Once again the weekend found us in Brooklyn, and I found myself asking the question that has no answer: why don’t we live there?
Actually there is an answer. My wife works in northern New Jersey, and only a masochist would commute through Manhattan.
But I won’t let that legitimate reason prevent me from grousing about not living in Brooklyn. Yes, I know Mo Willems defected from Brooklyn a little while ago, but Trilling and Podhoretz don’t live in the Upper West Side anymore either. Everyone has lost their laureates.
On Yelp at least, Brooklyn came up a clear winner. It’s cheaper (or, rather, it used to be), the sidewalks are wider, the brownstones are browner, and it has its own brew. We already live in the Park Slope of Manhattan, so why not just go live in the real Park Slope? Especially since then we’d be able to put DadWagon on this awesome and dubious (how could they know?) map of Brooklyn blogs, organized by subway stops.
DadWagon is a split family: Christopher and I live in Manhattan, Matt and Theodore in Brooklyn. Am I wrong to fantasize about throwing the balance over to Brooklyn? Anyone have a persuasive argument for staying in Manhattan? If somehow could just tell me how awful it is to raise children in Brooklyn, that might clear my thinking.
best reason not to move to brooklyn: the superhero store (see photo appended to post).
Ooof, Eggersland. I’d have to agree with Theodore there. A second reason might be that there’s likely to be a significantly higher percentage of the populace of Brooklyn who has attended Burningman at least once. With those odds, I’d rather be in Manhattan.
But not Park Slope. Cobble Hill maybe, or Brooklyn Heights. Or you could always move to a different (funkier) neighborhood in Manhattan?
Dude, be a trail-blazer: Jersey! Jersey! Jersey!
Isn’t living in Manhattan the new keeping it real? Dude! Don’t leave me hanging on the Uppity West!
The reason you live in Manhattan is so that you don’t have an hour+ commute on the subway back to Park Slope every night. Brooklyn Heights or Carroll Gardens are slightly easier to take in that regard, but if we lived in Brooklyn, I would see my son for probably an hour less every day, and considering how early he goes to bed, that’s a big percentage of his awake time. So there’s that.
Also, if you live on the UWS, how can you possibly leave Central and Riverside Parks? Yeah, yeah, Prospect, whatever.
Well, if you’re the Ellen I think you are, you are a total genius at making interior spaces look gorgeous and spacious. But perceived space doesn’t help as much as actual space, and we could get a bit more of it for the money in Eggersland (as Jennifer so nicely put it). Cat, I long ago lost the fight to “keep it real”, which is probably why I’m tempted to try to survive the poseurs on the other side of the East. But seriously, will no one raise their voice for Brooklyn?
Living in Manhattan *is* the new keepin’ it real, especially living in the oldfogey-est neighborhood of all, the UES. THAT is devotion to family. Also nice are: Clean(er) wide(r) sidewalks, proximity to Central Park, and the fact that in Carnegie Hill your crazy ill-behaved little dog actually is not the craziest most ill-behaved little dog in the vicinity.
These people are know-nothing nodderheads. Brooklyn is better. They are haters, hating on the friendly people, the Fairway with aisles wide enough to traverse when pregnant, the lack (when compared to Manhattan) of bland box stores, the possibility of afford a delicious dinner out, the far superior park, the less than $1500 dollars I spend a month for a spacious 2 bedroom, I could go on and on. Let me be clear, I both attended Burning Man and recently purchased an invisible flashlight at the Superhero Supply Store. Which was the hit of Christmas when the 4-year-old reciepient refused to put it down so it wouldn’t get lost. I am just a happy Brooklyn parent. Stereotype me all you want. You know you want it.
As an UWS native and recent Brooklyn emigre, I’m caught in the middle. Every time I’m back in the double-0-two-five to see relatives, I get a pang of longing for life in Manhattan. But I’d miss the way people smile at each other on the street here. I’d miss the crazy-good coffee place on my corner. I’d miss my stoop. And then I think about how much I’d be paying to send The Boy to school in my old neighborhood, and how I’d spent much of my time in Manhattan actually disliking a lot of the people there, and it all comes out as pretty much a wash. I’d dump a body in the East River for some decent Hunan, tho.
That’s what I’m talking about. Some hardcore Brooklyn defense. And yes, your less than $1500 a month is about as convincing a reason I could think of. Shit, I wouldn’t have to work at all if that’s what we paid (let’s see how the wife feels about that). As for you, Tim, I respect your desire to throw a body into the East River. But which side of the river has good Hunan? Neither?
I was thinking Manhattan, but actually it’s gotta be Flushing. Still, meh, Queens.