1. In Brooklyn, Old Is The New New
Brooklynites just love turning other people's trash into their treasures. Hipsters, yupsters and penny-pinchers alike flock to Brooklyn Flea, which the New York Times has called one of the city's “great urban experiences.” And if you're in the market for something more than vintage vinyl and cast-off couture, “Time Out NY” has also named it one of the city's best pick-up spots.
2. Brooklynites Just Love Them Some Egg Creams
And they’re not at all confused by the fact that it contains neither eggs nor cream—only an out-of-towner would expect such a thing. In Brooklyn, everyone knows that a real egg cream has just three ingredients: milk, chocolate syrup (Fox’s U-Bet, for preference) and seltzer. They also know to go to Brooklyn Farmacy for the best in town, at least now that Hinsch’s is closed.
3. Park Slope Is Full Of Stay-At-Home Dads Pushing High Dollar Techno Strollers
And also naughty nannies writing tell-all memoirs. Same-sex mommies and mommies/daddies and daddies are also quite common—Park Slope is, after all the site of the annual Brooklyn Gay Pride celebration.
No matter your chosen method of reproduction, though, if you want to fit into this 'hood, you'll need a stroller, since that’s just how they roll.
4. In Brighton Beach, Soviet Union Jokes Tell You
Brighton Beach is home to a thriving Russian immigrant community. “Little Odessa” by the sea is the go-to place for Russian-language books and newspapers, sidewalk vendors peddling pirozhki and kvass, restaurants and tea rooms serving up tasty delicacies like pelmeni and blini and bars where you can throw down shots of infused vodka such as Okhotnichya (flavored with port wine and spices) and Zubrovka (flavored with buffalo grass).
Brighton Beach also has quite a few comedy clubs, with entertainers who perform in both Russian and English. Although Yakov Smirnoff has long since left New York for the bright lights and big hair of Branson, Mo., Brighton Beach's comedians still take a few pokes at the old—and new—regime.
5. If You Live In Williamsburg, Chances Are You’re A Big Ol’ Hipster
I know, I know, you lived in Williamsburg
before it was cool. Ahem.
But Williamsburg is, like,
the mecca for all the skinny-jean, knit cap, horn-rimmed glasses-crowd. Manhattan is, like, so mainstream. You can spot the hipster tribe downing craft brews or (ironic) domestic drafts at the Levee, sipping house-roasted, single origin espresso at Blue Bottle Coffee as they tap away at their Macbooks or even rolling a few frames at Brooklyn Bowl (bowling being the hipster sport of choice, since it's not cool to break a sweat).
6. Old Timers In Brooklyn Still Hate The L.A. Dodgers...
OK, it's been nearly 60 years since “Dem Bums” were stolen by those crooks out in California, but hey, it's still taking the South a while to get over the whole Civil War thing, too.
The Dodgers were Brooklyn’s pride and joy since 1884, and they even took their name from the city’s early trolley cars and the pedestrians who had to jump out of their way. (Just what are they supposed to be dodging in L.A.? Traffic on the I-10?
The Boys of Summer finally won a long-awaited World Series (against the hated Yankees, no less) in 1955, only to lose their team two years later. Even today most Brooklynites still refuse to root for the Bronx Bombers—they’re passionate Mets fans, but they still long for a baseball team they can call their own.
7. While New Brooklynites Pledge Allegiance To The Nets
Nets who? Nobody else seems to know or care that the Nets NBA team relocated from New Jersey (or wherever), or that there even is such a team, but being a Nets fan is evidently a thing amongst the nouveau Brooklyn set. Or at least owning a Nets hat is. They probably think it gives them street cred or something, but one sportswriter dismissed the entire fandom as "a visiting collection of Park Slope arrivistes and yuppies that last heard 'The Blueprint' at a wine bar.”
8. Brooklynese Is A Language All Its Own
It's instantly recognizable—the classic old-school Brooklyn accent, with its unique blend of Irish, Italian and Yiddish. Typical words and phrases include “dese, dem, dose,” “youse guys,” “cuppa cawfee,” and “Toidy-Toid [33rd] Street”. If you’re clueless in Brooklyn you “don’t know from nuthin’,” and if someone’s got a problem you ask “whatsamatta?” Of course, no Brooklyn conversation would be complete without at least one “fuhgeddaboudit!”
9. They Refuse To Pay For Books
Brooklyn’s had its own public library system, separate from the NYPL, since 1896, and by itself it’s the nation’s fifth-largest. What’s more, no Brooklyn resident has to walk more than a half mile to get to the closest branch. Even in the digital age, Brooklynites take full advantage of all their libraries have to offer, as their library program attendance is the highest in the U.S.
10. Brooklynites Shun "Chain" Anything
From bookstores (Greenlight) to coffee roasters (Stumptown) to beer makers (Brooklyn Brewery), Brooklynites prefer their businesses home-grown and independently owned, thank you very much. Leave the mega-chains in the 'burbs where they belong.
Brooklyn—it’s a whole world unto itself. Or, as the Chamber of Commerce would have it, “The Tenth Planet.” (Yeah, even the PR people are a bit out there.) In the words of famous native son, Mos Def, an even bigger booster than the CoC, “The B-the-R-the-O-the-O-K! Best in the world and all USA!”
