Delusion, thy name is Steve Brown
One of the few pleasures I derive from reading AM New York every day is Thursday's City Living section. I'm something of a New York neighborhood afficianado, and given that it's typically the most thoroughly researched and well-written feature in the paper, I often learn new bits of information about certain 'hoods than I wasn't aware of. Especially since I know everything.Today's City Living section highlights Hoboken, of "Pretty please can we be the sixth borough? We're obviously a hip alternative to living in the city and we're only 10 minutes away by PATH, we swear!" fame. I admittedly have never been to Hoboken, and though I've actually heard mostly positive things from those who do reside there (read: it's cheap), no amount of poor rationalizations about how the nightlife is great and how "close to Manhattan" it is will change the fact that you're still living in New Jersey.
Every week they interview a couple of people from the neighborhood, and today's subject, Steve Brown, desperately tries to sell us on the pleasures of living across the Hudson.
Within the first two questions, Steve manages to remind us he has a girlfriend multiple times; asserts that it's clearly unsafe to wander around Brooklyn and Manhattan at night because you will undoubtedly wind up in a body bag, yet Hoboken has no need for police officers because crime apparently doesn't exist in this magical little burg; and bemoans the lack of mom-and-pop shops because at heart, he's really a small-town guy. He also neglects to mention that he can't actually afford to live in the city because he's a 26-year-old who works in retail. Keep enjoying that PATH train, pal.
posted by CT at 7:14 AM
25 Comments:
"Pretty please can we be the sixth borough?"
I've lived in Hoboken for 15 years and have NEVER heard anyone refer to it as New York's sixth borough until one guy started a blog called Newyorkssixth two months ago. Everyone I know who lives in Hoboken acknowledges that it's a compromise to live in Jersey. The trade off is buying a 1250-square foot, two BR, two bath apartment with a roof deck, grage and storage for $315,000 when my city friends were writing checks for much, much more.
I grew up in LI and don't really get the Jersey xenophobia thing. I mean... sure they pay more tax, and yes, there are a lot of Italians in Jersey... but otherwise, what's the big deal?
The big deal "anonymous" is that New Jersey is the armpit of america. It sucks, it smells like my asshole and it maintains two football teams that are stated to be "New York" teams.
1) South Jersey...they should just remove it and put it in the "south" because they talk like hicks i.e. southern drawl, it's trash and only trash recepticals should be allowed to reside in such a shit area...south jersey also thinks they are all from "philly" which according to people from south jersey and below is called "the city"...im sorry South Jersey and below but "the city" is and will always be NYC...
Central jersey and L.I. are interchangable with a difference in accents...but it's still jersey so it's crap..
North Jersey...becomes somewhat more redeeming due to its proximity to NY. Englewood Cliffs is one of the nicest places i've ever been too but I cant say much for the rest of Bergen County.
All in all, Jersey is crap and thats why when you wipe up all the remaining fluids on a bar with a rag and squeeze said fluids into a shot glass, it is called a "New Jersey Turnpike"...nuff' said.
Jersey is crap, and seriously what's with the jug-handles? can someone please explain these to me...please?
- craig
p.s. i just worked jersey, i love being a NY native
"1250-square foot, two BR, two bath apartment with a roof deck, grage and storage for $315,000"
In Hoboken? You've gotta to be kidding.
Craig, I bet you're really from Iowa.
Jeez! It's hard to believe that some people feel the need to knock NJ, especially if they don't spend any time there.
I live in Chelsea now but used to live in Hoboken when I was younger. I'll tell you one thing--I wouldn't talk trash about the place so much if I were living in the Upper East Side. Poor deluded Steve can sure get to the Village/Chelsea/LES a lot quicker than your sorry ass can on the 6 train.
Hoboken may lack the cache of NYC as a whole, but in terms of nightlife, restaurants, vibe, and good looking young'uns (say, from 21-35 yrs), it's hella better than being on 96th and 2nd, for example.
Just my $.02
Hey, I'm with you on the Upper East, which is why I got the hell outta there.
