Originally uploaded to Flickr by dailyheights.
Lifestyle Issues of The White and ProHo
In response to Forbidden Phrases: Do Not Use Them, hollywood_african asks: “I agree that some of these phrases [“my bad”, “dawg”] are the kind of talk we hear from undesirable neighborhood non-whites all the time. isn’t that why this blog exists? to secretly whisper about the lifestyle issues [of] newly relocated non-non-whites face in ProHo [Prospect Heights]? I’m really glad that you’ve created a safe space here where the King’s English can thrive…three cheers for keeping our utopia blog-garden WEED-FREE!!!”
A. Thank you for your thoughtful feedback! However, DAILY HEIGHTS is not entirely convinced that overuse of the phrase “my bad” is endemic to neighborhood non-whites.
We have undertaken a careful investigation of the etymology of “my bad” and the cultural forces behind its popularity. Our research suggests the following: “my bad” may possibly have roots in games of “spades” played among prison inmates, and in Neighborhoods of Lower Socioeconomic Strata (NoLSS, or colloquially, “Hoods”).
However, multiple authoritative sources agree: overuse of “my bad” is directly attributable to “Clueless,” a 1995 movie that focused on the values and lifestyles of white, upper-class society. The fires of “my bad” were further stoked through inclusion in subsequent Hollywood screenplays and television programs, including at least 7 uses between 1998-2002 on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Example: “She killed him! Oops, my bad. It’s just dust I forgot to sweep under the rug.” [Cordelia]
While a thorough investigation of the term “dawg” has not been undertaken, anecdotal evidence suggests that this term, too, may have roots in NoLSS, but has become old and tired through repetition, ad nauseum, in mass media channels that celebrate the values of middle- to upper-class (and often white) suburban society, including American Idol, and most “reality” programming on MTV.
DAILY HEIGHTS thanks hollywood_african for the opportunity to clarify this matter.
Wow. Really?
[email protected] checks in from New Zealand to write: “This citizen journalism site [Daily Heights] was mentioned on the BBC WORLD NEWS web site in the Magazine section as being so good that the New York times often reports on the same issues a few days later. Awesome. You guys rock! Good luck.”
[Update: Uh… “whocares” got it a bit confused. BBC didn’t specifically mention us — they linked to an article in Poynter Online that mentions Daily Heights.]
I didn’t know about the New York Times… but I do have a growing list of articles based on tips reporters got on Daily Heights, that as far as I know, have never mentioned DH as the source.
Example. I just found a Brooklyn Daily Eagle article about some unspecific “uproar” in the community over the New York Times misreporting the height of the planned Union Temple parking lot condo as 30 stories. I suppose it’s theoretically possible that the reporter stumbled upon an uproar somewhere in the neighborhood (be careful where you uproar–you never know when there might be a reporter lurking around, ready to report on you!). But from my admittedly myopic view, the only uproar I’m aware of was right here on Daily Heights and on Curbed and Curbed again via Daily Heights. (OK… there were also some updates on the PHNDC Yahoo! Group, and I think ProspectHeightsParents, but I don’t recall the discourse being uproarious.)
Don’t get me wrong… I am totally cool with this practice, and I totally encourage journalists to hang out here and contact DH users (say hello to … Private Messaging in the message boards!!!)
…But is it TOO MUCH TROUBLE to give us credit somehow? Some sort of “secret nod” that only we will get and say, “hey, that’s us!!” Maybe some old-fashioned attribution?
Come on, already. Make my weekend.
FORBIDDEN PHRASES: Do Not Type Them!
Recently, the phrase “my bad” was used unironically in the Daily Heights Forums, prompting an emergency investigation to identify other potentially-typeable phrases that are clearly outside the limits of good taste and proper online expression. To date, phrases banned on Daily Heights include, but are not limited to:
–“Don’t go there” (Obvious!)
–“I am so ____” as in, “I am so loving this discussion about Home Heating Oil!!”
–“Yeah!” said in three syllables, with the accent on the first, so as to suggest “no duh” in response to an obvious statement by another party (admittedly, it would be difficult to type this… if you were to defy the ban, it would probably look something like this: “YEah-uh!”)
-Referring to anyone as “dog” or “dawg”
More forbidden phrases will be posted as they come to our attention. Thank you for your patience during this difficult time of transition!
Special note: Daily Heights is seeking an injunction to enforce Internet-wide bans on the phrases “A ______ grows in Brooklyn” and “If you ______ it, they will come.” To shield your publication from future liability, please discontinue use of these phrases, effective today. Thank you!
