This morning Hepcat moved the car. He double parked for a while. Then he found a space on Third Street. But now it’s parked on a big sheet of ice and he can’t move it. The car just spins its wheels.
"The whole thing was stupid," he says. "They didn’t plow the streets anyway so it’s worse than before. At least it is in Park Slope. It’s vastly worse."
Hepcat is convinced that Bloomberg made a big mistake. "They should have let people leave the cars where they are. They forced everyone to drive around which isn’t very safe when the streets are all icy. Now everyone is parked a foot and half away from the sidewalk. The streets are narrower, everyone’s going to get stuck, and they didn’t even plow."
Stupid.
enjoyed all the blogging – good thought provoking dialogue. We have a car and love it, although we are often a slave to a parking space as in”we can’t go anywhere, we will never find another space..” It’s a drag.
Oh, also, regarding kids: Having one kid that you can tuck along with you (and perhaps your spouse, if present) is not at all the same as having 2 or 3 kids.
Aside from the fact that it takes much longer with each kid to get ready and out the door and actually walk any place, you should also note that tempests in a single teapot are far more easily contained than napalm that can spin out and spread to multiple instances, at times outnumbering your ability to contain them.
Heh, how’s that for a bizarre mixed metaphor, but I hope you see where I am going with that.
Anyhow, having one child (especially a really young one that isn’t much trouble compared to 3+ year olds) is not at all the same as 2 or 3 young children.
Anyone else care to weigh in on that?
Chandru, in all honesty, how is food shopping at a chain like Key Foods, Gristedes or Met Supermarket any different than shopping at Costco?
Also, WalMart is in a class of its own, and I agree with you on that one. Bad labor practices, devastating effects on local stores, conversion of the retail labor masses to lower-wage jobs there, and just the sheer awe-inspiring market power they have that they wield only in their corporate officers’ best interests. Totally agree with you.
Costco is not that, by a long stretch. So be it Met, Key Foods, Costco (again, built in a dead zone when it went in, and actually the engine of opportunity for openings of more local complementary home improvement stores surrounding it as a result), whatever…it’s just another food shopping choice like the rest.
So again, what’s the problem with Costco?
Also, to be consistent, one can’t exactly shop Ikea and then judge others for shopping in big box stores. (again, WalMart is a whole ‘nuther story IMO due to their own acts).
I confess, I’ve also shopped at Target. But Target is no WalMart, and has not killed any downtown Brooklyn business worth noting.
So back to my original point, we all use these places when it’s absolutely necessary, and walk to more limited local options when that’s convenient.
Costco has been there for a number of years at this point, and last time I checked, 5th Avenue Park Slope has totally blossomed in the meantime. So that certainly does not apply.
As for Starbucks (whose coffee I abhor; totally burnt and wayyy overpriced; even just lost to McDonalds coffee in major blind taste test), they will continue their urban carpet-bombing strategy, and as a result, others like Tea Lounge, Ozzies and other will continue to build an even more loyal following. Tea Lounge just opened a Cobble Hill location, and there was no ramp-up. Utterly packed from day one. They are making a killing with every new location they open specifically because they are not the run-of-the-mill Starbucks. Competition can be a wonderful thing, and they have run with it all the way to the bank. Good for them.
Anyhow, take some time to think through the long-term implications of all these things and you will see that (with the exception of entities that are so huge they truly set the market price like WalMart), these things are not as dire as you may immediately imagine.
There’s room for plenty of different lifestyles at the table here, and variety of [sustainable and non-detrimental] options is what we all cherish anyway, right?
I am neither defensive nor critical–at least in the pejorative sense you seem to mean it.
Stating a defensible, moral, well-researched position is hardly the same as being a snob. How is my statement on big-boxes any different than saying that smoking is bad for you, or that you should excercise to be healthy?
No one’s restricting your “choice” by saying any of this. I am pointing out something based on my convictions. Anyone can disagree.
Chandru, why so critical and defensive?
Far more than giant strollers, obnoxious moms, too many cars or a little snow do I find annoying such self-righteous snobs as Chandru who seem to have an unshaking conviction that it makes them a better person to live a life of simply making excuses for their own convenient choice (“it’s okay that I just got ONE Ikea kitchen”, etc.) while refusing to allow others the same choice. These people should please read up on courtesy, respect and autonomy, because it’s INDIVIDUALITY rather than obsessively controlling others’ choices that is the beauty of living in a place like Brooklyn.
