14 Comments on From The New York Shitty Inbox, Part II: A Note From The Organizer of Brooklyn Night Bazaar

KAA on Sun, 6th Mar 2011 1:54 pm


Wow – So you went from ” Read it, watch it and weep.” to ” All in all, I have to say this looks ( like a ) promising start! ” with one email exchange ?

I can’t help but wonder what’s in it for you ?

Personally, I have no desire to have a 100,000. square foot night club in my backyard. I already have to listen to a number of drunks walk past my window every night.

missheather on Sun, 6th Mar 2011 2:04 pm


You wrote: Wow – So you went from ” Read it, watch it and weep.” to ” All in all, I have to say this looks ( like a ) promising start! ” with one email exchange ?

I can’t help but wonder what’s in it for you ?

To answer your question: Absolutely nothing (and by the way, the insinuation you are making is totally inappropriate and crass. I find it offensive and this was, no doubt, your intent.). I too am very concerned about how this will affect our community. However, the fact this chap is willing to talk— and more importantly: listen— strikes me as being a good thing. That said, I’ll be interested to see what this guy has in the way of a traffic mitigation plan. Do you have any questions for him? I’d be more than happy to forward them to him. I’d like to see a constructive dialogue come out of this. I am certain as a Greenpoint resident who (like many of us) has had to deal with drunken shenanigans you would have very valuable input.

KAA on Sun, 6th Mar 2011 4:11 pm


Be offended if you like but I can’t see how it’s inappropriate or crass. It’s the real world and after being a partner in a 2 star restaurant / lounge in Manhattan I have seen how it works.

You want questions ? OK :

So, tell me about this reputable security firm. Who are they ? Are they licensed, bonded and insured ? Do any of the ‘bouncers’ have criminal records ? Is he going to do criminal background checks on every single one of them ? Does anybody remember what happened at ‘The Falls’ ? ( http://www.thevillager.com/villager_150/afterfallsmurder.html )

The sound techs are going to make sure the noise is limited to the lot ? Really ? Where did they learn that craft, Hogwarts ? He’s either dreaming, stupid or lying. I can hear the summer concerts at Bushwick Inlet Park / East River State Park from my house which is about a mile away ….. And they want to do this every Friday and Saturday night from 5 PM to 10 PM ( 2 PM ) every weekend from May to September ?!

And for that matter who is this Broudo ? Is he a Greenpoint / Williamsburg / Northside resident ? What are his chops ? Is he another D list mafia wannabe like the retards who operate The Production Lounge or the ones who orchestrate the San Gennaro Festival in Manhattan ?

Woohoo – Sausage and Peppers ! That’s just what I need !

And, what’s in it for Greenpoint ? More traffic, more litter, more fights, more screaming matches as the drunks depart at 2:00 AM ? I don’t think cleaning up his own mess is enough – Do you ?

And who are these ‘specially selected vendors’ and who’s selecting them ? What are the ‘special parameters’ that affect selection – The ability to write a check ?

Despite the monumental effort it would take to orchestrate this, it has nothing to do with the kind of commitment that it takes to be a storefront owner / operator in this neighborhood.

The whole thing sounds like a bullshit hustle / land grab perpetrated under the guise of ‘community access’.

Frankly, I’d prefer to leave that area ( and the rest of Franklin / Kent / West ) in it’s derelict state and simply make sure that the Police and the Department of Sanitation make sure people quit dumping their shit in our neighborhood.

missheather on Sun, 6th Mar 2011 4:38 pm


@KAA: Now we’re getting somewhere! I’m going to forward your questions to him and we’ll see what he has to say. And I share your concerns/trepidations regarding the “selected vendors” (exactly who is not welcome, I wonder?) and how the level of commitment (to the community) is different when compared to the fine folks who have operated businesses here for year/decades. Truth be told, I am very ambivalent about this endeavor. On the one hand the sheer size of it (and the history of public nuisances in the area in question) really worries me. On the other, it could— COULD— be a nice thing if implemented properly, reduced perhaps in size (3,000 – 5,000 people is a lot of people) and is conducted in partnership with the community. The key word here is “could”. Just like you, I do not want a bunch of noise, traffic congestion, and drunks ambling around our neighborhood. No one I know of likes this kind of thing.

Here’s the latest I have heard from him (lest you are curious):

I agree with you about the traffic issue. We are contacting some
professionals and will be back to you with specifics.

Our goal is for the Bazaar to be a huge positive for the community –
residents and businesses. We want to do everything in our power to
eliminate any nuisance brought by attendees that are less than
respectful. We are hoping to anticipate every issue before it happens
and act accordingly. We will be seeking feedback from all direct
neighbors to the site – those living on West, Calyer, Quay, Oak,
Franklin etc. To this end we are about to mount a rather extensive
door to door campaign. We also plan to be at this Tuesday’s community
board meeting to solicit feedback.

