Goodbye To All That (In Park Slope)

You know who hates Park Slope the most? This guy. So he's left the 'hood and left its residents a very public reprimanding. He says amongst those residents that annoy him include "guys my age who aren’t put together, who slouch when they walk, who can’t order a slice of pizza with confidence, who look fidgety and skittish. A lot of these guys are also fathers. It troubles me." Maybe he hasn't seen them at the bar with their babies, a few beers loosen them right up! Anyway, you can read the whole takedown on his blog, but here's a little taste:

"I am leaving Park Slope because I am increasingly impatient with people too socially deficient to act like good neighbors. People who won’t spare five seconds to help an old lady. People who can’t figure out their way around without checking their iPhones. People who don’t say hi to the neighbors with whom they share a stoop. These things are getting noticeably worse. Rather than stew here and become the local grouch, I’m recognizing that I have passed my expiration date in this neighborhood. Time to exit gracefully."

Some of his hand-picked "reader reactions" are here, but as FIPS points out, he's gotten rid of comments, explaining, "I feel writers ought to seize a maximum amount of control over the reader experience. Why should a writer let anonymous strangers add unedited footnotes to his or her work? I will control which words appear on the site." (Someone has control issues.)

So where is this magical land without iPhone-addicted, unselfish, neighborly folk? Manhattan's Financial District.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on October 13, 2010 12:12 PM

Comments [rss]

matty

i totally agree with him. there's nothing more humiliating than a man wearing a baby sling. where did our balls go? apparently not park slope. good luck to this guy.

bettyx1138

that man is a curmudgeon.

Bike Rider

that muppet's chin looks like a ballsack

malcolm816

cannot unsee

John L

I must say that I can empathize with much of what this man is saying, not particularly about Park Slope but much of NYC in general. As a native NYer I can tell you that this city has changed drastically and I, for one, miss the old New York.

There was something very special about NY at one time and I feel that the uniqueness and rarity of New York City has been lost. We always had an influx of immigrants and transplants but I feel that in the past these groups assimilated and became part of the fabric of New York City whereas now transplants are trying to change New York into their version of whatever they feel New York should be. I'm not trying to diss transplants or blame them, these are just my observations.

The constant migration of new residents is what made New York the vibrant city that it was but maybe it has more to do with economics and the fact that only people with money can now afford to move to NYC. I'm sure that just as poor people have certain universal characteristics, so do wealthy people. Maybe some of these characteristics, that are more prevalent in wealthier people, is the problem. We can't pretend that a self-made middle class person who worked their way out of poverty will be the same as a young person with a trust fund or one who just inherited his/her money. Their whole outlooks will probably be different and I'm sure their personalities will reflect that. And I know I'm making general assumptions but I'm not talking about specific cases, I'm talking about a whole city in general

I think that as this city gets more and more expensive only richer and richer people will be able to afford to move here and they will bring those characteristics that rich people share and that will ultimately become the characteristic of the city as a whole.

I'm going to be politically incorrect here but I find the wealthier a person usually the more self-absorbed, demanding, entitled and less empathetic they become, especially when the wealth was literally handed to them. And that's exactly what I'm seeing this city as a whole become, a city of everyone out for themselves and not wanting to lend a hand or help others, which one could argue is necessary characteristic for a community. Again I realize I'm making general assumptions here and not everyone fits these stereotypes but I'm talking in general terms.

New York has gone from being a melting pot where everyone kind of blended together to a mosaic of little individual pieces, each piece distinctly different from the next. Maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing, maybe this is progress or evolution and like dinosaurs, us lifelong and longtime NYers just don't fit in any longer. I don't know but I know I miss the old New York.

siggiestardust

Seconded.

effedinparkslop

I'm with you, John. Also, this guy is a major douchebag and hopefully will find a tribe of neighborly, put-together yet unpretentious American bankers to hang out with in the financial district. Also, why doesn't FIPS get some loving here for our infinitely more entertaining and intelligent riffs on park slope. To wit, MY very own post a week before this dude's!!!

http://www.fuckedinparkslope.com/home/i-heart-park-slope-because-it-sucks-less-than-manhattan.html

Streetsmartz

This is why I love downtown Brooklyn! I like park slope but I do not want to live there. I like diversity.

malcolm816

Here's me: "Buh-bye." Here's you: "I wanna say something important!" Me: "Buh-bye."

Red Stapler

Hey, you all realize this the same guy who shot the Ground Zero Photo Essay you all creamed yourselves over, right?

Just an FYI.

1stephanie

What a complainer. Still, at least he's getting out instead of hurting his arm while shaking his cane at people.

dept54321

What a jackass.

chuzzlewit

"(Someone has control issues.)"

hey wait - gothamist both rejects and removes comments, so...you really shouldn't get all tsk tsk here.

resa

I was walking up 7th avenue one day pushing a small cart of groceries when the cart wheel got stuck in a crack int the sidewalk and tipped right over, taking me with it. This couple was walking by and just walked right past me. I think I saw the woman look back at me, sitting on my injured ass, but they kept going. That's when I decided that it was time to move.

Rocknrope

Are you an old infirmed person who can't get up easily and put stuff back in your cart?

Boogie Down

Geez...

Think2wice

After he's found excuses to leave Manhattan, he'll move to a small city from wherever state he grew up in. No offense transplants, but I've heard the same story from every transplant I've ever befriended.

That's why I invest most of my friendship time with people who grew up in the Tri-State area. We're all effectively natives, we all appreciate urban living, and this is the only home we've ever known.

JesusOurLord

Not including people from Connecticut I hope

Love Your Life

I was on the F train this morning riding from Park Slope to downtown Brooklyn. There was this guy reading a french book to his son, loud too, no one had that "this is so cute" look on their faces, people seemed bothered by it, including me. French douchebag!!!

handsomedevil

Well, I would've been happy to trade my south brooklyn apartment with this guy. Talk about bad neighbors and disturbing phenomena. Yuppies may be annoying sometimes, but straight-up dumb is the worst.