Unless you’re a Lubavitcher with a large brood, one or two (maybe 3) is the same as far as I am concerned.
Yes, I do have an Ikea kitchen, but that was a one-time shot. I would not patronize big-box stores on a regular basis.
Please read up on the damage big box/chain stores do to local businesses, legitimately or otherwise. WalMart, for instance, increases the welfare rolls of the community they move into becasue they pay so poorly. (My blog entry: http://seeinggreen.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/08/why_dont_you_sh.html , several links there).
The beauty of living in a place like Park Slope is that there’s tons of places within walking distance. And they deliver, even 2 lbs of coffee from Ozzies. If Costco, WalMart, Starbucks et al had their way, a major part of the ambiance here would be lost.
Also, why the hate for Costco? When it went in, it went in to a total dead zone, just a bit south of the garbage barge loading docks.
Do you not have a single piece of Ikea furniture either?
For many folks, Costco is just alot more practical and economical.
Definitely not for every one, but there’s no need to be smug and snarky about it.
My point exactly. You said “a kid.”
I said “kids.”
Please reread and recompute.
The best thing I did was to sell my car which I never used for 3 years after I moved to Brooklyn. Took me that long only because I’d lived in California forever and it’s a hard habit to break.
We have a kid and contrary to what frawwg says, it’s abslutely feasible to get by with a family and no car. Cabs and delivery charges are more than compensated by all the money you’re saving by not having a car.
Of course, I will never ever shop at a big box (Costco), so that excuse is not for me.
Yep, Zipcar is a great solution for those with less frequent need of a car (once or twice per month as opposed to those who need one several times per week or daily).
Not realistic for a family with kids, but great for anyone else with little real need for their own.
This is exactly why I am a big Zipcar fan. Convenience, and don’t have to mess with all this.
It’s fine if people want to have cars in the city (I have one). But in exchange for free parking, the costs of maintaining the roads, the traffic, pollution, and the risks to everone else of getting run over, car owners should just suck it up when a snow storm makes life a little difficult. I am also happy that some extra tickets get got issued. Perhaps it is a little less money the city needs to collect in taxes or fees.
It’s “It’s”
I’ts “plow”
Honestly, Steve, I didn’t have a car until I had kids (twins). I live for the subways. Love their convenience.
But once there were more people in the family to shop for and travel with (unless one never leaves a 10 block radius from home), the car became a requirement.
We happen to live in Cobble Hill and trek our kids to and from my wife’s school in Park Slope every day. We shop at Costco alot. Fairway too, now that its open (but we drive slowly on the streets there, often yielding way to be nice). Frequent command performance (heh) visits up at the grandparents way up in upstate CT (or travel anywhere else in NE) would not be feasible if it meant dragging luggage and kids in tow to Grand Central and then onto another train (Metro North) for a few hours, subjecting all to potentially less-than-angelic kids at times.
I didn’t need a car when I was single, or even once initially married. Some people with kids get by without it, but that isn’t feasible for many in NYC (Manhattan, Brooklyn, wherever). In addition, believe me…with the kids in the car for many-stop shopping or travel, we’re doing everyone else a favor by removing any potential crankiness (in spite of best efforts) from public view.
So although I agree that not every single human here needs a car for reasons of traffic, pollution, noise, safety etc., I would change the rule of thumb from “having a car in the city is stupid” to “leave it to just the folks that really need them.” Subjective, to be sure, but isn’t all of this?
I would have failed that criteria as a single guy, even when I was newly married, and that’s exactly why I (and so many others) didn’t have a car at that stage.
But life’s not as simple as “no one in NYC should have cars.” There are also bad unintended results of that logic, too, so it’s all about finding a reasonable medium that burdens everyone the least, and being considerate about how one conducts themselves (either with or without one).
Because of the grid lock caused by not suspending alternated side of the street parking it took an hour and a half to get to Park Slope from 56st St and 4th Ave on Thursday afternoon!!
Not as stupid as having a car in the city.