Thanks very much for your feedback and for your interest in what we
are doing. It’s this type of commentary that will help us make this
event something that the community welcomes.


You might also be interested to know he is going to sign up to speak at this week’s Community Board meeting. Might want to put that on your calendar:

http://www.cb1brooklyn.org/cb1_cal.htm

Otherwise, you wrote: Be offended if you like but I can’t see how it’s inappropriate or crass. It’s the real world and after being a partner in a 2 star restaurant / lounge in Manhattan I have seen how it works.

That may have been your experience but I care assure it is not my M.O. Character and integrity count for something in my book. Above anything, I am interested in what is best for our community. As you may recall Nuit Blanche was held in this general area and I did not hear a single complaint about it. I am of the understanding that lot of people really enjoyed it. This kind of thing can be done. Whether or not this is/will be the case with the Night Bazaar remains to be seen. But I understand all too well your reasons for such cynicism. Believe you me do I ever.

a neighbor on Fri, 11th Mar 2011 2:17 pm


I wish I had seen this earlier. I would have come to the CB meeting to speak about this.

The problem – as we learned with Studio B, and with the House of Van’s, is that people coming to Greenpoint to party in Greenpoint treat the neighborhood like it’s the French Quarter. They will take our parking. They will leave trash everywhere. I find it beyond my belief system to accept at face value that his street cleaning team will sweep Franklin St. **from Greenpoint Ave. to Quay**. Really? both sides of the street? That’s a pretty substantial distance. That’s got to be pretty expensive.

Have you seen the streets around the pool or East River park after an event? Disgusting.

They’re going to mount a door to door campaign – during the day when everyone’s at work? At night? How? I’m not going to buzz strangers into my building and neither will anyone else with common sense.

The thing I want more than anything is this: fliers should be distributed to every building between Quay and Greenpoint, West to Dobbin, and what I want in there is a dedicated hot line for neighborhood residents to call to report problems. That alone would have saved Studio B.

I will tell you that when that lot is rented by the Orthodox once a year for their big meeting, that the traffic comes to a standstill – and they bus people in. I don’t want to see what this does.

I too think this is a big snow job, Heather. Sorry.

pegasus1018 on Fri, 11th Mar 2011 11:27 pm


@KAA speaking as on of the vendors that will be at this event, and have also been doing this for years. Both my husband and I are acredited pastry chefs from one of the top schools in the country. We have done both outdoor events and run a store in the area and hands down running a store is the easier of the two. It cannot compare to the work that has to go into taking part in an off premise event. As for your comments about being a d list mafia wannabe like those who run San Gennaro, is that a shot at Italian Americans who want to run businesses. I would hate to that you are one of those idiots who just listen to what you want and judge before hearing all the facts about whats going on. This event can bring lots of revenue to the area, and as a lifelong resident I can tell you tha area is a lot better now than it was a few years ago.
I have seen a lot of events run in this area and the people who attend for the most part are pretty much cooperative and respectful. You are zeroing in on the few who are probably teenagers who don’t care or give a shit.
Zagats have rated the greenpoint/williamsburg the most affluent area, which has brought high end store owners and vendors and a lot of money into the area,which is compared to Manhattan. I would rather deal with a few noisemakers for a little while than to be afraid to walk up my own block every night.

missheather on Sun, 13th Mar 2011 1:33 am


You wrote: Zagats have rated the greenpoint/williamsburg the most affluent area, which has brought high end store owners and vendors and a lot of money into the area,which is compared to Manhattan.

Yes, and then there is everyone else who lives here. As a life-long resident I trust you are familiar with them? Generations of Polish and Puerto Rican immigrants (to name a few) have made this community a place where “affluent” people want to live. And as a reward for their work they are being pushed out. An event of this size may, in some part, benefit local businesses but let’s face facts: your comparison about being afraid to walk down the streets at night versus a “few noise makers” simply does not make any sense. Or you live on a block of which I would like to become familiar.

I write this as someone who has lived here for 11 years. It may not be a “lifetime” but it took me awhile to find my home. That said, in the last five year I have observed that more problematic behavior/criminal activity arises not from the people who live here, but the ones who come to “party”. They do not deport themselves in a manner they would in their own neighborhood (in that case they would be held accountable for their actions). They drink, break and leave. And we have to live with the results. Plain and simple. Some food for thought, so to speak.

pegasus1018 on Sun, 13th Mar 2011 1:12 pm


Number one, no one is being pushed out of their neighborhood. There are alot of people who are life long members of the community who will not accept change, and say they are being pushed out. Most the stores in the area still cater to those people and the truely diehard neighborhood people know these merchants. AS for the noisemakers, are they outside your window every night at 3am?? I for one live on the first floor and and do not hear constant loudmouths and rebelrousers at all hours of the night. I have also live on 3rd ave in manhattan for a while and still there is not a constant stream of loudmouths walking past from midnight to 5am.

