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Quote Of The Day: Brooklyn Heights Is ‘The Most Uninspiring Place To Live’

By on May 27, 2012 12:01 am in Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn Heights, Other Brooklyn, Parents, War On Fun

Comedian & actor Reggie Watts, who released Comedy Central special “Reggie Watts: A Live At Central Park,” earlier this month and appears in an IFC talk show this summer, was interviewed Friday by website College Times and had plenty to say about his former residential neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights.

The uber-hipster, who now resides in Williamsburg, mouths off by describing the neighborhood as “upper-middle class, a few white rich people and their ethnic nannies taking care of their white babies. If you’re an artist, it’s the most uninspiring place to live.”

REGGIE WATTS JOINS THE DISCUSSION: SEE HIS COMMENTS BELOW THE JUMP.

Ready or not…

I use to live in Brooklyn Heights, and it was mainly just brownstones with kind of upper-middle class, a few white rich people and their ethnic nannies taking care of their white babies. There’s a lot of strollers going up and down the street with all these women that are obviously not the mothers of these children just walking around.

And then some kind of boring college students going to whatever university is there. It’s the most uninspiring place to live. If you’re an artist, never live in a family community, unless you draw inspiration from children and nannies. It’s just horrible.

Watts’ current locale of Williamsburg, on the other hand, gets this stream-of-consciousness review:

Even though there are a bunch of partiers, there are really great artists amongst all those people. And it has great stores and shops and restaurants and a cool Promenade. It’s really a fun, happy area. Kind of the best area to live in.

It gets ragged on a lot, though. Yeah, which is good. The good thing is that it makes other people [too] annoyed to live here. The less people move here the better. Now we’re starting to see outside of coffee shops, like, six strollers. It’s either the hipsters that live here are getting older and having kids or the kids are moving to Williamsburg. I like kids, but kids kind of bum me out. It’s fine. I mean, people need to have kids. It’s just, like, you kind of go, ‘Aww, where are the adults having fun?’ Instead they’re running around asking, ‘Do you need some milk now?’ I love that they’re trying to still stay cool, you know. The parents will get their babies CBGB shirts.

Perhaps it’s best that the dude has found his solace outside of the Heights, huh?

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  • Raphael

    Zburch, if you don’t want do worry so much about neighbors you should move to a country house, not another neighborhood in the city.

    Some people find it possible to create art without being so self-absorbed. Go figure.

  • zburch

    Oh, Raphael, lonely troll. I grew up in the country and prefer the city. There are lots of artists and musicians that make it work here.

  • jayro

    Yeah, too bad Arthur Miller and Truman Capote couldn’t find anything inspiring about Brooklyn Heights…..

  • PJL

    Or Walt Whitman…. think some might be inspired by the history, architecture, vistas, etc…. Since when does one need other ‘artists’ around to create?

    Reggie is correct that this isn’t a party/gallery type area, but it’s probably one of the most convenient locations in the city from which to get to many of those areas….

    I also agree with Reggie’s points on nannies, however I have no interest in Beardsburg and can’t imagine finding hipster poseurs inspiring….

  • zburch

    Actual Raphael, I think the overly entitled corporate zombies and their petulant screaming brats are the ones that belong in the country….or Atlanta.

  • Raphael

    Zburch, I think you were just as obnoxious in the country as you are in the city. Good luck with your art – I just hope it pays for your retirement and you’re not looking to the petulant screaming brats to support you!

  • http://lcarmstrong.com L.C. Armstrong

    I am an artist who lives in Manhattan and I have a studio in Brooklyn Hts. I move here from Dumbo. Prior to that I was on Chrystie St. I also lived and worked in Williamsburg from ’87 to ’94. The posers on trust funds started moving into WB in the early ’90s. I couldn’t understand how they could sip cappucinos at the “L” cafe all day and spend so much time thinking about their”look.”
    The peace and quiet of Brooklyn Hts.took awhile to get used to, but I find that I can hear myself think here. I don’t miss the noise of Dumbo or the hipsters in WB.

  • Heightsguy

    I was tempted to post as “NannyScreamingIntoCellWhileIgnoringCryingBaby”,

    but held off. Actually there are a lot of stay-at-home moms, remember the “stroller mom” bashing on this blog for reaching for their change slowly at Starbucks? Back when my eldest was in the playground, the nannies were all Caribbean of East Indian descent, now there are fewer of those, and they are more diverse and many are quite devoted to their charges. The ones who are obnoxious cell-screamer baby-ignorers stand out for us. I can see why it would appear a little too stratified to have all nannies be persons of color and all the kids look WASPy, as if something from a century or two ago.

  • Matt

    As a married, 30-something BH resident with no kids I completely agree with Reggie’s assessment of BH. I find myself counting the obvious nannies as I walk to the train station every morning, and then I wonder why the parents didn’t just buy a dog and hire a dog walker….

    Nonetheless, I love the neighborhood for what it is….even though the center of inspriration, it is not.

  • sajh

    I love how people need to be ‘inspired’. Exactly what makes a neighborhood inspiring? And why does a neighborhood have to be “inspiring” for someone to be creative? I can understand some art forms, such as abstract and modern art do need a level of space available. And musicians need both space and generally a neighborhood of youth. But the fact that creativity doesnt always pay big dividends at first and thus Brooklyn Heights may not be conducive to that pay scale nor do properties in BH generally have the large cheap space or age bracket to tolerate other’s disturbances… But to blame your lack of creativity on a non-living thing (a neighborhood) is a scapegoat for your failings as a creative type and maybe a different line of work is needed.

  • Former11201

    Brooklyn heights feels like an urbanized version of Bedford or chappaqua. The parental units work in the city, and leave their precious darlings in argyle sweater vests with the help.

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