The Oxygen Network’s latest attempt to steal MTV’s thunder turns its lens on our own backyard. The Post reports that Bay Ridge, a neighborhood you may know as near where everyone goes bat-shit with their Christmas lights, is slated to get its own “Jersey Shore-esque Reality Show” on March 26. And rather than smelling like a tub of jolly Ron-Ron juice, it will most likely reek of whipped-cream flavored vodka and hatred. The series, titled Brooklyn 11223 (which is definitely not Bay Ridge, as commenters point out below), will focus on a “once tight-knit group of girls from the Brooklyn ’hood [who] are still at each other’s throats over an alleged heinous act of betrayal years ago,” according to the Post. Since the people responsible for The Bad Girl’s Club are at the helm of Brooklyn 11223, we can expect nothing less than a gaggle of thick-accented girls in bodycon dresses calling each other “fake bitches” and “followers.”
So, we’re essentially looking at tomorrow’s Mob Wives cast. But what implications do you think this series will have on the neighborhood? Do you care that it’s airing at all? As long as the Bay Ridge Century 21 stays civil, here’s no hard feelings here.
Follow Arielle: @arielledachille.
View Comments (39)
"Do you care at all? Have you ever even ridden the R train out that far? As long as the Bay Ridge Century 21 stays civil, here’s no hard feelings here."
So ESSENTIALLY what this article is ending with is "well who cares, this is south Brooklyn and no one really cares about south Brooklyn because south Brooklyn is clearly NOT Williamsburg or Bushwick or at the very least Park Slope." How very elitist of you Brokelyn. How very NORTH Brooklyn (ie-just moved her over the last few years) of you Brokelyn.
As a native of NYer I never really messed with this site too much. Someone directed me to this article. Those few sentences assured me that I won't be back. (And no this isn't some neighborhood pride thing. I dont live in, never have lived in and it is unlikely that I ever will live in South Brooklyn.
The battle for Brooklyn will be on the message boards.
to all the people making generalizations about the author being some Williamsburg transplant - as her close friend I can assure you that she is in fact a native New Yorker herself having grown up in Staten Island... the hypocrisy of some of the above comments is disheartening to say the least
"Do you care at all? Have you ever even ridden the R train out that far? As long as the Bay Ridge Century 21 stays civil, here’s no hard feelings here." (this is the original ending to this article. seems to have been edited since yesterday).
"PS-I love Brooklyn accents."
As a native NYer I simply would not expect another native NYer to make statements like the 2 above. And with the overall tone of the rest of the article (as well as the overall tone of the ENTIRE site) I dont see why its a surprise that commenters assumed the writer was an out of towner.
hey, come on now: Out of the 20 or so people on Team Brokelyn, only a handful are not tri-state area born and bred, and a bunch are Brooklyn natives.It sounds like maybe you just don't like our site at all, which is fine. But let's back off the everyone-who-writes-about-brooklyn-must-be-a-transplant trope, as it just isn't true.
Funny, never said everyone. I said this particular writer.
Where is there hypocrisy in assuming that she is a transplant? Her position sits in line with that of many a transplant and while it might have been an incorrect assumption, it's still a troublesome perception of a neighborhood that is as much Brooklyn as any other neighborhood in Brooklyn. ---
That she is from SI actually makes her stance worse in my opinion... Staten Island has long been considered the bastard borough and if anything I'd expect a totally different approach to the idea of neighborhoods that sit outside of the 'cool zone'. -- Look, I have no gripe w/ her lack of fact-checking nor do I have an issue with her paraphrasing the Post article for her write-up here... It annoyed me at first but that's not the big picture. My issue from my first posting is that the last paragraph of the write up implies that 11223, Bay Ridge, or whatever you want to call any area that is off the beaten path of gentrified BK is unimportant. THAT attitude is what makes THIS native Brooklynite speak up. ---
As for some of the other commenters, I am 50/50 on agreements. Change happens and it needs to be embraced on some level. Do I think the idea of bike lanes are ridiculous? Yes, I surely do. I ride avidly and I actually prefer to ride along with traffic because I find it safer than being on a bike lane where double parked cars force you to sway into incoming traffic or where drivers swing their doors open without even looking. Coffee shops and little shops? Eh, what are you gonna do? Everyone has a hustle and I wish all entrepreneurs well. What is oft overlooked, however, is that the mom and pop shops that were priced out of the space these new shops occupy were also once entrepreneurs. They were middle class hard working native Brooklynites. They worked their asses off and opened these shops with little to nothing - they didnt get small biz loans or have investors. I am not blaming gentrifiers, hipsters, or anyone for the changes. Like I said, change happens... But when these changes happen and peoples entire lives are changed due to being priced out (biz or residence), reading an expressed attitude that states that neighborhoods where many of these people hail from are unimportant does nothing for anyone but create more angst.