And, if you think that the problematic behavior/criminal activity is not coming from area residents, you need to pay more attention. If you haven’t noticed the people that come to party are the new residents to Greenpoint. They are the ones who drink break and leave. The problem is no one is paying attention and just make assumptions. I have seen what the new people to the are do they have the good who make the neighborhood better and the bad who don’t give a shit. It’s really not that hard to pick them out. There’s sopme food for thought for you to ponder.

missheather on Sun, 13th Mar 2011 2:13 pm


“Number one, no one is being pushed out of their neighborhood. There are alot of people who are life long members of the community who will not accept change, and say they are being pushed out.”

I take it this this willingness to accept change includes being unable to pay $1,700-$2,000 for a one bedroom apartment? Open your eyes.

summer07 on Sun, 20th Mar 2011 6:57 pm


As a life long resident of Greenpoint I have never been afraid to walk up my street so where that comes from I don’t know. and I do not think it is juat a few noise makers that we are concerned about. Believe it or not the newbies – hipsters whatever they want to call themselves have not discovered Greenpoint Brooklyn and put it on the map. My family and many others can date back 150 years in this neighborhood who built the community , churches schools etc… We are not uneducated people who do not understand the meaning of change, but this is not change for the better. We have seen many changes – we’ve seen our schools close because there are no more children in the neighborhood, we have seen our senior citizen centers close because no body cares, churches closed. Our neighborhood traditions and celebrations , a thing of the past. Because newbies did not come here to embrace our neighborhood or respect the ethnic cultures that already existed – you wanted to wipe out everything here and start a new. This was a great neighborhood where everyone knew each other , large families could raise thier kids here, culture was rich and diverse, and being afraid to wals down the street was never an ishue.

I live on Calyer between Franklin and West so this will directly effect the quality of my life and many others, it sounds simple to say you’ll clean it up and everything will be ok and fun will be had for all, but the reality is that is not what is going to happen. Since the concerts on the Northside water front have come here , it is like clockwork everytime there is a concert, and let me remind you I am on Calyer Street ( 8 blaocks away) several hours prior the car loads of concert goers start parking thier cars here because they can park around the factories, where they sit for a hour or 2 smoking pot , drinking beers ( and most r underage) throwing thier garbage out the car doors – urinating on the trees , house walls and in 3 instances just last summer alone my truck was pissed on. By the concerts end it usally wraps up with more urine and now add vomit on top of that – don’t forget the used condoms on the street that we have to make sure our dogs don’t try to eat. Not to mention weekly graffitti all over and how do we know it’s the concert goers ??? Because we all can see them doing it and they just don’t care. and the next morning we have to clean up liquor bottles, beer bottles , empty food containers – it is quit disgusting. And now I find out just today that this is coming to my block.

So now after having to deal with all of this , when I come home from work on Friday after a 70 hour work week, my world will be invaded by party goers who will drink until 10 & what will they be doing until 2 am. will I now be living around 200 Port o potties . And if I don’t like it does it mean I am living in the stone age and can’t accept change? Whose change – your change.

This is some how going to improve my life and my neighbors lives?? Are you kidding me?? This is absolutly ridiculous,it’s not like this is the meadowlands or Madison Square Garden – it’s an empty lot on West Street.

This is a sad day for residents of Greenpoint – old and new. It’s time for the community to come out and stand together and say WE WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS ANYMORE – you have the northside – you have the pool – you can’t now have West Street!!!

KAA on Mon, 21st Mar 2011 12:01 am


Hi Pegasus1018 –

The problem is that ‘the facts’ are few and far between.

I do understand how much work something like this is both for the organizer and the vendors – that’s not the commitment I am speaking about.

I am talking about the commitment to a place and a people.

The people who rent / own or operate out of the storefronts in this area have an entirely different level of commitment, both financially and to the community, than someone who rents 200 square feet of a parking lot for 2 nights a week.

The issue is: What good will be done for the community as a whole ?

And, right now, what I see happening is an exaggeration of what is already happening: Noise, Fights, Litter, Urination, Broken Car Windows and General Public Drunkenness

If this goes forward, the mission will be to make sure that every possible nook and cranny of that 100,000. square feet is rented out. Where will all those vendors come from ? The Northside ? I doubt it.

In fact, space will be allotted to ANYONE who can pay. And the problem with that is not just anyone cares about Greenpoint.

As far as my D List Mafia comment goes, It is an indisputable fact that the Genovese crime family ran the Feast of San Gennaro throughout the 1990’s.

Why is that relevant ? Because there is no other model of a night time event of this scale or nature in New York other than the Feast.

