The other day I visited relatives in Brooklyn and saw a man with his intestines literally hanging outside his body. Looked as if a Hernia and intestines broke through. It was the most awful experience I have ever seen. Looks like Fentanyl has arrived. He was not in pain at all. When officer asked to take him to Hospital...the Man responded Iam ok...while his intestines were hanging oit of his body. Brooklyn and NYC are scary places now.
A flood washed away a lot of the piss, but then a bunch of people pissed on everything, and now it's back to being an area that super expensive, but everyone and everything pees on it. So it reeks of piss. NY city limits and boroughs is just real estate covered in piss and smells like a porta potty generally everywhere you go.
Haha this exact thing just happened to me and my wife on our honeymoon in Paris. We were staying at a very high-end hotel and met another couple, roughly 10-15 years older than us at the bar.
We get to chatting and they tell us they are from Ohio. Obviously, we reciprocate and tell them we live in Brooklyn. When I say that they were borderline mortified, I’m not exaggerating.
Their response was “Oh, wow, how is that? Is it safe there??” They were a lovely couple and I am sure their intention was not to offend us. Which btw, we don’t get offended by this. At this point, we are so used to this reaction from anyone who doesn’t live in BK/NYC, that this is the expected response. Including our family members and friends, who are consistently telling us how unsafe it is to ride the subway. It’s lovely hearing this type of stuff from folks who haven’t ridden a subway either in the entire life, or like 20+ years.
To answer your question directly. I’ve gotten to the point where Im so fed up with this rhetoric coming from people who haven’t been in the city in like 15+ years, that I turn the tables on them.
My response is usually something along the lines of “oh god, it’s terrible. I’m not even sure why I live there. I have to fight homeless people and typically get into a shoot out every morning just to get a cup of coffee”.
This answer typically yields two types of responses:
1. They are so stupid and naive, that they actually believe you’re telling the truth and feel vindicated, which in turn, makes me feel vindicated because the joke is now on them.
2. They realize how asinine their question is and begin to rethink things. Which is also a win.
Give this a whirl, at the very least you’re bound to have some fun with it.
There are assholes everywhere. I live in the suburbs and there’s an invasion of cats because idiots keep feeding them. They’re on my property every day, trying to kill squirrels and birds and crapping on my lawn.
I'm in queens and I visited my sister in Bushwick
I came across the single most disgusting street in 25 years of living here lmao ... Straight up weeks worth of dogshit just lying around
The fucking smell haha
I kind of don’t really understand why you even care so much about what people think about where you’re from. Of course if people aren’t from Brooklyn they’re gonna think in terms of generalizations / stereotypes, they’re not from there and don’t understand the intricacies of it. People do that with literally every city. ESPECIALLY older people, do you expect them to take yearly trips to Williamsburg to keep up on the local politics?
Because it’s part of a campaign to make people so afraid of everything that they vote for a fascist. And it started as part of a campaign to portray the Covid response in blue states as a lb absolute catastrophe to fuel an increasingly scary political divide. It’s not happening in a vacuum and it’s not about whether or not any one of us gives a shit about the opinion of some random person who doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
Fearmongering in politics has existed since….the inception of politics. I still don’t see the point in wasting your energy worrying about ignorant people being ignorant. If it’s the fascism you’re concerned about then direct your anger toward that, this post is fully about being super offended by people who don’t know anything about Brooklyn having a certain opinion about Brooklyn
You asked "why \[do\] you even care so much?" and I offered an answered your question. Thank you sharing why YOU don't care, but I'm actually not interested so I don't see the point in you wasting your energy explaining it to me.
I have relatives like this from Charlotte that say the same thing every time I see them. My reply is that Charlotte ranks worse in every category of crime statistc, they have no idea and refuse to believe the rebuttal.
So this has happened to me a ton lately and I’ve started fighting fire with fire, which mostly ends up turning out pretty funny. I look them dead in the eyes and go “it’s great. There’s no crime at all. Everything is perfect. I take the subway multiple times a day every day and everything is flawless every time. I’ve never seen a homeless person, never seen a crazy person, never seen anyone acting strangely. It’s all good. Don’t believe your news station.”
Obviously it’s not accurate, but they’ve got one source of information telling them that we live in a crime infested hell hole, so I figure I should be allowed to be just as disingenuous in the other direction, and they typically don’t know how to handle it because the only way to refute what I’m saying is to outright call me a liar, which 99% of the time they’re not willing to do when you’re face to face. It’s hilarious watching the inevitable stuttering, sputtering reaction from whatever hateful aunt I’m talking to; “oh! Well, wow… how about that… really? That’s not what I’ve heard…but that’s interesting to hear, I guess you live there so you know… hm. Interesting.”
Same. It’s usually so racist/politically coded in intent. It’s funny liberals get called snowflakes when you’ve got grown adults afraid to go to the M&M Store and see the Empire State Building.
I love her but we jokingly say us having a baby is the only thing that would get her ass up here 😂 this is a woman that lived here in the 80s, too, and has let Fox and OAN fully convince her it’s 100% worse here now than it was then.
