RSSMidnight Musings…
…of a Nomad Junkie
“New York City (post-New Millennium, 2008): A city once led by the indigenous peoples, artists, thugs, conmen, fashion czars, and radical progressives (in any form) were replaced, co-mingled with, and invited the rest of the fucking country to join the party.”
I don’t know any New Yorkers anymore. No, that’s not true. I know two. One’s in rehab, the other is still in the Bronx. He started a moving company. The others have died or have left. Extinct.
New York’s mentality has been destroyed by the influx of Floridians, Texans, and anything south of Trenton, New Jersey. Just listen to how people talk/speak. Long Island doesn’t count because it is the one part of New York that will never change: the stiffness, the ignorance…the strangeness. The only difference between the white kids in L.I. and in Westchester is their accents. I’ve noticed Westchester County-white boys try to sound like they’re from Queens. Growing up in Flushing, my friends and I would notice them when we came in contact with white kids that wanted to impress you and had made their way across the “border.” They would purposely try to sound “hard” or “street” and impress us with their knowledge of NWA or Tupac—generalizations, very little detail, and absolutely no soul. Since Long Island is just Queens’ suburban cousin (it’s Forest Hills with more baseball fields, barbecues, and burnt out hippies who didn’t go to Woodstock and refuse to leave Suffolk or Nassau County) it amuses me that nuances of regionalisms and how we speak has been corrupted by the “Global Village” we joined and celebrate.
I must be getting very old. If I hear someone say “Dude” or “Like” or some Mid-Western riff on “right on,” one more time I think I am going to commit suicide (and I’ve tried many times). It’s just as bad as hearing “krunk” and “bling.” The media chews it up and spits it back at you, isn’t that enough? Besides, the terms don’t even belong in the New York lexicon. I remember when we used to talk and no one knew what we were talking about…Oh, those halcyon days before the Net…
Dragon chasers, sniffing after something that no longer exists; shadows no longer even deep or dark, we’ve been “othered” and either they all sound like everyone else or they want to…conformity is our drug, yes, and our desire to be little boxes…
And don’t get me started on my black brothers: They all look and sound like they had never crossed the Mason-Dixon Line. With the inundation of southern rap synth and mid-western hip-hop twang, it is a relief to actually hear a black man with a Harlem accent! (And I’m not talking about what the media tells us is a New York accent. But I’ll riff on that later on, say around 2AM after my third Jack and Coke).
10 Comments, Comment or Ping
Lag
I feel you. New York isn’t what it used to be. New Yorkers as we knew them are a dying breed. But, isn’t change what makes New York the city it is? It’s always been changing, from immigrants coming in from Europe through Ellis Island and changing themselves to fit in, to ethnic gangs warring over territory and forcing others to try to fit in to their ideas of how New York should be, to the decay of the 70’s and 80’s, now to the influx of people from the rest of the States. New York is a great city because it’s always changing, stretching, morphing, and still remaining one of the greatest cities in the world.
[Reply]
TROUBLMan
I’m a New York implant and natives constantly remind me of how much its changed. Some say its changed for the worse other say its become better. When you examine NY from a social science level crime has declined, especially violent crime. But as a tradeoff rents have increased. And with the rising cost of living in NY, culture is being substituted by affluence. I’m not even from here and I feel it. I can’t distinguish a Harlem accent from the media-sold New York accent you speak about. What I can distinguish are the Starbucks pooping up in the hood. I notice the numerous high rise condos going up. I live the the issue of a young black man trying to find a place to live in this city, only to be overlooked for the college students whose parents have better credit.
[Reply]
"A Mom"
I feel the same way here one the West Coast. San Francisco has no natives either. What really make it so sad is that the diversity that made this city such a wonderful place it almost completely gone.
When I was growing up we had communities people spoke to each other, and cared for one another. Now we just have a lot of suburban, none family, none caring people who have money and cars and they live in the new condos that are going up like flies. They have all the high paying jobs and most just live her during the week, and return to there homes in the burbs on the weekends.
The few people that were born and raised are being forced out because of the to high prices of rental property and most home are priced way out of the park. Natives are being pushed out. Most of the families have lost their homes and apartments. Parks are becoming places you don’t want to go into because they are not safe anymore. Schools and Recreation center are closing from lack of funds. As I come in and out of my home and venture thru my city. I feel like a stranger. I get looks as if I am and alien. People even watch me when I enter my home or go into my garage. What am I doing here they say to themselves. I belong here. This is my home.
[Reply]
troublsome
I don’t know about New York, but here in Los Angeles it seems as if there are people from everywhere. Shit some of those Native New Yorkers are here as well. There are so many people that you can’t put your fingers on the Native, unless you just personally know them… By the way we just had an Earthquake, so there is a possibility that we may break away and be our own island soon, If the shit gets to rumbling again.. Then we will really be on some Hollywood shit… Just Kidding…
[Reply]
Alwayswrite
It’s funny, if you follow the interview we conducted with Bert, a German artist, he speaks upon the same things. How NY changed and is changing. He makes some interesting points. Check it out.
Leroy, I realize you’re angry but the issue is gentrification. Plus, shit changes. You can’t expect any situation, especially NY, a place where millions flock daily, to remain the same, to stagnate. I think social evolution requires change. It’s precarious situation because evolution requires some shit being extinct, so NY’s evolution requires some aspects of NY being extinct. Sad…maybe. But, without NY and its evolution, I wouldn’t be here. I’m not a Native NYorker. I’m a transplant, like TROUBLman. And I never consider myself nor fake like I’m a Native. I’m not. I look more stupid doing that than just being myself. I think Natives have to realize that your city inhabits all types of people. That makes NY beautiful. And that’s precisely why there will be a continuing onslaught of non-Natives.
[Reply]
TROUBLMan reply on July 30, 2008 7:56 am:
Shit changes. The sad thing about change though is that newcomers don’t respect the customs and traditions that were set before them. At that level cities simply become commercial epicenters. The culture that once made them unique is gone and what differentiates a Los Angeles from a NY is lost in the shuffle.
[Reply]
troublsome
I would definitely have to say that gentrification plays a huge role in the migration of people….
[Reply]
LilMissTROUBL
A friend of mine travels all the time and changes her accent according to the state she’s in. It’s crazy.
I have all kinds of accents.
I can go from Jamaican to Puerto Rican… to Brooklyn… to Harlem.. to…
VALLEY GIRL.
[Reply]
"A Mom" reply on July 29, 2008 10:12 pm:
Shows how you can adapt. I don’t have a problem with change. I have a problem with changing. San Francisco has always been a place of change but losing it’s quality is a big price to pay. Especially when it’s not for the better of communities.
[Reply]
TROUBLMan reply on July 30, 2008 8:00 am:
Having multiple registers is important and critical to your success in a city like New York and in life in general. I work on mine too. When I politics with the Park Avenue crowds your might hear a “er” every now and then. LOL
[Reply]
Reply to “Midnight Musings…”
SEE ALSO
♦ The Nomad Junkie - Midnight Musings…
August 4, 2008
♦ SB - The New Romance
March 7, 2008
♦ Dutchess - The Fever
February 20, 2008
♦ Q - AOG: Key Messaging
March 31, 2008
♦ TROUBLsome - Nigga Conundrums
January 22, 2008