I imagine that if this turned out to be a night time version of Brooklyn Flea with great food and a little beer and a very mellow crowd we could all sing Kumbaya – but the very fact the organizer is talking about bands, sound systems and bouncers it’s absolutely clear that this is not what it was intended to be.

KAA on Mon, 21st Mar 2011 5:49 pm


Summer07 –

I must say I was struck by the reference to your family’s history in Greenpoint. I am sure that there must be sense of pride in it for you and, I say perhaps, rightly so.

But I’m not sure that it’s at all helpful to this conversation that we start drawing lines on ‘whose’ Greenpoint it is or how long we’ve been here.

For in that case, it’s all a matter of where one falls on the timeline. If I were a ‘Native American’ from the Keskachauge people I might think you and your family were the upstarts that wrecked my neighborhood.

You see, first it was the Norwegians, then the Dutch, then the English, then the Germans, then the Irish, then the Poles and the Italians and then the Puerto Ricans and then the Hassids and finally it’s a mash up of every suburban white kid from middle America.

Things change for the better and the worse and the ugly truth is that, for a number of reasons, the weak and marginalized fall by the wayside because they can’t keep up or fully participate.

As far as the current regime goes, personally, I like the Polishness of this place. I find it interesting and it’s a refreshing change from the ‘Mall-ization’ of Manhattan.

But in the end, all of this is irrelevant because what we’re talking about here is someone using the neighborhood as a loud, disruptive cash machine at everyone else’s expense.

P.S. – Strangely enough, I came across this the other day and I thought I would include it for everyone’s meditation. It’s refreshing in its lack of contemporary Political Correctness

In a 1915 speech Teddy Roosevelt said:

” There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism… a hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts “native” before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as any one else.

The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic. The men who do not become Americans and nothing else are hyphenated Americans; and there ought to be no room for them in this country. The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic. He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American. There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

For an American citizen to vote as a German-American, an Irish-American, or an English-American, is to be a traitor to American institutions; and those hyphenated Americans who terrorize American politicians by threats of the foreign vote are engaged in treason to the American Republic. “

pegasus1018 on Wed, 23rd Mar 2011 12:15 pm


Hi KAA

I never said all the vendors coming into these events are neighborhood vendors, and no they could care less about Greenpoint, but they are not the people who are trashing the place. I have met and worked with plenty of vendors; while there are those who have no respect for anyone but themselves, the majority of the vendors have the utmost respect for the area and the people who live there. Please do not compare them to vendors like those who actually do the San Genarro feast, its apples and oranges, and an insult. Oh, and by the way, if you think that the mafia is no longer involved in San Gennaro or Greenpoint for that matter you are sadly mistaken. Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re gone.

As for the San Gennaro feast being the only venue of that size to compare it to,
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Feast, run by the same type people, the same way, or how about the concerts in the parks those are large scale venues, run at night with vendors.

I know the organizers intention, I never said it would all mellow everyone will sing kumbaya.

As for who it benefits, of coarse it benefits the vendor and the promotors and the organizers. We are not independently rich, and right now we also have to pay bills. I don’t know what kind of job or income you have but it irrelevant to me, but this is my living I do not do it with the intention of destroying someones neighborhood. I cannot speak for those who act like drunken assholes, pee and puke all over, if you or anyone can figure out a way to get rid of them then maybe we can sing kumbaya.

KAA on Wed, 23rd Mar 2011 8:15 pm


” Oh, and by the way, if you think that the mafia is no longer involved in San Gennaro or Greenpoint for that matter you are sadly mistaken. Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re gone.”

Exactly. ( The 90’s were just notable for the related arrests )

” As for the San Gennaro feast being the only venue of that size to compare it to, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Feast, run by the same type people, the same way, or how about the concerts in the parks those are large scale venues, run at night with vendors. ”

It’s hard to find direct comparisons because the Concerts in the parks, the Street Fairs ( which close at dusk ), the Christmas Gift Fair in Union Square etc are all managed or in some way vetted by the City. The Feast is an exception because it’s right on a public street at night.

I’m not trying to portray all the vendors in a bad light. Like everything else there are good ones and bad ones. My point is that, on the whole, they will only live up to the standards of the organizer and we don’t know what those are and he doesn’t seem very eager to let anybody know

One of the other things that concerns me is the idea of perhaps 200 vendors each with their own need for power. How is that going to be handled ? Are we going to have to listen to the roar and smell the exhaust of 200 Honda gas generators or will it just be the roar and exhaust of 7 to 10 flat beds with Agrekko power plants ?

For what it’s worth, I’m a stone cold capitalist and I’m surely not against anybody making a buck but it’s those 2000 extra drunken assholes that pee and puke all over that have me twisted and right now the easiest way to get rid of them is to not have them here in the first place

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