LINK: Post #259, FORBIDDEN PHRASES (Was: Pic of Spalding bldg on Pacific?) [Daily Heights Forums]
Frickin' Sad
CAN’T HANDLE THE RENT NO MORE
STOOP SALE
371 Park Place
6/19
Other Shoe: Dropped
Pack your bags, Dan…
DeeDee writes: “Just saw on CNN that the Supreme Court ruled in the eminent domain case in Connecticut. The Court ruled that local governments can seize private property (homes and businesses) for private economic development. This ruling would support the proposed Atlantic Yards development plan.”
Links:
Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes [Associated Press via Yahoo! News](Thanks to Ben for the tip)
Chaos Ensues in Daily Heights Forums [Daily Heights Forums]
Area Mom and Toddler TRAPPED in Bergen St. Station!
FedUpMom writes: “Two Sundays ago I exited the 2 train at Bergen St. on the Brooklyn-bound side. I had my 18-month-old daughter with me in her small stroller. There was track work on the Manhattan bound platform, and so no token clerk on either side… No one was anywhere to be found when I pushed the bell to open the gate to leave the station. I was stuck in the station and unable to get out! This was a very dangerous and scary situation. I can’t push the stroller through the vertical turnstile, and I can’t carry the baby and fit the stroller through the vertical turnstile (even when folded).”
“I finally got lucky and someone helped me bring the stroller through, and I carried my daughter …”
“The answers I am getting from the MTA are ridiculous … It seems that the MTA is unwilling to acknowledge that on the day in question there was not a soul at the station, and that since it was Sunday, it could have taken 20-30 minutes before a conductor on the next train was due. This is not what customer service and safety are about. Something needs to be done, even if it means that the MTA has to admit that during repairs, some stations have no safe exit.”
This Week in PROSPECT HEIGHTS CRIME: DaveB Survives Beating, Eats Through Straw, Laments "Lack of Policing"
1. daveb writes in the Daily Heights Forums:
“I was mugged and beaten up pretty badly on Saint Johns Place between Underhill and Washington (I also happen to live on this stretch) Sunday night (19th). The police did not seem too interested in getting a description of the attacker and seemed to me to stop taking notes after ‘tall, black and in his late 20’s,’ cutting me off when I offered descriptions of his clothing, what direction he ran in etc. My overall feeling was that they just didn’t care. I’ve also had my apartment robbed twice in the past year, both times eliciting a very lackluster response from the police. I’m very upset about the crime in this neighborhood and the lack of policing. It’s no fun having to eat through a straw and knowing that the guy who nearly killed you likely lives on your block, if not your street.”
2. BONUS! Arielbl writes in the same thread: “My next door neighbor was mugged and pistol-whipped in the vestibule of our building on st johns between franklin and classon, on a friday evening, between maybe 11pm and midnight. The guy must have been following him and pushed him into the vestibule when he unlocked the door.”
“I like to think that this kind of stuff is an anomaly. This is my first summer in ‘proho,’ and it seems like things are a lot worse with the warm weather.”
Prospect Heights Couple Plans Wedding in Paradise, Festivities 'Dampened by Slayings'
ADAM NICHOLS writes in the Daily News: “[Tristan] Charlier, 24, and [Leon] Roberts, 25, of Jamaica, Queens, were found at 2:20 a.m. Wednesday with multiple gunshot wounds by a bus stop in this Caribbean island paradise [St. Thomas]…The friends had arrived in the U.S. Virgin Islands fewer than 15 hours earlier to attend the wedding of [Twumasi] Weisel, who is from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.”
WEISEL: “[Charlier] had some kind of altercation with someone. He didn’t say what had happened and I didn’t give it a second thought. Now I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Weisel’s marriage to Jessica Dukes, 35, went ahead on Saturday, but the festivities were dampened by the slayings… ‘ There was definitely a cloud hanging over the day, but I think it was good that we did something positive, that we moved on,’ he said.”
LINK: New Clue in Paradise Slays [Daily News]
[Curbed.com] Vote Now for FLATenD
thoversover writes Daily Heights:
“Go to curbed.com; scroll halfway down the page and vote for our new neighborhood name: FLATenD! Strike a blow for outscale development! Whee! Polls are only open till 1 pm today (Tuesday).”
LINK: Curbed.com “‘Hoodwinked” Contest Curbed.com]