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Alternative Culture, Art, Brooklyn, Culture, Dissidence, Hipster, Manhattan, Millennial, New York, NYC, Queens, The Youth, Wall Street
Growing up in New York, Manhattan has always held an ineffable mystique to me; propped up by the bourgeois societals, limitless culture and a Hollywood love affair. Coming into the “city” I would wax poetically about the grandiose air of the people and the pretense of their demeanor. Back then, when the economy was bristling with endless wealth, we romanticized the affluent in hopes that we will someday enjoy the fruits of our own labors. We chased the reservation of the most highly touted restaurants and accepted the fate of an over judgmental waiter as he scoffed at our attire. It was all part of the experience; a submission to abuse that made us feel ever more alive.
Times have certainly changed. The endless luster of the Manhattanite has become pocked and pallid under a reeling economy. The youth have seceded from the shores of the island for more practical grounds and with it they took the fresh-faced culture of the millennials. Culinary and cultural hotbeds have moved east across the bridges and tunnels, settling in neighborhoods removed from Wall Street, but close enough to peer proudly at its monolithic spires.
I have just recently ventured down to the East Village, where my good friend lives in one of the last great youth enclaves on the island; StuyTown. Hitting the bar scene, I quickly realized how antiquated and flaccid the neighborhood has become over the years. It is teeming with Greek life, popped collars and cookie-cutter character; they pour from one dimly lit establishment to the next with the confidence of a wrecking ball. The bars themselves seem to rely on the ideal of a time capsule, still grasping onto the brighter pasture of an earlier era when the Village was Mecca and the patrons were the trendsetters.
While on the other side of the river, a burgeoning community of artists, denizens, throwaways and professionals twill and grow neighborhoods into lively, cultural bastions. From Astoria, Queens to Prospect Park, Brooklyn people are building alternative economies away from the once great Manhattan streets.
This is the generation raised by the comforting hum of Wall Street but came of age when the system broke down. Lost and confused, the youth have decided not to chase the dreams of their fathers, but to create their own. The silver spoons have been removed, the golden parachutes have been clipped and now all they have is each other. The American appeal for excess and gaud is dead and in its place a new aesthetic is being born. Success, by American design and standard has changed; Gucci and gold have become less a statement of class and more a symbol of the old flawed blueprint. 
I wish! Come out to Greenwich one Saturday afternoon.
But I take your point.
I agree my entry is a bit harsh on the vitality of Manhattan; I honestly love the VIllage… It just doesn’t have the same feel as it once had
The times have changed, the the world has changed, so the big cities are changing too.
I agree… Hopefully for the better
well written – it is time to look for that vitality on the “second/third tier cities.”
Thank you and well put.
Exactly. Just left Manhattan and moved to Chicago… I highly recommend it
:)
Chicago is definitely on my short list. I would love to visit there some day
In spite of it’s flaws, I will always Love the Village and the energy of the City.
Thoroughly enjoyed your writing.
Thank you so much. I think the Village will always be one of the great New York neighborhoods, it is just in the midst of reinvention.
This is kinda true for the East Village. But, there are still some great neighborhoods in Manhattan. Clinton Street is a great example. Everyone is friendly and not your typical frat bro. Culture Fix on Clinton/Houston is a good example. You meet interesting people and continue to see them at different places in the area. Highly recommend it!
I have come to realize that the less famous the neighborhood is, the more promising it can be. I will absolutely the area out more often.
Reblogged this on The Narcissistic Anthropologist and commented:
amen. Haven dreamed of living in New York and experience the reality of it in the early 2000s I am inclined to agree….
Great story !
Thank you Carlos!
The exact reason I left NY after 17 years and moved to Atlantic City. I just started my blog, thisisAC b/c I believe AC is “a burgeoning community of artists, denizens, throwaways and professionals that grow neighborhoods into lively, cultural bastions.” At least it has the potential to do so, unlike NYC. – which is tired and yes, agreed, living off it’s antiquated reputation that dreams come true there.
I agree completely. I used to live in Tallahassee, Florida; it had a very sizable enclave of artists that swelled with pride. There are so many smaller communities that are exploding with artistry and culture far beyond the grasps of New York. It’s very exciting to see this. I am glad to see AC making a move beyond the gambling scene into a more eclectic fair.
It sounds like what’s happened in America’s small towns and small cities is finally happening in Manhattan. A lot of the rest of the country has had its vitality sapped for decades now, so it’s no shock the rot is starting to effect the more affluent areas as well.
