This one is for the guy who called my work the other day and I answered the phone and he was trying to be cute and ask me if we had any tight skinny jeans in stock, and if he would fit in with the customers in the store if he came in with a beard, skinny jeans and a beanie - and when I responded to every other question he asked he retorted 'Isn't THAT ironic..'.
Yes, this is brooklyn and unfortunately we accept all sorts of people including yourself, williamsburg is changing pretty quickly - sure it is a hot spot now because of all of the trust fund kids and artist that had been living here for the past 10 yrs or so - but they are all getting pushed out by rent and all of the high rises getting built here - pushed into bushwick..so don't call me in williamsburg if you are trying to be ironic and cute - when you were probably one of the bros that I watched move into an apartment on bedford avenue on friday night - you are just going to change williamsburg into another horrible version of the staten island misogynist bro fest that you left.
It's weird to me to only have been living here for two years and to have witnessed just how quickly things change in Brooklyn (not going to say NYC because I'm hardly ever in Manhattan - it's very true that if you live in Manhattan you stay in Manhattan if you live in Brooklyn you usually stay in your borough). Even from the fact that 2011 summer was all about picnics in McCarren park EVERY weekend, and this past summer hardly anyone did the McCarren picnic - it was mostly shopping, shopping, shopping and day drinking in one of the new rooftop bars somewhere. To the MAJOR influx of weekend bros taking over our favorite dive bars in groups of 10+ all the way from Bay Ridge/ Staten Island / Long Island - cheap beers just are not the same when you are getting harassed by meat heads who think that everything is so ironic and cliche and like their own person human circus.
Thankfully there still is solace in Greenpoint and Bushwick - still great hidden dive bars, locals that are too drunk to manage but somehow comforting to sit next to at the bar, street art that makes you think, mom and pop bodega's where they remember your face even if you look different every day, secret shows you stumble upon and discover your new favorite band, street style that makes you want to try harder, and all of the delicious food hidden on side street restaurants that you've never heard of but are always packed.
I know I can expect it to change, but hopefully there will still be passionate, accepting, inspired people evolving with it instead of what williamsburg is probably destined to become (it is looking like it will become a hybrid of park slope and wall-street to me).
Either way - Brooklyn will always remain nostalgic to me even while I'm living in it - we have been through quite a tumultuous relationship together and I'm amazed at how far we've come this far - can't wait to see what 2013 will bring us.
