New York Shitty Day Ender: The Unbearable Blightness of Being

As I mentioned previously, the online and offline zeitgeist in north Brooklyn— be it northside, southside or even Greenpoint was on decidedly on the surly side today. I have spent a great deal of my day patiently listening to people complain about one thing or another that pisses them off. Now it is my turn.

218 North 9 Street

unpoliced

I have no idea who inscribed this on the rapidly deteriorating construction fence which graces this site, but he or she hit the nail on the proverbial head. Follows are a few amenities you can find at this property located in the heart of fashionable Williamsburg.

garbage

Pockmarked sidewalks and garbage.

moregarbage

LOTS OF GARBAGE.

fence

As the previous photograph indicates, this open air loft has an open door fence policy. Any and all are welcome to come on over, sit a spell and hang their hat.

coat

Or in this case, a coat.

lot1

Who wouldn’t want a balcony looking at this?

lot2

Or this?

184 North 8 Street

anymore1214

I have written about this site on a number of occasions. They have since sealed off the garage door which had been pried open. With predictable results.

welcomemate

CANT STOP US WELCOME MATE

236 North 7 Street

north7

But Bloomblight isn’t just about derelict lots. Just take this, for example.

sidewalkshed

The above summons is for a defective sidewalk shed. Somehow the heap of garbage (which includes a suitcase) was overlooked.

And last, but hardly least…

north6

This failed attempt at public safety hails from North 6 Street just west of Wythe Avenue.

caution

caution2

caution3

Lest I have not made it clear already I strongly believe people respond to the environment around them. This is why I am a big fan of public art— especially in our subway system. Gestures as grand as a mosaic or as simple as keeping public facilities neat and clean send a positive message. The vigilance (or this case, lack thereof) with which our municipal government enforces the laws put in place to preserve our, the citizenry’s, quality of life speaks volumes about their attitude as public servants.

This is unacceptable. No one should have to live with this.

Miss Heather

P.S.: All the above photographs were taken December 14, 2009.

Comments

4 Comments on New York Shitty Day Ender: The Unbearable Blightness of Being

  1. Xris (Flatbush Gardener) on Mon, 14th Dec 2009 9:57 pm
  2. It’s not a sidewalk, it’s a promenade.
    It’s not graffito, it’s a fresco.
    It’s not a vacant lot, it’s an atrium.
    It’s not an abandoned foundation, it’s a sunken garden.

    The real estate moguls just need to turn that thing around and put lipstick on that pig!

  3. Curvy Spice on Tue, 15th Dec 2009 11:03 am
  4. NY1 actually had a report on stalled real estate projects in Williamsburg and Greenpoint yesterday and how the city has now created a specific city inspector task force to address stalled projects and safety. But they said in the report that there were only 9 people assigned to this task force. And clearly it does no good if the summons are just thrown in the garbage. God forbid some of these projects ever get finished–I would worry about the quality of the work from “developers” who are so cavalier about safety.

  5. Control on Tue, 15th Dec 2009 8:16 pm
  6. Did you see that New York Magazine bit about gentrification being good? Fairly ridiculous if you ask me. Hope you don’t mind but I used one of your photos to link here off my own blog post:
    http://ltvsquad.com/Blog/?p=81

    I wouldn’t be surprised if that shell of a building on 9th doesn’t contain even more rubbish. I’ve been in quite a few of the buildings they took down around there and their final days all seemed to be used for illegal dumping.

  7. missheather on Tue, 15th Dec 2009 8:31 pm
  8. Hey, as long as you credit me and throw me some linkage I don’t mind. Nice post, by the way.

    You wrote: I wouldn’t be surprised if that shell of a building on 9th doesn’t contain even more rubbish. I’ve been in quite a few of the buildings they took down around there and their final days all seemed to be used for illegal dumping.

    I’m certain it does (contain more trash). There was no way in hell I was going to set foot in there to find out, tho.

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