Open Thread Wednesday, August 29, 2012

By on August 29, 2012 12:01 am in Brooklyn Heights, open thread

It was on this date in 1922—some 90 years ago—that the first radio advertisement ever was broadcast on WEAF-AM New York. Clear Channel and CBS Radio must be very happy about that anniversary. So on this Open Thread Wednesday for August 29, 2012, what topics would you like to endorse? (Photo: Quartley/via Flickr BHB Photo Club)

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  • She’s Crafty

    Good morning! Does anyone know when the annual Mansion House sidewalk sale will be this year?

  • Big Dave

    No clue. But isn’t this a glorious day?!

  • Big Dave

    Crystal sky blue hue
    Fresh air embracing
    Sparrows twitter thanks for Life

  • GHB

    I’ve been reading that earlier thread about kids (some of you should really be ashamed), but I was wondering about all the comments about white guys who won’t give up their subway seat for a pregnant woman? I’m a white guy (always have been) and I’ve always offered my seat to visibly pregnant women. This morning, I got on at Clark St. along with a woman who is probably about 6 or 7 months along, and not one person (mostly middle-age black men and a couple of women) even offered their seat. They just diverted their eyes…

  • Knight

    I’m glad you mentioned that, GHB. I was slightly offended by those comments since I have always given up my seat to the pregnant, elderly, and handicapped … and being Scottish, few men are whiter than I. Perhaps it says more that the people making those remarks took note of the skin tone of those who refused to accommodate them. On a lighter note, there was a morning recently when I offered my seat to an elderly man who actually took offense to my gesture. I admired his tenacity but I’ll still offer a seat to the next elderly person I find standing near me.

  • WillowSt.Neighbor

    GHB, Knight,
    I cannot tell you how many times the subway door opened and it was usually a young male racing ahead of me to get the only empty seat on the train.
    No consideration whatsoever for senior citizens.

  • Brooklynite
  • Still Here

    GHB and Knight – I mostly observe your kind (my kind) of civility on subways. I have rarely seen a pregnant/very elderly/infirm person not given a seat. I sometimes carry a cane (recurring back issue) and I am fine with it and people have offered me a seat.

  • Danno

    WEAF, for the trivia-lovers among us, later became WNBC. And later, W*N*BC. Now WFAN, sadly.

  • Mr. Crusty

    Interesting articles Brooklynite. I think this snippet dispels some of the comments that we were hearing the other day:

    “Would you give up your seat to a pregnant subway rider?

    Elizabeth Carey Smith wanted to find out. While noticeably pregnant, she rode the city’s subways and documented how many straphangers offered her their seat.

    It turns out, most New Yorkers are pretty considerate. On 108 full trains, Smith was given a seat 88 times. That means, 81 percent of the time, Smith was able to take a load off, even when subways were packed.

    “New Yorkers aren’t as rude as we like to think that we are, or as other people think that we are,” Smith told the Wall Street Journal. “I was sure that I was going to find out that people were terrible.”

    Men were about as likely as women to offer their seats. Riders on the G train were least generous and men on the L and women on the 6 were most considerate.”

    I think the key word in the above article was, “noticeably pregnant”. Maybe some of the women complaining about not getting offered a seat weren’t as obviously pregnant as they felt they may have been because clearly from this admittedly unscientific study it seems that NYers are quite courteous about giving up their seats to pregnant women. Even white men.

  • DrewB

    So 100+ comments on the other thread didn’t put the baby issue to bed yet? How about this. Some people are rude. Some people are not. Posting on a message board won’t change that. Some people are overly entitled. Some people not. Posting on a message board won’t change that either. Welcome to life in one of most diverse and amazing cities in the world. We’re all in this together.

  • Ev

    Any suggestions for a good, reasonably-priced painter to paint my apt?

  • WillowSt.Neighbor

    DrewB,
    I was actually more interested in the fact that it seemed as though the original poster was expecting her point of view to be validated and apparently that did not happen.

  • RemsenStDweller

    Has anyone else noticed more mosquitos than usual in the neighborhood? Most evenings, I walk my dog along the Promenade and then across to Henry (often on Cranberry), and in the past week or so have been eaten alive on that journey.

  • DrewB

    I know what you mean. I think homer was maybe expecting that too! I thought I was going to be in the minority in judging her post overly-entitled and hyperbolic. I was pleased to see others agreed. But all that aside, maybe after 100+ comments we can turn the corner on the whole parent vs child-free thing.

  • GHB

    DrewB, I was just asking about a specific item in the thread that kept coming up and was curious about it.

