Bed Stuy/ Bushwick

For Bushwick tent boys, rain is nothing compared to Brownstoner fury

Photo by Stefan Tonio
Louis Frank, Simon Levy and Emerson Brown, weathering the storm. Photo by Stefan Tonio

You pitch a few tents in a friend’s backyard and suddenly you’re the most hated kids in Brooklyn.

Our story yesterday on three happy campers in Bushwick was picked up by media outlets including The Post, Curbed, Gothamist and Brownstoner, whose commenters (142 at press time) unleashed their full fury on the rain-soaked youth.

“Stupid hipsters,” “Lazy ass jokers with iPods,” “white trash” and “asshats” were a few of the many epithets hurled at the trio by the nut jobs on Brownstoner. Others wanted to sleep with them. But there were a handful of commenters (brave souls) who wrote that they actually think the backyard campout is pretty cool.

Like cmar7785, who wrote:

“I’m finding it hard to believe that any of you people live in NYC. Wow! This used to be a place where anything could fly. Now I see where all the snobs live… These dudes are artists and they’re doing their best to make it. Most of the musicians, painters, poets, etc. that you all hail from past years lived in similar conditions or worse. It’s much better than going home to mommy and daddy or having mommy or daddy paying their rent. At least they’re doing the best they can with what they have…”

Right on, cmar7785. Whoever you are.

Levy said he isn’t surprised by a little criticism, but didn’t expect… quite so much of it. “It’s totally bizarre,” said Levy. “The dirty-hipster-scumbag comments sort of run together. But I like the ones that said we were cute.”

3 Comments

  1. Fikriyyah G.

    Brownstone.com can be kinda harsh. They have very strong opinions, and as you know now, they are not afraid to voice them.
    And you can completely discount that “asshat” comment as that poster uses that phrase quite liberally.

  2. Nancy

    I wish tents had been an option when I was working for pennies in publishing in the later 1980s. For a short time, I lived in an East Village theater unofficially, no running water or fridge. Sounds more glamorous and “Rent”-like than it was!

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