Craig, have you ever even been to New Jersey? There's nothing different about NJ than any other state in the union -- in fact, I'd say it's laregely BETTER. Where else can you get beautiful beaches, mountains, skiing, farms, and proximity to New York in one place? Although I live in NYC now, I grew up at the Jersey Shore and have brought many people to NJ and radically changed their minds about it. Honestly, if you have to cling to the tired analogy that NJ is the "armpit of america" you either a.) haven't been there, or b.) have based your entire opinion on it on your trips to the airport on the Turnpike. Every state has an industrial area. NJ's is, unfortunately, more travelled than most. Seriously, grow up.
Craig,
Can you please keep posting your opinions about NJ?
I love your Jersey bashing, b/c it will keep people like you out of our state! And, the Turnpike smells (which come from NYC's trash that we have been FORCED by the courts to accept)keeps you people from discovering the wonderful places we have (like Princeton - home to one of the country's most prestigous universities and Pine Valley Golf Club - the No.1 spot in Golf Digest's survey of America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses).
Believe me, we don't need more people (only approx. 9 million people live here -- it must be TERRIBLE!!!!).
STAY OUT!
Anyone who has been to Hoboken knows it's adorable. It's not cheap, but it's as nice a place as many in Manhattan or Brooklyn. The problem is the residents: post-college frat types who all dress and act the same.
I moved to Jersey City a year ago, and I love everything about it except the Jersey bashing. I really don't understand the prejudice that people have. I lived in Williamsburg in Brooklyn for almost 10 years, and see no big difference between the two places - except I was able to buy a beautiful, affordable place in JC. In terms of location, it might as well be a borough - it's more of a borough than Staten Island as far as I'm concerned. And, while property taxes are slightly higher, income taxes are a lot lower. And we don't pay that dread city tax. I work in the city. My commute is shorter than when I lived in Brooklyn, and see $100 more in my bi-weekly paycheck.
People are so ready to take sides. Arguing that Jersey sucks because of South and Central Jersey residents is like arguing that NYC sucks because of the people who live in Albany or White Plains or Merrick. It's ridiculous. I'm sure 15 years ago Brooklyn received the same type of bashing. I know I'll have the last laugh.
J.M. and a couple of others who posted comments above echo my thoughts. Few in Hoboken have an inferiority complex when comparing it to New York. I lived in Hoboken for two years, and although I spent more time at New York's bars and restaurants, I loved living there. All of the city's amenities without much of the clutter and madness.
It was nice to enjoy New York every day (and night) and still have a gorgeous view of the skyline from across the Hudson. Anyone who ignores those aspects of Hoboken life hasn't done his homework.
If or when I move back to the New York area from Philly, it likely will be to Manhattan or Brooklyn. But I wouldn't balk at living in Hoboken again, either.
I live in Brooklyn and work in Hoboken, and I'm not impressed. It's a ghost town around here during the day, and there are like, 4 decent spots for lunch, and two of them are Blimpie's. Some of the places have this weird, trying-to-be-Manhattan vibe, which usually involves the owners painting the walls dark, gawdy colors.
If you're asking, then you have no business talking. If you can't handle the jerz, don't bother.
Craig,
You are a real douche bag. Not because you irrationally hate New Jersey so much, but that you would take the time and effort to spell out your idiotic thoughts in such detail.
I've lived in the Village, Hoboken, and Jersey City. All with cheap rents of course. Hoboken these days is a piece of shit. Full of i-bankers and midwesterners afraid of a real apartment. Hey, where are all the BLACK people in Hoboken? Oh, that's right, they stuffed them in the back corner projects. Gee, how nice and white of them (btw, I'm white! lol).
Jersey City is the way to go. The back part of downtown that is. I had an 800 sq ft apartment for $700 a month, with a 5 minute walk to the PATH and a neighborhood full of artists, not those trust fund wannabies in Williamsburg.
Hoboken and Pavonia might as well be Chicago.
I don't get any of what Craig is talking about because he's obsessed with borders. It's the work of a small mind. It's like reading Dr. Seus from the point of view of a star belly sneach.
Debbie Harry is from NJ. I don't think Craig is cooler than her. Na ha. No way man. Besides, what's Manhattan going to be once CB's is gone? Think about it, your clinging to nothing but high rents, and a dream of ownership that aint gonna happen.
The other day I was driving over the Goethals bridge and immediately after crossing the midway point of the bridge the air became filled with a foul odor that I can only attribute to stagnant pools of chemicals, rotting garbage, industrial waste, toxic smokestack emissions and greasy North Jersey Italians....NJ sucks
I live down the Shore.