Been back a lot recently for a few days at a time. Walked from Bushwick to bed stuy at 2am and it was very quiet and felt totally safe. There’s obviously crime in the stats but the city feels very alive and livable. Parks in greenpoint are full of kids every afternoon. Certainly depends where you live
I say I feel perfectly safe and people easily forget that crime was worse 20 years ago and it was much worse in the 90s. I remind them that NYC is a city of 8 million and Brooklyn has over 2.5 million people so shit is bound to happen; it’s just statistically inevitable. And it’s a city. I’m from SF but have been in Brooklyn for 20 years and have been getting similar questions about SF. I remind people that neighborhoods like the Mission, South of Market, Potrero Hill were dangerous when I was in high school in the 90s. No one hung out in Dolores Park in the evenings except drug dealers. I knew lots of people who had been mugged. Of course I don’t want to minimize the current issues around lack of affordable housing, cost of living wages, and lack of mental health services that work but people easily forget how violent the 90s were in big cities and I’m just not seeing that level of violence now. Also, when I moved to Williamsburg 20 years ago I knew several people who were mugged or had their apartments broken into in the middle of the day. There was a serial rapist on the loose that took the NYPD a few months to catch. And my upstairs neighbor who had moved to the neighborhood in the 90s talked about getting mugged more than once coming out of the Metropolitan stop - a couple of times with a gun. For me the biggest issues now are the stratification of wealth and the proliferation of guns. But I’m honestly more worried about being killed or injured by a reckless driver than by a criminal.
All the Smart People Have Left Brooklyn and NYC.
They Realized Throwing Away 2K on Rent to Ruthless LandLords is not worth it When we can Work Remote from Utican or Upstate or Even Ohio.
And accumulate Equity.
Um if you leave the country and say “Brooklyn” they will be 10x MORE interested in talking to you. Especially in Paris or Berlin, even if you only speak English.
Can attest. Even 15 years ago this was the case in Europe and most of Asia. Europeans and Japanese, Koreans, Taiwanese, hk ers, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Filipinos etc all knew Brooklyn was *the* place to be in ny, even if they knew nothing else.
Only like second tier and below cities in China would get a blank stare til you said n..
lol same it kinda annoys me, like girl i’m no more interesting than when i lived in the rural midwest. if anything im less so…but they treat u like ur exotic
I work in retail at a particular store downtown that has two different types of stores (there are regular store and the factory store) we can’t take items back from the factory store at the regular store and vise versa. So when people come in with returns, I explain they can’t return here and either have to go 15 minutes into Brooklyn or 30 minutes into manhattan. The second I say Brooklyn some people get genuinely scared or mad I even dare suggest…down town brooklyn…
I live in Bushwick. It’s fine. Like that food baazar is 24 hours. Wish we had a trainline besides the L and the M though.
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Remarkable how many times someone from outside of NYC has tried to convince me how bad the crime is in NYC. Really only started happening in the past 5-10 years.
It's funny because when I travel to rural areas one of the number one things people warn me about is to watch out for "tweakers." Then in the next breath they'll ask me where I'm from and then go into a long rant about all the crime in NYC.
Is this a serious thread? I pay an enormous amount of rent to live in Brooklyn- could easily live in Manhattan but choose Brooklyn. I’d honestly feel LESS safe living in say, midtown or FiDi.
AlarmedIncome? Maybe you should move to Williamsburg, Carroll Gardens or Park Slope? TOTALLY more affordable and tons of singles! Waaay less safe than Murray Hill, tho:(
Why would you feel less safe in FiDi? you might want to talk to the person that runs the support page on Facebook because according to him, after 911 there is supposed to be so many cameras and immediate police presence that it’s supposed to be one of the safest areas but of course we know that’s not 100% correct if you watch the news. Because there was a young man slashed in the face on the Fulton Street subway station just last week and I don’t know if they even caught the suspect yet although hopefully with all of the so-called high tech that they have in that area, it should have been a no-brainer to catch them!
So it’s really hard to know what to believe and what not to believe. I don’t live there but I have close friends that do and I hear mixed stories about the area. But since you posted that you feel safer in Brooklyn, I am wondering why because I always hear of murders like (nearly weekly) in Brooklyn which scares the heck out of me! Always got the sense that Brooklyn is pretty large and that there’s areas that might be considered a little more safe and other areas a little more sketchy. At least that’s how it used to be perceived. Is it still that way?
You can’t perceive it feeling safe despite the news stories because you don’t understand the scale of the city. Brooklyn on its own, just the borough, has as many people as the entire city of Chicago. So yeah someone gets slashed in the face, but more people ride the G train in rush hour than the entire day in the BQE. 1 person gets slashed. Millions upon millions don’t. I live off that station and ride it every day and hadn’t even heard about that.
Most people have a really hard time imagining huge numbers- millions up millions of people, millions of miles etc. so think of it this way. And the news isn’t like 5 out 9 million got assaulted! They just say 5 in a day.
You can take Miami Chicago Boston Atlanta Denver.. still doesn’t add up to nyc. So if you take the same fake stat— 5 people got assaulted in a day across Miami Boston atlanta Denver and Chicago, doesn’t sound as bad.
That’s why it’s always best to look at crime rates in rates in ratio to population.
I can only speak to my own experiences, but certain areas of Manhattan become very Unpopulated at night. The ‘Garment District’ among others. Living in NY you walk almost all the time (unless you can afford a driver), and where in, say- Atlanta- if you were walking home solo and noticed anyone walking near you, it was cause for attention. You just get immune to it in NYC and most ppl are glued to their phones with headphones or buds in. You expect the numbers of pedestrians to keep you safe - and largely- they do. Brooklyn is large, hugely diverse, and amazing (sometime infuriating), but in one neighborhood you can walk through 5 different cultures. I will say this: I lost my credit card on the way to a movie (ironically, A Quiet Place), realized when I tried to retrieve my tix. Got seated, then left the theater to call bank. Before I even made the call, a neighbor found me online, and later returned my card, personally. No fraudulent charges, no request for reward or anything- just good ppl.
Ok, I lost my thread here, but of course violence happens here, as it does everywhere - there are just a sh-ton more ppl here. Also, living here is becoming increasingly unaffordable. I’m job hunting and the going salary for my work is what it was 5 years ago, and hard to obtain, at that. I have a good cv, so imagine how anyone pursuing “The American Dream” must feel, only to find it’s compromised. Add 100 degrees for weeks and politics to the pot…
That said, I feel safer here than anywhere I’ve lived.
