Article of the Week

This should be an award.  And this week’s winner would be “Creating Hipsturbia” by Alex Williams.

The article is about people having to leave the Hipster Utopia of Brooklyn for suburbs further away from the city.  The article is hilarious, both intentionally and unintentionally.  For the record, I believe Williams to be intentionally funny, and the people he interviewed accidentally funny.

Some excerpts:

Across the street is the home-décor that purveys monofloral honey produced by nomadic beekeepers in Sicily.  And down the street is a retro-chic bakery, where the red-velvet cupcakes are gluten-free and the windows are decorated with bird silhouettes – the universal symbol for “hipsters welcome.”

Here, beside the gray-suited salarymen and four-door minivans, it is no longer unusual to see a heritage-clad novelist type with ironic mutton chops sipping shade-grown coffee at the patisserie, or hear 30-somethings in statement sneakers discuss their latest film project as they wait for the 9:06 to Grand Central.

…importing the trappings of a twee lifestyle like bearded mixologists, locavore restaurants and antler-laden boutiques.

“I don’t think we need to be in Brooklyn,” said Marie Labropoulos, who recently moved to Westchester County and opened a shop, Kalliste, selling artisanal vegan soap in Dobbs Ferry.

“When we checked towns out,” Ms. Miziolek recalled, “I saw some moms out in Hastings with their kids with tattoos.  A little glimmer of Williamsburg!”

“There is more looking down, less eye contact,” said Mr. Wallach, 38.  “The difference is between the first three days of Burning Man, when everyone is ‘Hey, what’s up?’ to the final three days of Burning Man, when the tent flaps are down.  Brooklyn is turning out to be the last three days of Burning Man.”

While she savors the space and mental calm of the suburbs, she finds herself looking hopefully for signs of creative ferment.  “We’ve found it in pockets,” Ms. Ghiorse said.  “Once in a while, you’ll think, ‘This place gets it,’ because they have a Fernet Branca cocktail on their menu.”