11 Comments on From The New York Shitty Inbox: Here We Go Again

Tania on Tue, 19th May 2009 12:52 pm


I also see Gothamist got a lovely 68 comments on their website from YOUR article… all 3 sites above always have your articles linked, time for some cash for NY Shitty, because they always have your stuff linked, I see it all the time.

missheather on Tue, 19th May 2009 1:08 pm


Perhaps I am being too kind here but at least Gothamist acknowledges where the story came from! That said, I am fairly certain I know who this “Reuben” guy is.

Look at this post regarding Father Giorgio Triangle dated 9/14/2008:

http://www.newyorkshitty.com/?p=8265

I shit you not a reporter by the name Reuven Fenton called the owner of the Brooklyn Kitchen no more than 36 hours after I posted this wanting to talk about their stolen tree. I am not kidding. He also wrote an article about the the theft of the plaque from the Father Giorgio Monument. My question is how the hell did he know about either of these things if he didn’t learn about it from my blog? I was there when the police were taking a report for chrissakes! 😉

ifdead on Tue, 19th May 2009 2:02 pm


What bothers me about all of this “I live by the Park” BS is that you people moved by it, it didn’t move by you. If you don’t like the lights, you don’t like the sounds, don’t live by the park. This neighborhood isn’t exactly the greenest place on earth with oodles of space for leisure activities. The neighborhood should not have to suffer because someone buys a condo and then decides they don’t like the noise outside. This is a city, not a suburb.

Brooklynite on Tue, 19th May 2009 5:35 pm


Sorry about the double posting:
I find this knee-jerk random hipster-hate/trust fund baby comments have recently gone from spot on to completely trite. Within the comments sections on this blog(which I adore) and many others (see diehipster.com), it is automatically assumed that anyone with a quality-of-life grievance about the goings on in GP must be a new arrival and must have overpaid for a crappy condo. Gimme a break! Yeah, I chose to live 2 blocks from Mccaren Park a decade ago(my family has lived in Brooklyn since the 1880’s), so I guess I should just shut up and not be involved in the community when I see something that ain’t right, or illegal. Yet actual neighborhood people’s comments gets lumped in with all these seemingly anecdotal comments from some made up privileged jerk-ass.

And I love the old trusty, “If you don’t like it, move” comments. No, I think I’ll stay, thank you. Maybe you should move if you don’t like hipsters. That’s just the new version of “If you don’t like Polish people then move.” Which was preceded by, “If you don’t like Puerto Ricans, then move”. Which I’m sure was probably preceded by “If you don’t like Italians, then move.” And so on and so on, yadda yadda yadda. Well, a lot of people did move out of this neighborhood going all the way back for those same stupid reasons. I think I’ll choose to stay and try to help make it a better place for everyone, starting with me. And if that means that I want the stupid Ice Cream man to observe NYC noise ordinance laws, or for 18 wheelers to not drive illegally down my street knocking side view mirrors off in the process, or for club owners to take responsibility for their patrons to show consideration for the neighborhood residences, or for Exxon to clean up their reckless destruction, we should be able to do all these things.

Btw, if Kool Man can play his little song without breaking the law, why can’t Senior Suave(Mr.Softee)?

missheather on Tue, 19th May 2009 5:44 pm


Duly excused. 😉 What’s more I do not necessarily disagree with you. And you bring up a very salient point: at what point does one becomes a “bona fide” Brooklynite?

The answers I have encountered tend to differ. It’s been my observation that the most xenophobic/racist/homophobic folks are the ones who bring up “pedigree”.

On the other hand, I can understand the ire directed to the more affluent newcomers to 11222/11211. Many of them are downright obnoxious.

Where do we find a happy medium? How can we work as group to address the more serious issues in north Brooklyn? This has yet to be determined. But as long as we’re all divided nothing will change.

For the better, anyway.

This is simply food for thought. It is not directed at any one person.

neighborhood threat on Tue, 19th May 2009 6:50 pm


I used to live on the LES, on the corner of Stanton and Ludlow. The ice cream truck would park on the corner, and sit there.

And sit there.

And sit there.

There was nowhere I could go to get away from the noise. After two hours of the Mr. Softee theme, Miss Heather, you’d take out a chain saw.

I worked from home. I needed to be working, at home. Sure, I could pick up my laptop and go sit in a cafe but that cost me money (because you’re not sitting in a LES cafe for very long without buying something, and it’s rude even if they didn’t enforce the policy). Why should I have to leave to get some peace and quiet?

Finally I read in the Times about Bloomberg’s quality of life initiatives and this was about the time that 311 launched, so I called to ask about what the truck was and wasn’t allowed to do. Our point to him was, you’ve been here for an hour and a half, everyone in the neighborhood already knows that you’re here. He would tell us to get lost. Anyway, I called, and the neighbors called, and eventually he would park but would only run the jingle for 15 minutes. That’s all he needs to do.