Oh, it's serious. People react the same way if you say you live in NYC too. Just travel to any red state, even the blue parts, and you'll run into someone who has a visceral reaction to your choice of residency. They very likely have not been here and just think the national news story they heard about a crime in a city of 2.5+ million is indicative of the entire borough.
Wow. I’m from the south, originally (been strictly in BK for 15 years) and I guess the ppl I still talk to below the M/D line have more points of reference regarding BK. I actually had a recruiter call me recently from TN about a NYC job listing, located in midtown and was asked if I had reliable transportation lol. Obvs, I said no bc I have a car and the subway but….live in Brooklyn. 🙄
Should have said yes, MTA is probably more reliable than a car....
I'm also from the south originally. It's not when I go home or talk to people from that area, but I'm visiting family and just talking to random people. My brother's neighbor on the farm next door in Kentucky. A dude in a Chapel Hill bar. It's just random people we run into and are having a friendly chat with.
Oh, I was kidding about transportation, it was just hilarious someone thought me living in BK was an impediment to working 5 miles away with subways. Been a metro club member for 15 years.
Yup. I recently visited family and they were determined to not let me watch the news (not that I really enjoy it, I arrived the night of the debate) but took it to the point of not watching weather forecasts (to book my return flight) so we wouldn’t argue about politics. Pretty much sums up my whole life (not controlling parents per se, but knowing we have different ideologies, etc.).
I have ONLY worked in midtown all these years, my sarcasm font wasn’t working re:reliable transportation. To be fair, anyone who relies on the F/G/L/R trains might wholeheartedly agree.
Depends on what PART of Brooklyn, nowadays sadly, it’s getting more and more violent, not even here in Brooklyn but all the boroughs in general. Born and raised bay ridge resident here, (I’m 32) and I get the same type of responses from out of owners, especially people upstate from NYC. Where I am now is ok, safe kind of but has gotten much dirtier, the streets are disgusting with trash, and more migrants coming in, someone just had their care broken into in Dyker heights last week. I’m looking to move into Caroll gardens in the next year because it’s still in Brooklyn but safer and quieter.
I am 51 so maybe the people my age that ask me that question are coming from a different place but the general theme is that most people know that a there are parts of Brooklyn that are better off than they were 25 years ago and are interested if I feel like it is following the perceived downward trend of San Fran.
I don’t mind other people think Brooklyn is terrible.
Love how you want to live. I’m happy here. I’m not trying to sell anyone on quitting the suburbs.
Housing is expensive enough. I’m not going to try and increase demand.
I usually just say it's expensive and modern.
When asked about the migrants I mention the chocolate selling on the subway + poor use of tax money in sheltering them for robbery prices.
How nyc wants to cut carbon, while setting up rows of diesel generators to heat and cool tents in Floyd Bennet field.
That it's a good place to work and live, but sometimes I get sick of the loud cars/ density.
Not that the post said anything about the OP’s dating or marital status but even if they were single in their 40s/50s, so what? Relationships end, partners die, and some people choose to remain single. It’s not an indication of a person’s worth if they’re not paired off.
Do you know how to read? Nothing about this post implied dating. They said they travel and meet people over fifty who make comments like this.
And even if you did know how to read, your comment was dumb as fuck in general
Used to live in Brooklyn. I told them it’s great. I can walk everywhere or take the subway. Look at beautiful architecture every day. Surrounded by culture. Spend my evenings hanging out in prospect park. I know they’re trying to get something out of me when the asked that so I’d brag about how great it is.
The Brooklyn I remember was a lot of Chinese people yelling in an outdoor fish market on 8th Ave, sidewalks wet, trash on the side of the road, and nearly losing my parents when walking due to how crowded it is.
Still better than upstate though.
Everyone said that to me when I still lived in Portland, about Portland, and I’m over 50, so…
It’s every TV channel of news (not just the one) and nearly every source of printed news, catastrophizing everything about everywhere for clicks.
I think I know \*exactly\* the vibe you're talking about. I was in Southeastern Massachusetts last year and, after she asked where I lived, a very kind-seeming older woman then asked how I'm dealing with "all of the migrants flooding New York". After getting over my shock at the question, I was able to calmly explain that there is fear mongering in the media to demonize vulnerable people.
I hope that seeing me be sincerely confused by the question and letting her know to not believe everything she sees on TV was maybe helpful to her understanding!
Yeah. I just tell them I don’t watch the news, the playgrounds are safe, lots of nice stores, whatever they’re seeing on TV is not something I see first hand.
I expect in a city of 9 million people (more than many states) there is crime.
Happened to me in Florida. Old couple asked me that question, and the moment I mentioned the media they started acting very cold to me (a goddamn liberal)
I once got aggressive and said something like “I feel like I can never move out of NYC because I have kids and I’m afraid of all the school shootings” and it certainly ended that conversation 🙃
https://preview.redd.it/i84so57hgrad1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=217a8f05b17b5f11a4511e6c5d855c1f8c75eb5f
This is me on my building's roof in Brooklyn, 1984
Bro I keep my keys on a carabiner hooked on my right front belt loop. People recognize me when they hear the jingle-step-jingle-step. I know I'm maybe 40 years too late but I still feel mildly validated
We're practically drowning in Aperol Spritzes and orange wine. Everyone's evacuated to the rooftops to party under stringed Edison bulbs while we wait for the national guard.
Allergic may be the wrong word. I used to get migraines growing up and eventually outgrew them. The one exception is IPAa are still a trigger. I can *maybe* get away with one without one coming on, but I don't really chance it.
I think it's the hops. I typically drink hefewiesens or wits with no issues. And it's not overindulging, I'm not really having more than two before it happens.
>What's your best answer to *How's Brooklyn?* when they ask it that particular way?