You are a Benny.
I fcking hate Bennys.
Seriously, unless you were born in Manhattan -- what people mean when they say "New York" or "The City", you should keep your mouth shut. There is no big difference between NJ and the rest of NY State, and yes that includes your precious hipester dump Brooklyn.
This thread reminds me of that T-Shirt that says "Welcome to New Jersey. Don't worry, we don't like you either." That sh!t is hilarious. I have to get one of those.
new jers, where murders occurs. if i can't afford to own a place in the village (which i can't), then i would rather own a place in Hoboken (which i can afford) over anywhere else in Manhattan (which i can also afford) and all you NJ bashing NY schmucks paying rent - enough said. other than manhattan, the rest of NY is much worse then NJ. NJ guido vs. Long Island guidos? and upstate NY hicks vs. South Jersey hicks. who cares.
This is a funny post. I currently in Hoboken (going on 3 years), grew up on Long Beach Island (the "real" South Jersey!) and went to school at The College of New Jersey, so I guess you could say I'm a Jersey girl at heart. Yeah, there are issues. But it really is a great state to live in. I work in Manhattan and LOVE the fact that I can hang out in the city, then come home to my Hoboken apartment and hang out in another city, and then hop in my car and drive to the beach whenever I want to (not to mention hopping a quick train to Philly, DC and Boston). NJ is a key place to live.
As for Hoboken, I like it here a lot. Yes it is entirely too white, and yes I know many people who move here with all their college friends and turn it into Travers Hall, part 2. But there's also a cool music scene here, and I think the positives far outweight the negatives. Is it the 6th borough? Who effing cares? Hoboken as a city can stand on its own, we don't need to be aligned with NYC to be considered worthy.
Jersey Girls aren't trash... Trash gets picked up!
I once thought New Jersey was the land of feathered roach clip wearing TransAm drivers. Now I live here, and I have to say, it's great. The schools are fantastic, it's a hop to the city, and it's really beautiful. Most people are from somewhere else on this side of the country. There are those slightly shocking natives. It's a planet of it's own.
I lived in Hoboken, and although it is NOT as safe as they would like you think (ask my son, who was assaulted three times in three years by teens with rap sheets as long as California), it functions as an old fashioned village. You can still go to the baker for bread, the butcher for meat, and church service it Italian. Everyone knows each other, and looks out for your kids. There are tons of artists who couldn't afford the city anymore. The veiws of Manhattan are better than any inside the city, and yes, it's slightly cheaper. Too many young drunks puking on your stoop and stealing your plants.
It seems a little ignorant to make comments about it if you've never been there, and honestly, the weird attitude is pretentious. Your probably from Iowa.
i don't really get the whole nj bashing thing either. we don't walk around saying ny sucks. we have better things to think about. I think it is really sad how much it matters to new yorkers that they impress only fellow new yorkers by staying in ny for life. I have been dating a guy for almost 4 years and we are breaking up because of the whole ny / nj thing. i have never bashed ny or said anything like i will never live in ny, im from nj and will live only in nj. but my former boyfriend really shocked me by buying a house in long island without telling me and then throwing lines out there like, where do you think i was going to liver, in nj? and long island is where people live when they work in nyc. this is just really sad to me and stupid. I guess it is just as well. sucks for me that i find out after so many years that this animosity against nj is so strong. it's all for the better, i don't want to be with someone who is that predijuced against anything even if only a state. his family would ask me things like, u are from nj? that's where u were born and grew up? and they would say, i never would have known, i just thought u were from ny. and they would also say, nj?why do u live in nj? and they would say, don't u want to move to ny? and these are things i just couldn't understand and questions i coulc not answer but i would come back with something like, well it is one of th 50 united states and many people live in all of them. I just wish everyone could see how stupid this is.
If NYC was so much cooler than NJ, why is it only 10 mins away? Enough of this Jersey bashing. I know too many people who moved from Brooklyn to Central Jersey because houses are more affordable, and you can get a newer home in Jersey for the same price you get a 50 yr old piece of shit in Brooklyn. Not to mention its crammed as hell in the old BK. And there's the idiots who choose to live in a small hole in the wall basement apartment in Manhattan for a ridiculous amount of rent just so they can say they live in NYC, when the same rent can get you a nice 2 bedroom condo to rent in Jersey only 15 mins away. Idiots.
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