  • Mr. Crusty

    @DrewB I don’t think anyone is under the delusion that posting on a message board will change anything. Posting on a message board is a way for some to vent and express their feelings. The fact that there were 100+ comments tells me that there was (is) a big interest in the topic that many wished to weigh in on. That’s what blogs do – discuss topics of interest to their readers. You always have the option of passing such a thread by and instead read about the Best Nail Salons of Brooklyn Heights or something more to your liking. I don’t get the hostility.

  • Homer Fink

    Let me say this about that.

    Words I hate in comments:
    Yuppie
    Entitled

    Both mean little or nothing but folks love to use them on the internet. The Olds love to use the Y word like it’s 1983.

    As for the Mom post – wake up folks there are some real nut bags walking amongst us. Yes it’s New York, but only in a borough (ack!) do they feel comfortable enough to act like they know you.

    I grew up in Queens, lived in Manhattan for a decade. There’s a difference.

    /rant
    /you’re not going to change my mind

  • WillowSt.Neighbor

    Homer,
    Is there a replacement word for Yuppie?
    And what should we call the entitled? Selfish, self-centered,
    narcissistic?

  • travy

    holy crap how did i miss that epic thread?? but to the moms, here’s the deal: if you even buy a big stroller, you’re being rude. that’s why people lash out at you as soon as they see you. the mere presence of your oversized stroller is offensive.

  • GHB

    Oh travy… let it go

  • DrewB

    @ ev

    If you are looking for a good painter call Jamie Grubb @ 917.446.5175. He is reasonable, efficient and professional. He has serviced many clients int he neighborhood and can provide you with references.

    @ everyone else, I don’t think i was being that hostile. Sorry if you got offended. I was just pointing out that we beat that dead horse pretty hard already. Trust me I have plenty to say about that issue, but I think it was all well covered in the thread. Like i said it is a big city with lots of people. Some of them are jerks. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

  • travy

    ghb- but i feel so left out! crap, does this make me entitled??

  • ABC

    I don’t know why people are offended by my experience. I mean, it is what it is. I was pregnant 3 times — so about 840 days.

    Let’s say I was only obviously pregnant for the last third of each pregnancy (ha! I wish). 840/3= 280 days

    Let’s say I take the subway 5 days out of 7 (again, I wish). 280*.714=200

    Ride the subway twice each working day = 400 times.

    So, in my approximately 400 rides the subway as a very pregnant person, I was never one time given a seat by a white guy. Of course, others gave up their seat so perhaps the white guys were just slow to offer .. maybe they would have gotten around to it

    (One time, on my due date, I got on at Borough Hall and a guy in a suit ran to get the last seat. I stood near him. He kindly offered me his seat at 86th bcs he was getting off at that stop. Alas, I couldn’t take him up on that kind offer as I was getting off at 86th too. I’m not counting that guy)

    That’s it. You can be offended by my experience if you like.

  • Livingston

    Anybody notice the street bazaar that has taken up residence outside of TJ’s this afternoon? Is this new? I don’t mean the usual vendors selling the fun clothes or old records, but table after table of the cheap stuff. Plus the dreaded incense burners –smoke that’s thick enough to choke a horse (I’ll take any food vendor over those smelly sticks). I dread to think that this is going to be the norm on what is typically a respectable corner.

  • She’s Crafty

    No Mansion House residents here?

    When I was pregnant and boarding the train at Borough Hall, the only people who EVER offered me seats were African American women.

  • willowl

    why are people so freaking offended by strollers? wtf? mom’s buy big strollesr if they have more than 1 child under the age of 5 and need room for 2 kids ( how daaaareee theyyyy). i’m sure it really pains you to move out of the way for a stroller. I mean seriously, do you hear yourselves? also about not giving up a seat for a pregnant woman is just as bad as not holding the door for someone with a stroller. some people have no manners.

  • WillowSt.Neighbor

    Livingston,
    Are you sure you want to open up this can of worms?
    Where were you when everyone went nuts over the hot dog vendor at the corner of Montague and Columbia Heights?
    Don’t want to have to revisit that!

  • Homer Fink

    @willowstneighbor –

    1) Yutz, putz, schmeckle, a-hole just not Yuppie. That died when Jerry Rubin decided to jaywalk back in 1994.

    2) Yes. “Entitled” is a word Archie Bunker types cling onto when talking about people who are “not like” them.

    /rant

  • Livingston

    Hot dog vendor should have moved over one block and shared the space w/ the Mr. Softee truck — Better location for an al fresco dinner and dessert offering :-)

    Not against entrepreneurism, but there is a proper place for that and I would hate to see Court Street turn into a version of the old Canal Street. There’s always a few vendors staked out from Borough Hall going south, but this was noticeably different. Plus the sidewalk is not that wide over there by TJs.

    And I hate that cheap incense crap –just sell it, don’t invade my air space and force me to take a whiff. Can’t be good for anybody.

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