All writer Lynn Harris did was ask people on the Brooklynian messageboard why people hate Park Slope, and all that it represents, so much. (She's working on an article for New York.) The brownstone neighborhood used to be cheaper and down-to-earth, with lots of lesbian couples and artistes, but these days it's known for armies of anal-retentive richie moms with their passive-aggressive strollering. The article will "focus not just on WHAT people say they hate about Park Slope, but also WHY the hate seems to have become a meme of its own. Why PS and not other gentrified, Bugaboozled parts of Manhattan? Why has Park Slope become shorthand for all that is evil and twee?" Answer our poll!
Lots of people on the messageboard are blaming "the media" and "the blogs" for the Park Slope backlash. Here's what everyone else is saying:
Did you think the Union Hall stroller ban was real? It was a marketing ploy by Park Slope real estate agents. All press is good press.
Off the top of my head, people hate park slope because of stroller wielding nazi-moms that clip your ankles and baby talk their children about how rude you are to be in their way... People hate on park slope because they post stupid questions about why they should have to pay for their nanny's ticket to Europe, after all, she would never be able to go to Europe without them, shouldn't she be chipping in? People hate on park slope because there is a MINORITY there that seem to have lost touch with reality, and they do stupid things as a result.
I feel like people are "buying" themseslves some sort of caché by moving into a neighborhood that was once made great by funky, young, artistic or gay types. It is CONSUMERISM. By saying they live in the slope they are wearing a "progressive" bumper sticker or something. But investment bankers took over Soho and wanted some of that coolness to rub off on them in the 80s. [ Brooklynian]