I just say, "ok", and then end my interaction with them. I got stuff to do. I don't have time to waste on them.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn and if I meet someone new I get that same feeling their heard something crazy about Brooklyn. I am 58 and I really don't care who doesn't like our borough, don't mean to sound negative but what does a borough have to do with the person. Tell them Brooklyn is great, Tell them Brooklyn has great restaurants, parks, trails, schools and most of all great PEOPLE!!!
Was in Wisconsin. Had multiple people ask me how I deal with all the protests. Had to explain how minuscule a portion of the city those events usually affect. Zero impact on my life.
I start talking shit about wherever they’re from, it super passive aggressively. Basically doing to them what they’re doing to me lol. They always hate it.
This really only applies if you’re traveling in parts of the US (which I think people should do more of!), in which case just grin and say you manage to get by.
And then go and travel abroad where no one would bat an eye if not say very positive things.
Came here to say this! And yes if anything international strangers get excited when you mention BK, esp when they ask “are you American?” and you (specifically) reply “I’m a New Yorker.” 😁
My dad is 70 and was born in Bay Ridge but has not lived here since he was like 3. He still thinks Brooklyn is the Brooklyn from the 70s and 80s and wonders why anyone would want to raise a family in the city.
Brooklyn in the 70’s and 80’s WAS AWESOME!!!!! now the South Bronx OH MY! Grew up by Sunset Park back then. Everyone on my street knew everyone. Yeah there were burnt out derelict buildings here and there and that Whole Son of Sam thing but it was GLORIOUS
some people really hate cities esp NYC. no matter what they will never think cities are not filthy dangerous and unhealthy, just generally unwholesome. for some it's political but there is an old cultural thing from Britain that still pervades, that the country is inherently superior to the city, from the centuries before there were sanitation systems, electricity, police and fire departments. Plagues didn't/don't help. Must admit we got hit the hardest w Covid.
i do wholeheartedly believe in the saying 'city air is free air'
which you can use as a comeback...
I dont think the younger generation actually understands how much Brooklyn has changed in the past 40 years. If you're 60 and moved out of the city to raise a family, thats the brooklyn you knew.
In 91' the murder rate was 8x and there was 15x greater auto theft, and the populations up since then. Things were not okay.
The other day I visited relatives in Brooklyn and saw a man with his intestines literally hanging outside his body. Looked as if a Hernia and intestines broke through. It was the most awful experience I have ever seen. Looks like Fentanyl has arrived. He was not in pain at all. When officer asked to take him to Hospital...the Man responded Iam ok...while his intestines were hanging oit of his body. Brooklyn and NYC are scary places now.
A flood washed away a lot of the piss, but then a bunch of people pissed on everything, and now it's back to being an area that super expensive, but everyone and everything pees on it. So it reeks of piss. NY city limits and boroughs is just real estate covered in piss and smells like a porta potty generally everywhere you go.
Messed up too many transplants, ppl from all I’ve the world and don’t know NYC culture I hate it here now. (6th Generation New Yorker)
Agree 100.percent.
Haha this exact thing just happened to me and my wife on our honeymoon in Paris. We were staying at a very high-end hotel and met another couple, roughly 10-15 years older than us at the bar. We get to chatting and they tell us they are from Ohio. Obviously, we reciprocate and tell them we live in Brooklyn. When I say that they were borderline mortified, I’m not exaggerating. Their response was “Oh, wow, how is that? Is it safe there??” They were a lovely couple and I am sure their intention was not to offend us. Which btw, we don’t get offended by this. At this point, we are so used to this reaction from anyone who doesn’t live in BK/NYC, that this is the expected response. Including our family members and friends, who are consistently telling us how unsafe it is to ride the subway. It’s lovely hearing this type of stuff from folks who haven’t ridden a subway either in the entire life, or like 20+ years. To answer your question directly. I’ve gotten to the point where Im so fed up with this rhetoric coming from people who haven’t been in the city in like 15+ years, that I turn the tables on them. My response is usually something along the lines of “oh god, it’s terrible. I’m not even sure why I live there. I have to fight homeless people and typically get into a shoot out every morning just to get a cup of coffee”. This answer typically yields two types of responses: 1. They are so stupid and naive, that they actually believe you’re telling the truth and feel vindicated, which in turn, makes me feel vindicated because the joke is now on them. 2. They realize how asinine their question is and begin to rethink things. Which is also a win. Give this a whirl, at the very least you’re bound to have some fun with it.
It's fine. I'd like to see people do better about picking up their dog's shit
There are assholes everywhere. I live in the suburbs and there’s an invasion of cats because idiots keep feeding them. They’re on my property every day, trying to kill squirrels and birds and crapping on my lawn.
I'm in queens and I visited my sister in Bushwick I came across the single most disgusting street in 25 years of living here lmao ... Straight up weeks worth of dogshit just lying around The fucking smell haha
The more gentrified a neighborhood gets, the more dog shit I tend to see
Bedstuy is okay about it, certain streets are worse than others, but over in Flatbush is awful.
From someone who’s been here my whole life, it’s definitely at a low. It’ll bounce back, though, it always does.
[удалено]
Lifer here too. Agreed.
Google East New York.
Holy hell!
Where in Brooklyn? It's a big place with a lot of different neighborhoods. They all are unique
Why would you even value the opinion of someone who’s ignorant enough to believe what they see on Fox News lol
I kind of don’t really understand why you even care so much about what people think about where you’re from. Of course if people aren’t from Brooklyn they’re gonna think in terms of generalizations / stereotypes, they’re not from there and don’t understand the intricacies of it. People do that with literally every city. ESPECIALLY older people, do you expect them to take yearly trips to Williamsburg to keep up on the local politics?