Now, strictly speaking, I guess you could have said “well then don’t move to the LES”. I could point out that my grandfather moved there when he got off the boat from Romania, and had a pushcart down there before he could afford a storefront and could move across the Williamsburg Bridge to Southside Williamsburg, but let’s not get ridiculous.

I could see it getting insane with multiple Mr. Softee trucks. They’re not trying to ban soccer matches or softball games.

missheather on Tue, 19th May 2009 7:02 pm


If you look at the original post (more specifically a comment from Mikki) you’ll notice the condo association there has griped about the soccer players. Among other things.

I am not against people joining forces on “quality of life” issues. In fact, I encourage it. Rather, I am wondering how much power property owners have over McCarren Park. A space which is, ostensibly, public. Who will prevail: the public or the condo owners?

This is probably a simplistic argument (I’ll admit it) but the times I have walked by/through McCarren Park I have never heard an ice cream truck. Their grievances seem to me, at best, to be a bit exaggerated.

daniel on Tue, 19th May 2009 9:14 pm


Miss Heather,
I started the yahoo group and posted the flyer. This has nothing to do with condos, other sounds or noises coming from the park, stopping sports or distracting the police. It is also not about getting rid of Mr Softee.

But if you come here on the weekend and you have to listen to that tune 12 hours straight, you know what I am talking about. The guys in the ice cream truck are not your friendly neighborhood vendor, they are rude, aggressive and unlicensed, trying to make a quick buck. Their noise affect everyone who lives, plays or works here. I spoke to many people walking around in the neighborhood and not one was supportive of the vendors. From people sitting in cafes to people playing tennis and soccer to people living at the edges of the park (in million dollar condos and affordable rental apartments) each one of them complained about the 4 to 5 ignorant vendors that every weekend nonstop “blast” the area with jingles. Talking to some of the vendors has gotten me a nice “f… off” They make profits here in the park but just show no respect for the people or concerns of the community. They park in the middle of the pedastrian crossings and some have no licence (who knows what they are selling to kids?). I decide something has to be done.

I am frankly amazed about the whole controversy that somehow seems to have become a symbol for deeper issues of the neighborhood. Our only mission is to have them shut down their loud tune. The few vendors will still sell ice cream, but the community will be able to enjoy this park a little bit more and live a little bit more peaceful.

mikki on Wed, 20th May 2009 8:58 am


Daniel,

I understand your dismay. I think one way this could have been avoided would be if those who want to give the truck issue more attention had done this in a more organic (for lack of a better word) way. I think the reason some people assume this is a condo-owner/annoying new person thing is because this seems so much like the yahoo group the condo owners had that was against the pool and the soccer. There are multiple community groups working on quality of life and noise issues. Why not work with them?

I think if you reached out to others in the neighborhood and looked for common ground, you might be more successful. You could go out next week and talk to the parents of the soccer league–their kids are likely big customers of Mr. Softee. They may have a relationship with the drivers and can help work out a solution. CB1, NAG, and other groups have quality of life committees you could work with. We all want a safe, comfortable neighborhood to live in.

Mikki

strudel on Wed, 20th May 2009 9:33 am


I live near the McCarren park and I couldn’t more agree how annoying the music becomes after a couple of hours. The problem is that they don’t turn the music off while they park! The vendor inside the truck often doesn’t hear the music himself because

a) the cooling system is quite loud in these trucks and overshadows the jingle and

b) most of them have headphone / ipods on.

What does this tell us? They hate the jingle too!! Everyone would understand if they d play it for 5 minutes per hour… but not for 20 minutes per hour the whole long day! And finally it is illegal what they are doing.

Also I love all the other noises of the park because: THERE ARE NOT OVER AND OVER AGAIN THE SAME TUNES!!

Why don’t you play this for 20 minutes yourself and then we can talk!

meganificent on Wed, 20th May 2009 11:56 am


I live in Greenpoint, and within a 10-minute walk of the park. I walk through there a lot, to run errands, go to the CSA stand, etc. In the Spring/Summer, I hear the ice cream songs all the time, thankfully not in front of my door. And actually, when I’m on the phone with my out-of-state parents, they know I’m in the park if they can hear the jingle in the background. They’ve said to me many times, “You must be in the park, I hear that ice cream truck song.” I don’t think it’s an issue of how new someone is to the neighborhood– if the song was playing in front of my door all day long I’d want to shut those trucks down, too. It seems reasonable to ask that the trucks turn the music off if the truck is going to be parked for an extended period of time. I don’t mind the trucks otherwise– soft serve on a hot day is pretty nice.

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