Extremely well written post. Nice job. I particularly like this line when describing the East Village: “It is teeming with Greek life, popped collars and cookie-cutter character; they pour from one dimly lit establishment to the next with the confidence of a wrecking ball.”
Great post! Just up until a couple of years ago, I used to reside not far from Stuy town. My rent was crazy, and space was small! Though I won’t deny the fact that I kind of miss living there. Currently, I live in LIC, Queens, right by Silvercup studios. There are plenty of art galleries, restaurants and its super close to the city! Plus, I have beautiful views of the Manhattan skyline. Actually, I enjoy living here better than Manhattan. Larger space, less rent and so much art & culture! Things are changing. You no longer need to live in Manhattan to “seem cool.” Now, I have more moolah to play with and I have the ability to save up for my dream home of the future. ;D
Agreed, Buzzing Fridge, the “wrecking ball” line was my favorite too. As for the overall gist, I agree that neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens (and even a couple burgeoning in the Bronx!) are starting to look more interesting than Manhattan. But Manhattan has gone through so many metamorphoses. My Dad has been watching a great (very lengthy) documentary on the city’s history that even watched “second-hand” has made me realize every couple decades Manhattan means something else. So I imagine the exodus now is just the receding side of the latest wave to beat on the island’s shore.
Reblogged this on seldomsettled.
God this was fantastic. I’m 24 and just moved out of the city about a year ago. Planning on moving to Brooklyn soon though, that or astoria.
The new generations are seeing how materialism resulted in a populace with strictly artificial diets and is hypnotized by television (half are high on Zoloft because they listened to the marketers on this tube sell them on the idea that the problem is with them and not the society we created). And hopefully they are taking it in a different direction. People in general I think are catching on.
to quote something out of time magazine, “ earning north of $75,000 doesn’t accrue additional happiness”
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2095569,00.html#ixzz2M2Q8gIvP”.
You’ll also catch Steven colbert cracking jokes about how rich people are complaining about how life is just difficult and depressing for them – love that guy.
My philosophy? Success is a feeling you go out and generate every day. It takes a combination of my actions and a connectedness to my ‘peoples’. If mind and body are half as interrelated as is rational to suspect- then through your actions you create your experience; “yoga is skill in actions”- the gita. There are a lot of folks out there taking expensive vacations and what not and feel like crap and have no community. And there are plenty of folks sitting at home eating ice cream or drinking a beer after a day of hard work in what some would consider a ‘lower end’ neighborhood full of kids playing on the block who feel quite successful about their day. I know I do.
We have kind of lost some of that realness in this society haven’t we? Thank god for the flood of Mexicans (who still actually live on planet earth) – maybe they’ll bring some culture and community back to us.
i mention the gita because you mention ‘fruits of our labors’
You are a wonderful storyteller. There are all kinds of articles now on how to write well and be engaging. They should use your post as the example.
I make it down from NH occasionally, have friends with a nice place in Chelsea. But jesus, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Harlem–such a collection of unhealthy people I’ve never seen. A little sun maybe and just a bit of intelligent work with the hands would really do wonders.
What has and is happening to NYC is what happens all over the world but perhaps at a faster, grosser rate.
In the 1970s when the city abandoned the highway scheme, the city, particulary SOHO, was left with a large number of historic buildings that were unattractive to manufactoring and commerce industries. The large unobscured spaces with large windows and low rent were ideal for artists and students. They all moved in. As the population grew, the richer began to see the value of locailty of the buildings so bought in. Soon all the artists could no longer afford the high rent so were forced to move on… to LES… and now they’re all moving to williamsburg and “across the bridge” as you say.
This is the natural development of cities and is a global phenomenon. I am from Sydney and I can see the exploding population taking over the “worst” areas of the city. As the demand increases, as does the rent, the poor get moved along. Alexandria, Zetland, Waterloo, Redfern… just to name a few.
Great article by the way – I am moving to NYC at the end of the year. This makes me excited but also nervous about where I will live, manhattan or long island?!
It seems to me when you say “a burgeoning community of artists, denizens, throwaways and professionals twill and grow neighborhoods into lively, cultural bastions” you could mean “Hipsters”. Yes?
Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.
I can’t help wanting to define what the ‘new aesthetic’ is, but I am not sure I can.
Wow. If you replaced San Francisco for Manhattan and Oakland for Brooklyn, you have the same sad happening going on over on this coast. It is such a sad thing to watch something so beautiful as a culturally thriving city fall to corporatism and international investors. However i suppose it is allowing for some great smaller towns to benefit from the displaced and maybe one day in the future, it will be their day in the sun! Great piece.
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