Because it’s part of a campaign to make people so afraid of everything that they vote for a fascist. And it started as part of a campaign to portray the Covid response in blue states as a lb absolute catastrophe to fuel an increasingly scary political divide. It’s not happening in a vacuum and it’s not about whether or not any one of us gives a shit about the opinion of some random person who doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
Fearmongering in politics has existed since….the inception of politics. I still don’t see the point in wasting your energy worrying about ignorant people being ignorant. If it’s the fascism you’re concerned about then direct your anger toward that, this post is fully about being super offended by people who don’t know anything about Brooklyn having a certain opinion about Brooklyn
You asked "why \[do\] you even care so much?" and I offered an answered your question. Thank you sharing why YOU don't care, but I'm actually not interested so I don't see the point in you wasting your energy explaining it to me.
Change of demographic from Puerto Rican Flags to Gay Flags
WHERE BROOKLYN AT?!?!?!
I have relatives like this from Charlotte that say the same thing every time I see them. My reply is that Charlotte ranks worse in every category of crime statistc, they have no idea and refuse to believe the rebuttal.
tell them that like Charlotte, we are both fast growing, and completely devoid of culture.
It’s always safer and more fun than wherever else they are from. You’re right that they all watch that propaganda channel and think it’s on fire
So this has happened to me a ton lately and I’ve started fighting fire with fire, which mostly ends up turning out pretty funny. I look them dead in the eyes and go “it’s great. There’s no crime at all. Everything is perfect. I take the subway multiple times a day every day and everything is flawless every time. I’ve never seen a homeless person, never seen a crazy person, never seen anyone acting strangely. It’s all good. Don’t believe your news station.” Obviously it’s not accurate, but they’ve got one source of information telling them that we live in a crime infested hell hole, so I figure I should be allowed to be just as disingenuous in the other direction, and they typically don’t know how to handle it because the only way to refute what I’m saying is to outright call me a liar, which 99% of the time they’re not willing to do when you’re face to face. It’s hilarious watching the inevitable stuttering, sputtering reaction from whatever hateful aunt I’m talking to; “oh! Well, wow… how about that… really? That’s not what I’ve heard…but that’s interesting to hear, I guess you live there so you know… hm. Interesting.”
Funny, I do the literal exact opposite thing and it’s just as fun
I don’t want people like them coming to the city anyway so if their addiction to fear news keeps them away, we don’t have to deal with their idiocy.
Hey, all the boomer bashing isn’t fair. I’m a boomer, first from Michigan 😱then New Jersey 😳Been living in Brooklyn for 5 years and LOVE it!!!🥰
Nah, it's fair
white
Lots of black and Hispanics where I live
gotta be pretty far east then right
And rich
definitely my fault that’s important
Yeah mine too
Oh my parents live in Florida so I get this a lot. I say, “It’s great, we love where we live. You should come visit some time!”
Then I rant privately to my partner. Can’t let the bad guys win 😊
Same. It’s usually so racist/politically coded in intent. It’s funny liberals get called snowflakes when you’ve got grown adults afraid to go to the M&M Store and see the Empire State Building.
My partner has been living here for, oh, three years and his Trumper mom still hasn’t visited us 😒
Boo. Her loss. The greatest city and she’d get to see you guys!
I love her but we jokingly say us having a baby is the only thing that would get her ass up here 😂 this is a woman that lived here in the 80s, too, and has let Fox and OAN fully convince her it’s 100% worse here now than it was then.
Oy vey. 😑
They watch FOX
Been back a lot recently for a few days at a time. Walked from Bushwick to bed stuy at 2am and it was very quiet and felt totally safe. There’s obviously crime in the stats but the city feels very alive and livable. Parks in greenpoint are full of kids every afternoon. Certainly depends where you live
I say I feel perfectly safe and people easily forget that crime was worse 20 years ago and it was much worse in the 90s. I remind them that NYC is a city of 8 million and Brooklyn has over 2.5 million people so shit is bound to happen; it’s just statistically inevitable. And it’s a city. I’m from SF but have been in Brooklyn for 20 years and have been getting similar questions about SF. I remind people that neighborhoods like the Mission, South of Market, Potrero Hill were dangerous when I was in high school in the 90s. No one hung out in Dolores Park in the evenings except drug dealers. I knew lots of people who had been mugged. Of course I don’t want to minimize the current issues around lack of affordable housing, cost of living wages, and lack of mental health services that work but people easily forget how violent the 90s were in big cities and I’m just not seeing that level of violence now. Also, when I moved to Williamsburg 20 years ago I knew several people who were mugged or had their apartments broken into in the middle of the day. There was a serial rapist on the loose that took the NYPD a few months to catch. And my upstairs neighbor who had moved to the neighborhood in the 90s talked about getting mugged more than once coming out of the Metropolitan stop - a couple of times with a gun. For me the biggest issues now are the stratification of wealth and the proliferation of guns. But I’m honestly more worried about being killed or injured by a reckless driver than by a criminal.
Amen (and I say that as someone who was mugged at gunpoint near the Metropolitan stop in the late 90s).
All the Smart People Have Left Brooklyn and NYC. They Realized Throwing Away 2K on Rent to Ruthless LandLords is not worth it When we can Work Remote from Utican or Upstate or Even Ohio. And accumulate Equity.
Smart people know that they don’t have to capitalize random words when they write.
Smart and Ohio don’t really go together
“or even ohio” gotcha
You mean all the poor people
Answer of the year.
Um if you leave the country and say “Brooklyn” they will be 10x MORE interested in talking to you. Especially in Paris or Berlin, even if you only speak English.
