I was able to stop puking for just long enough to point this out to y'all:
"Life as a Runway: On the Brooklyn Prairie: Red Hook" (NY Times)
Thus concludes my hiatus from anti-Brooklynology.
[So it's clear: my problem is this contrived coverage, and not the Brooklyn businesses they cover.]
2 comments:
Red Hook has been victimized by an invasion of The Dorothies.
These are the newly minted white minority hailing from Midwestern and New England home towns. (It’s reflected in the out of state plates on their moms’ hand me down Volvos.)
A racial divide has long existed in Red Hook between the people of color in The Houses and the white landlords in The Back.
Racism and classism are rarely acknowledged verbally, in public, in Brooklyn. Dismissive language is generally reserved for private audiences. Dismissive looks and stares are for public consumption.
As a result of the underlying class/race issues native tri-staters have not flocked to Red Hook. Maybe The Dorothies perceive New York as a melting pot. In actuality they are a highly visible minority that is often viewed with animosity. Like drops of oil floating atop a large bowl of water.
Ignorant of their need to demonstrate a common plight with the majority of Red Hook’s residents they seem to only highlight the divide. They talk on their cell phones on the bus about their important jobs, their vacations and the last amazing art show that they saw. They exit their style conscious shops and eateries seemingly without a care in the world.
They are viewed as another example of whites taking whatever they want. They are severely scrutinized yet appear to be oblivious to this.
The divide of affluence in Red Hook continues to grow. Where will it lead?
I don't know who you are but you seriously took the words from my mouth. I am conflicted as a person of color who lives in "the back" you just described. But despite my ambivalence, personally, I whole-heartedly agree that there is a palpable racial divide in Red Hook. I call it the invisible wall that is Red Hook Park (not to be confused with the ball fields, which is another story in itself). How can an artisanal soap shop open not two minutes by foot from "The Houses"? People in my 'hood attend the NYPL lectures but don't have membership to the Red Hook branch of it because it's kitty-corner from C-Town.
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