotype...so they really exist?!