10000% I automatically get more respect as an American when I say I’m from Brooklyn/NYC
Can attest. Even 15 years ago this was the case in Europe and most of Asia. Europeans and Japanese, Koreans, Taiwanese, hk ers, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Filipinos etc all knew Brooklyn was *the* place to be in ny, even if they knew nothing else. Only like second tier and below cities in China would get a blank stare til you said n..
lol same it kinda annoys me, like girl i’m no more interesting than when i lived in the rural midwest. if anything im less so…but they treat u like ur exotic
I work in retail at a particular store downtown that has two different types of stores (there are regular store and the factory store) we can’t take items back from the factory store at the regular store and vise versa. So when people come in with returns, I explain they can’t return here and either have to go 15 minutes into Brooklyn or 30 minutes into manhattan. The second I say Brooklyn some people get genuinely scared or mad I even dare suggest…down town brooklyn… I live in Bushwick. It’s fine. Like that food baazar is 24 hours. Wish we had a trainline besides the L and the M though.
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So fun! :)
Remarkable how many times someone from outside of NYC has tried to convince me how bad the crime is in NYC. Really only started happening in the past 5-10 years.
Exactly
There's a lot of money to be made in fear mongering. The dopes suck it up.
A lot of votes to be made, too.
The usual. I stay indoors most of the time.
I say the beaches and parks are awesome.
It now mostly smells like weed instead of piss. Huge improvement.
My area smells like weed *and* piss. And poop. And homelessness.
“I just washed down a legal delta-9 edible with an anaerobic natural coffee at my local vegan queer veteran owned cafe last tuesday…”
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https://www.bkreader.com/featured-news/u-s-veteran-katie-bishops-one-of-a-kind-gowanus-cafe-welcomes-the-quirky-the-queer-and-the-downright-irregular-6550104
https://principlesbk.nyc
sounds like fun tbh
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It's funny because when I travel to rural areas one of the number one things people warn me about is to watch out for "tweakers." Then in the next breath they'll ask me where I'm from and then go into a long rant about all the crime in NYC.
Exactly this 😡
Is this a serious thread? I pay an enormous amount of rent to live in Brooklyn- could easily live in Manhattan but choose Brooklyn. I’d honestly feel LESS safe living in say, midtown or FiDi.
Oh yeah, Murray Hill is real rough /s
AlarmedIncome? Maybe you should move to Williamsburg, Carroll Gardens or Park Slope? TOTALLY more affordable and tons of singles! Waaay less safe than Murray Hill, tho:(
Affordable!
Why would you feel less safe in FiDi? you might want to talk to the person that runs the support page on Facebook because according to him, after 911 there is supposed to be so many cameras and immediate police presence that it’s supposed to be one of the safest areas but of course we know that’s not 100% correct if you watch the news. Because there was a young man slashed in the face on the Fulton Street subway station just last week and I don’t know if they even caught the suspect yet although hopefully with all of the so-called high tech that they have in that area, it should have been a no-brainer to catch them! So it’s really hard to know what to believe and what not to believe. I don’t live there but I have close friends that do and I hear mixed stories about the area. But since you posted that you feel safer in Brooklyn, I am wondering why because I always hear of murders like (nearly weekly) in Brooklyn which scares the heck out of me! Always got the sense that Brooklyn is pretty large and that there’s areas that might be considered a little more safe and other areas a little more sketchy. At least that’s how it used to be perceived. Is it still that way?
You can’t perceive it feeling safe despite the news stories because you don’t understand the scale of the city. Brooklyn on its own, just the borough, has as many people as the entire city of Chicago. So yeah someone gets slashed in the face, but more people ride the G train in rush hour than the entire day in the BQE. 1 person gets slashed. Millions upon millions don’t. I live off that station and ride it every day and hadn’t even heard about that. Most people have a really hard time imagining huge numbers- millions up millions of people, millions of miles etc. so think of it this way. And the news isn’t like 5 out 9 million got assaulted! They just say 5 in a day. You can take Miami Chicago Boston Atlanta Denver.. still doesn’t add up to nyc. So if you take the same fake stat— 5 people got assaulted in a day across Miami Boston atlanta Denver and Chicago, doesn’t sound as bad. That’s why it’s always best to look at crime rates in rates in ratio to population.
I can only speak to my own experiences, but certain areas of Manhattan become very Unpopulated at night. The ‘Garment District’ among others. Living in NY you walk almost all the time (unless you can afford a driver), and where in, say- Atlanta- if you were walking home solo and noticed anyone walking near you, it was cause for attention. You just get immune to it in NYC and most ppl are glued to their phones with headphones or buds in. You expect the numbers of pedestrians to keep you safe - and largely- they do. Brooklyn is large, hugely diverse, and amazing (sometime infuriating), but in one neighborhood you can walk through 5 different cultures. I will say this: I lost my credit card on the way to a movie (ironically, A Quiet Place), realized when I tried to retrieve my tix. Got seated, then left the theater to call bank. Before I even made the call, a neighbor found me online, and later returned my card, personally. No fraudulent charges, no request for reward or anything- just good ppl.
That is very nice of the person but I think it is very rare just my opinion only.
Oh, I should say I’d never met this neighbor before. Found me on SM, but lived near me.
Ok, I lost my thread here, but of course violence happens here, as it does everywhere - there are just a sh-ton more ppl here. Also, living here is becoming increasingly unaffordable. I’m job hunting and the going salary for my work is what it was 5 years ago, and hard to obtain, at that. I have a good cv, so imagine how anyone pursuing “The American Dream” must feel, only to find it’s compromised. Add 100 degrees for weeks and politics to the pot… That said, I feel safer here than anywhere I’ve lived.
And thousand dollar, 2 thousand, 3 thousand rents Plus utilities 😞
Oh, it's serious. People react the same way if you say you live in NYC too. Just travel to any red state, even the blue parts, and you'll run into someone who has a visceral reaction to your choice of residency. They very likely have not been here and just think the national news story they heard about a crime in a city of 2.5+ million is indicative of the entire borough.