It's hypocritical to chastise her for making generalizations and then go right back and make a generalization that she's some gentrifying transplant based on how you interpreted her perspective, just as you mentioned wearing tight dresses doesn't equate to being a mob wife, expressing a limited understanding about a specific neighbor doesn't automatically make you some uninformed outsider; i find it hard to believe that native new yorkers are void of misconceptions about neighborhoods outside of their own
Expressing a limited understanding about a specific neighbor? She didn't express a limited understanding. Another commenter regarded her closing statement as a bit myopic. I don't find it at all myopic, especially in light of her having grown up in S.I I find the closing carries with it an ill regard to anyone outside of the cool-zone. Why would anyone question whether or not it matters how something will effect a neighborhood? Don't you think that statement carries some weight with it? --- If you recall my first comment you'll note that my issue is more with this sites constant mention of things outside of the cool-zone as less-than. Even in one of my own pieces I referenced something about fake-coach bags and it was found to be the highlight of the work because it allowed the reader to poke fun at what is not the NORM in their small-minded worlds.
As a writer for the Brokelyn perhaps she wanted to capture the overall tone of the site in general and decided to throw in that little blurb at the end to do so - I get that you need to cater to your audience and all, but Come on!!!
Aside from my two pieces and a couple of throw ins here there is absolutely no mention of anything outside of the gentrified zones. That, to me, is the real hilarious part. The entire site is dedicated to bringing readers deals and discounts to be found in the Brooklyn borough and the areas that offer the most rational prices for anything from a manicure to a fine-dining experience are overlooked.. Oh, right -- I forgot... Who cares about those areas?
looks like you and brokelyn got some figuring out to do...
The community of Bay Ridge, and our community leaders, are up in arms over this "reality show". Councilman Vincent Gentile sent out the following yesterday:
JOIN ME ON FRIDAY TO TELL THE OXYGEN NETWORK: “TAKE THIS SHOW OFF THE AIR!” The Oxygen Network is producing a new reality TV show called “Brooklyn 11223”. The show has been called “trashier than Jersey Shore but filmed in Bay Ridge.” (We’re not sure where they got the “11223” from, as that zip code belongs to Gravesend and Coney Island, but, hey, never let the facts get in the way of a trashy quasi-reality TV show, right?) “Brooklyn 11223” will debut on the Oxygen Network on Monday, March 26th and, judging from the trailers and previews we’ve seen, it will be gratuitous, classless and heavy on the stereotypes. That's why this Friday I am joining with the women of Bay Ridge to let the world know that the REAL Bay Ridge will not stand for this sort of “entertainment” that will serve only to denigrate and disparage our hard working, middle-class community of creative, smart, proud, cultured and compassionate people. Join me and tell the Oxygen Network that their new show “Brooklyn 11223” has it all wrong; they’re wrong on the zip code and wrong on their portrayal of Bay Ridge! This Friday, February 24 at 11 AM, outside the new “Beyond Dance” studio at 8717 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11209
Is the real Bay Ridge the one that allows the 3rd Ave Feast to have all those drunken hooligans from the neighborhood or the dance studio to have all those little girls dance in costumes and wear make up like future strippers while the mothers are fighting with each other over whose daughter did`nt get a good spot.Get a life you don`t have to watch the show , change the channel. maybe you should close all the bars on 3rd & 4th Ave so most OF your kids won`t have a place to get sloshed.You should`nt get so bent out of shape over a zip code. Vinnie Gentile , you should worry more about doing something for the economy of your community and maybe you should put all your valuable time into getting the"GODFATHER" taken off every t v channel it might air on. Get a life there are way more pressing issues to address than some t v show that not one of you have even viewed.
You sound like a real ass hole , but you should`nt be threatening anybody you lowlife punk.
Your neighborhood ??? What cardboard box do you and your family live in ????
Could someone please report this Ryan Ennis ,that made a threat on this blog. We may disagree on on the show, but it's frightening to read that he would knife someone from the show!
Is anything being done about this guy who threatened to knife someone from the show? i see his comment was removed but were the police notified? last time i checked threatening someone's life with a knife warranted police followup.
yes i do care about brooklyn 11223 airing its about time that oxygen had a great reality show to cats the audience no one can judge this show they don't live a brooklyn lifestyle brooklyn 11223 is exciting I'm glad its premiering on march 26.
This show is really wack I grew up with all these girls there all phoney there scared of anybody who steps up to them Carla with the big banana nose is such a herb even wen she was younger joeylynn is cool and laid back Christie is just a dumb broad these girls are all acting like there gangsters but believe me for someone who grew up with them there such cowards
Maybe 11223 looked catchy and seemed easier to remember. Just sayin'.
Also, don't mind these show that stereotype Italians, particularly Sicilians. I am Sicilian and I expect to be taken as a woman who has pride in her heritage. These caricatures do not affect me so strongly anymore.
I have some culture ambiguity going on in my life right now, but don't most second-generation anything have that? Cultures, religions, subcultures, and music will continue to be stereotyped by outsiders (the only freebie stereotype is hipsters!). It isn't so useful to ignore these caricatures than to recognize it (I most certainly do not agree with them, but they do exist!), and of course understand the networks exploitation of these television characters.