Williamsburg Degentrification Watch: Wythe Avenue

Some of you might recall 242 Wythe Avenue (as seen above) is the former site of the sales office of the 80 Metropolitan Avenue “Star Quality” luxury condominiums (better known to locals as a living tombstone to landmarks preservation process and a cynical attempt at PR spin). Yesterday I found myself at this very location. And in so doing unwittingly stumbled upon the nexus of a culture war of the highest Billyburg caliber (READ: sullen utterances of revolt scribed using sidewalk chalk and paint pen).

This is the item which first caught my eye. It hails from the far left side of the building just above the call box. One does not see a semi colon used nowadays. This is because most people do not know how to use them properly. My heartfelt kudos go out to the grammar teacher who taught this person the correct way to connect an independent clause with an elliptical clause.

Now our intrepid chalkster (or chalkstreuse) has pointed out a potential pedestrian hazard. The natives are indeed getting restless!

The missive to the left reads “Shafer”. I have no idea what this means. The inscription to the right, however, is all too recognizable.

Of course, every opinion has its counterpart— and in post real estate boom Williamsburg they are conveniently located! In this case, next door.

Speaking as someone who has a MFA (and five figures of debt to go with it) I cannot help but wonder where the author of this missive is coming from.

Nevermind.

Miss Heather