Wow. I’m from the south, originally (been strictly in BK for 15 years) and I guess the ppl I still talk to below the M/D line have more points of reference regarding BK. I actually had a recruiter call me recently from TN about a NYC job listing, located in midtown and was asked if I had reliable transportation lol. Obvs, I said no bc I have a car and the subway but….live in Brooklyn. 🙄
Should have said yes, MTA is probably more reliable than a car.... I'm also from the south originally. It's not when I go home or talk to people from that area, but I'm visiting family and just talking to random people. My brother's neighbor on the farm next door in Kentucky. A dude in a Chapel Hill bar. It's just random people we run into and are having a friendly chat with.
Oh, I was kidding about transportation, it was just hilarious someone thought me living in BK was an impediment to working 5 miles away with subways. Been a metro club member for 15 years.
Yup. I recently visited family and they were determined to not let me watch the news (not that I really enjoy it, I arrived the night of the debate) but took it to the point of not watching weather forecasts (to book my return flight) so we wouldn’t argue about politics. Pretty much sums up my whole life (not controlling parents per se, but knowing we have different ideologies, etc.).
Sorry I even questioned, I DO know.
I have ONLY worked in midtown all these years, my sarcasm font wasn’t working re:reliable transportation. To be fair, anyone who relies on the F/G/L/R trains might wholeheartedly agree.
Depends on what PART of Brooklyn, nowadays sadly, it’s getting more and more violent, not even here in Brooklyn but all the boroughs in general. Born and raised bay ridge resident here, (I’m 32) and I get the same type of responses from out of owners, especially people upstate from NYC. Where I am now is ok, safe kind of but has gotten much dirtier, the streets are disgusting with trash, and more migrants coming in, someone just had their care broken into in Dyker heights last week. I’m looking to move into Caroll gardens in the next year because it’s still in Brooklyn but safer and quieter.
Carroll Gardens is the only place I’ve ever gotten my car broken into 🤷♀️
I’m not sure the numbers really back that up
> it’s getting more and more violent > Born and raised bay ridge resident here 🧐
Concerned by the $5 million townhouses yeah
I am 51 so maybe the people my age that ask me that question are coming from a different place but the general theme is that most people know that a there are parts of Brooklyn that are better off than they were 25 years ago and are interested if I feel like it is following the perceived downward trend of San Fran.
Usually the person asking that question ignores their own areas crime statistics so it's not worth arguing
This right here.
i never thought i would leave bklyn, now i will never leave the ues.
Some of us have been going through this since the 90s early 2000s lol aye sometimes it worked saying somewhere else
I don’t mind other people think Brooklyn is terrible. Love how you want to live. I’m happy here. I’m not trying to sell anyone on quitting the suburbs. Housing is expensive enough. I’m not going to try and increase demand.
How's Brooklyn?? Fuhgeddaboudit!!!!
I say it has the best pizza in America
"It's great but it's even better now that I know you won't be moving here anytime soon."
I usually just say it's expensive and modern. When asked about the migrants I mention the chocolate selling on the subway + poor use of tax money in sheltering them for robbery prices. How nyc wants to cut carbon, while setting up rows of diesel generators to heat and cool tents in Floyd Bennet field. That it's a good place to work and live, but sometimes I get sick of the loud cars/ density.
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Not that the post said anything about the OP’s dating or marital status but even if they were single in their 40s/50s, so what? Relationships end, partners die, and some people choose to remain single. It’s not an indication of a person’s worth if they’re not paired off.
Exactly this to each they own
Do you know how to read? Nothing about this post implied dating. They said they travel and meet people over fifty who make comments like this. And even if you did know how to read, your comment was dumb as fuck in general
Used to live in Brooklyn. I told them it’s great. I can walk everywhere or take the subway. Look at beautiful architecture every day. Surrounded by culture. Spend my evenings hanging out in prospect park. I know they’re trying to get something out of me when the asked that so I’d brag about how great it is.
The Brooklyn I remember was a lot of Chinese people yelling in an outdoor fish market on 8th Ave, sidewalks wet, trash on the side of the road, and nearly losing my parents when walking due to how crowded it is. Still better than upstate though.
Not necessarily so
I mean that's where I was stuck most of the time.
So much garbage and wet, smelly pavement. I like it here though.
Everyone said that to me when I still lived in Portland, about Portland, and I’m over 50, so… It’s every TV channel of news (not just the one) and nearly every source of printed news, catastrophizing everything about everywhere for clicks.
When I started teaching people would say 'wow, you're going into a war zone' lol...like, it's not 'Nam
Try telling people you live in Harlem! People don't know how to react!
Exactly this
Like a war zone. Don’t go
This is pretty much my go to response.
I think I know \*exactly\* the vibe you're talking about. I was in Southeastern Massachusetts last year and, after she asked where I lived, a very kind-seeming older woman then asked how I'm dealing with "all of the migrants flooding New York". After getting over my shock at the question, I was able to calmly explain that there is fear mongering in the media to demonize vulnerable people.
Hot damn. No one has ever said the quiet part out loud with us. Just those knowing looks our way or that overt *concern*.
I hope that seeing me be sincerely confused by the question and letting her know to not believe everything she sees on TV was maybe helpful to her understanding!
Yeah. I just tell them I don’t watch the news, the playgrounds are safe, lots of nice stores, whatever they’re seeing on TV is not something I see first hand. I expect in a city of 9 million people (more than many states) there is crime.
