quiddities and agonies of the ruling class - a rolling new york times thread

Not the NY Times, but crossposting from "Is this racist?":

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/roiphe/2011/11/the_99_percent_takes_over_brooklyn.html

― Dr Morbois de Bologne (Dr Morbius), Friday, November 4, 2011 4:18 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Glenn Kenny's take on that article: http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2011/11/dont-worry-katie.html

― wmlynch, Friday, November 4, 2011 4:23 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Um, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Roiphe at least sort of has half a point, which Kenny seems to miss entirely/avoid by taking it too literally.

Gentrification is the art of pretend blaseness

what point does roiphe have exactly?

some kids, she saw them

I mean at least she was -- kind of hamfistedly -- trying to make an admittedly well-worn point about the contrasts of gentrification and the uncomfortable fact that a lot of people in those neighborhoods don't really want the people they displaced around, and the response is "well actually that's just temporary because soon the subway will take them further away again, where they're supposed to be."

i didnt realize park slope was once the exclusive domain of unruly teenagers

that's a p kind reading of roiphes piece

One of my students noticed a great sign at Occupy Wall Street saying “Big signs always catch your attention.” And it occurs to me that maybe this fight is one of those big signs that should be catching our attention.

like... Teenagers fighting is a "big sign"?

Also I mean let's be honest you do not really see hundreds of St. Ann's kids or even PS 58 kids blocking off streets and jumping on cars to watch fights so the whole "kids being kids" thing is more than a little disingenuous.

To be clear not exactly saying I like the Roiphe piece so much as I'm sick of gawker-style status-quo-cheerleading-disguised-as-snark

it's also not park slope xpost

my main crit is that it kind of seems like a naive article about the world in general, maybe she should travel more or something

also she's an idiot and a shitty writer but w/e

I think we can all gree that katie rudolph is a terrible writer but also that gentrification presents problems

motion... sustained

Also I mean let's be honest you do not really see hundreds of St. Ann's kids or even PS 58 kids blocking off streets and jumping on cars to watch fights so the whole "kids being kids" thing is more than a little disingenuous.

hmmmmmmmm

yea!

(xpost)

i am no longer engaging with threads, merely attacking writers i hate. in that spirit: kate roiphe is the worst.

"hundreds"?

are there really "hundreds" of students at school x that is not st annes fighting in the street?

There are no messages. There are no demands. There are no signs made out of pizza boxes. But there is something about our untenable situation nevertheless making itself known. If the top 1 percent in the city makes 44 percent of the city’s total income, if an average person in that top group makes more in one day than the average person in the bottom tenth makes in one year then the problem even in this neighborhood may be bigger than “rushing through life.” (If we lived in a desert state, we would be feeling the readiness in the brush, the crackling dryness, the danger of fire.) And the nice and fashionable liberals with their Dutch bikes or lattes with designs in the milk are implicated in ways they do not like to think about.

i mean get real! brush fires are going to start because of goldman sachs??

the whole "liberals drink fancy coffee" thing is way more status-quo cheerleading

we get it, katie rudolph is a horrible writer

"brush fires" could very well start because of prolonged high unemployment, yes

thank god we dont live in a desert state then

thank god there are no desert states with sky high unemployment

haven't read this btw

The fire is inside us, why don't u see, mom and dad

thank god i have an american bike and live on the other side of court st

Rerouted unruly kids =/= riots, and roiphe is a bit obtuse. that said, would not be surprised at all to see riots in gentrified brooklyn in the next five years

lol

eagerly awaiting the gr8 park slop riot of 2014

Yeah, you have neighborhoods with near 20% unemployment in walking distance of some of the wealthiest areas in the country, but bad stuff only happens in NYC in movies from the golden age of American cinema

riots dont happen in gentrified neighborhoods

....until now

rip park slope

fort apache: the slope

http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/10/1973-park-slope-riot.html

um, london: nyc

tbf, what would be more likely would be a gradual decline/reversal of gentrification including a gradual increase in crime and decrease in city services that contributes to affluent flight, then riots

also COURT STREET ISN'T IN PARK SLOPE just sayin

haha the london riots didnt exactly start in london's equivalent of cobble hill

still have no clue what this has to do w/ katie roiphe's article

"teenagers are fighting... riots within 5 years!"

K Roiphe lives two doors down from me (Boerum Hill, kids, not the Slope)...she seems like a nice lady even if her f&%k-me feminism and clueless rich person perspective (she comes from big time schmatta money I think) are rotten and sad, respectively. Also, she's good lookin' in an anorexic, jolie laide kind of way

enh there are plenty of way better looking idiots in park slope than katie rofl

hey now, hey now--boerum hill

I've lived in both, and when it comes to income disparity and roving packs of project housing born youths, Park Slope is no Boerum Hill.

these places are literally blocks away from each other

come visit boreum slope - its not park hill

Carroll and Court is like well over a mile from anything that can be called Park Slope

Like seriously back in the day that neighborhood was all called Carroll Gardens, and before that Red Hook, but none of it was EVER called Park Slope. It's on the other side of a fucking canal.

ok ok i get it - katie roiphe lives in park slope NOT boerum hill the two are practically on different CONTINENTS i will never jokingly confuse one for the other on the internet again