Like it or spike it: ‘Parkwanus,’ BK’s new tainterhood

Brooklyn, probably more than other places in the city, is known for its neighborhoods. Some, like Fort Greene or Bed-Stuy, are classics, seared into popular imagination with things like The Cosby Show or any number of hi-hop shout outs. Some are…well, some are bizarre cash-grabs like RAMBO. Brooklyn’s newest neighborhood, apparently named “Parkwanus” seems to fall more into the latter camp than the former. Though that’s just like, our opinion, man.

“What the fuck is Parkwanus,” you might be saying quietly at your desk so no one hears you say fuck? It was coined, somewhat as a joke, by Shawn Parow over at Fucked in Park Slope, and apparently describes the area somewhere around 3rd and 4th Avenues that straddles Park Slope and Gowanus. So not quite Park Slope, and not quite Gowanus, kinda like a uhhh…well, a taint, we guess. So it’s a tainterhood, maybe?

Gothamist was not a fan of the name, neither was New York Magazine. Kristin Iversen of Brooklyn Magazine came to the defense of the tainterhood, pointing out the existence of BoCoCa, and claimed that it’s one of the top five words she uses everyday. Which also seems kinda weird. Clearly, if we’re calling it a taint we’re not really fans of the idea, but then again DUMBO wasn’t the name of a neighborhood until 1978. At any rate, continuing to talk about Parkwanus will probably just make it real, like Beetlejuice or the Anthony Weiner candidacy, so maybe we should just drop it. Thoughts?