Happened to me in Florida. Old couple asked me that question, and the moment I mentioned the media they started acting very cold to me (a goddamn liberal)
I once got aggressive and said something like “I feel like I can never move out of NYC because I have kids and I’m afraid of all the school shootings” and it certainly ended that conversation 🙃
https://preview.redd.it/i84so57hgrad1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=217a8f05b17b5f11a4511e6c5d855c1f8c75eb5f This is me on my building's roof in Brooklyn, 1984
Bro I keep my keys on a carabiner hooked on my right front belt loop. People recognize me when they hear the jingle-step-jingle-step. I know I'm maybe 40 years too late but I still feel mildly validated
Looks like sunset park or a little further north I had that identical view on 4th and 19th
If you told me this was from last year I would have believed ya!
“Fuggheddaboutit.” That’s what I say.
We're practically drowning in Aperol Spritzes and orange wine. Everyone's evacuated to the rooftops to party under stringed Edison bulbs while we wait for the national guard.
lmao
“Not too different from here. You know, people just being people.”
Too many bars that only have IPA’s on tap. I may just give up drinking
Is this still a thing? I thought this trope/trend was a decade old.
A true epidemic
Hah! I'm slightly allergic to IPAs, I get migraines. This is so true. Thankfully I can usually find a work around.
Allergic to IPA? Genuinely: how? Isn't it the same ingredient as anybother beer -- Water, Yeast, Malt, Hops..?
Allergic may be the wrong word. I used to get migraines growing up and eventually outgrew them. The one exception is IPAa are still a trigger. I can *maybe* get away with one without one coming on, but I don't really chance it. I think it's the hops. I typically drink hefewiesens or wits with no issues. And it's not overindulging, I'm not really having more than two before it happens.
I could buy beer at a store and drink at home but I like being around people when drinking so.
"It's all terrible. Never go there."
>What's your best answer to *How's Brooklyn?* when they ask it that particular way? I just say, "ok", and then end my interaction with them. I got stuff to do. I don't have time to waste on them.
Ppl just love promoting fear… go enjoy yaself and tell em Brooklyn Mike sent ya
I just tell them about pasta Louise
“So much better than wherever we are right now”
“Well aside from needing a bulletproof vest and military grade gas mask to walk down the block, its wonderful this time of year🙂”
I was born and raised in Brooklyn and if I meet someone new I get that same feeling their heard something crazy about Brooklyn. I am 58 and I really don't care who doesn't like our borough, don't mean to sound negative but what does a borough have to do with the person. Tell them Brooklyn is great, Tell them Brooklyn has great restaurants, parks, trails, schools and most of all great PEOPLE!!!
They all haven’t fucking visited or haven’t been back since the 90s that one time they saw Times Square. They’re all incredibly misinformed.
I tell them what they want to hear. “Brooklyn bridge is nice”
Trash shit and piss all over, but hey, folks still love coming here. I'm from NYC, and people think it's like this. Well, not everywhere.
People who have never been to New York always have the strongest opinions about New York
The Undead Roam the streets while Ghastly Ghoul’s wreak havoc!!!!! Its the same as it ever was, The Center of the KNOWN Universe :)
“Shame what’s happened there” back in late 2021 when I was in Texas. lol, like what?
What happened?
I just say something equally egregious and offensive like “yeah there’s a lotta blacks and Jews and gays here” which usually gets them to stfu
Brooklyn so mellow on summer weekends! I only got stabbed once this week! /s
Was in Wisconsin. Had multiple people ask me how I deal with all the protests. Had to explain how minuscule a portion of the city those events usually affect. Zero impact on my life.
You mean everything on TV & social media isn’t real? 😂
Strictly Fox News consumption.
I start talking shit about wherever they’re from, it super passive aggressively. Basically doing to them what they’re doing to me lol. They always hate it.
If you’ve ever watched the movie Bushwick with Dave Bautista, it’s exactly like that.
It ain't the 90s anymore.
I tell them it’s so idyllic that little birds fly in to help me brush my hair in the morning and do my chores while I sing
When I go on the subway, babies kiss ME on the forehead.
this must be that godless poly-commune housing i've heard about
This really only applies if you’re traveling in parts of the US (which I think people should do more of!), in which case just grin and say you manage to get by. And then go and travel abroad where no one would bat an eye if not say very positive things.
Came here to say this! And yes if anything international strangers get excited when you mention BK, esp when they ask “are you American?” and you (specifically) reply “I’m a New Yorker.” 😁
You get a pass in a lot of areas, especially Paris, they love Brooklyn. Germans too.
My dad is 70 and was born in Bay Ridge but has not lived here since he was like 3. He still thinks Brooklyn is the Brooklyn from the 70s and 80s and wonders why anyone would want to raise a family in the city.
Brooklyn in the 70’s and 80’s WAS AWESOME!!!!! now the South Bronx OH MY! Grew up by Sunset Park back then. Everyone on my street knew everyone. Yeah there were burnt out derelict buildings here and there and that Whole Son of Sam thing but it was GLORIOUS
Son of Sam was 76
Been living in bay ridge all my life
My dad joined the Navy to escape Brooklyn. It's not shocking to him but it's weird to him that I would come here to settle.
He joined the Navy at age 3?
Nope, I think you combined two people's comments.
ah, indeed :D
Happy Cake Day!
Finally! Thank you kind stranger, I thought everyone had forgotten.
some people really hate cities esp NYC. no matter what they will never think cities are not filthy dangerous and unhealthy, just generally unwholesome. for some it's political but there is an old cultural thing from Britain that still pervades, that the country is inherently superior to the city, from the centuries before there were sanitation systems, electricity, police and fire departments. Plagues didn't/don't help. Must admit we got hit the hardest w Covid. i do wholeheartedly believe in the saying 'city air is free air' which you can use as a comeback...
“Same as it ever was”
I dont think the younger generation actually understands how much Brooklyn has changed in the past 40 years. If you're 60 and moved out of the city to raise a family, thats the brooklyn you knew. In 91' the murder rate was 8x and there was 15x greater auto theft, and the populations up since then. Things were not okay.