This is Laura Zamora, an art-school grad, printmaker and apparent crudité enthusiast who has been trying since last summer to scrape together $2,500 to hightail it out of her dad’s house in Montgomery, AL. Where does this self-described purveyor of “mediocre” art want to move? Brooklyn of course, the Holy Land for underfunded young creatives. This we know because she has launched an Etsy campaign to raise the required funds. “If you could spare a dollar or two, please purchase a share of my hopes and dreams for just $1!” she writes. However, “you don’t have to donate anything, even a word of encouragement would help!” So Brokelyn hivemind… does anyone have any such words for this aspiring Brooklynite? Is this photo really working for her? Is $2,500 enough to land the one-bedroom apartment she wants? Would you shell out a hard-earned one-spot to help her? Why or why not?
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as a person who was unhappy where they were living and who is now much happier since coming to brooklyn, i genuinely hope she makes it happen.
that being said…something about this irks me (apparently enough to post a comment). when it comes down to it i suppose i can just ignore the request and not donate, but something bothers me about people begging for money for a cause thats so selfish/inessential.
This really sounds like more o f a kickstarter campaign thatn an Etsy one.
What she should really be looking for is someone who has a couch they’ll let her crash on for a week. The rest will fall into place.
That said, I don’t think she’s going to get a lot of sympathy. Brooklyn is fascinating in this way: people here are generally supportive of each other, sometimes to absurdist extremes (e.g. dragging your ass out to godforsaken Bushwick through the snow to see your friends’ band play on a broken amp in a room with no heat). The idea seems to be if you can get here, make a go of it and have something to show for it, you deserve some level of support, even if it’s just a perfunctory and symbolic nod. But Brooklyn is highly skeptical of outsiders trying to crack in or fake it from afar. Does anything distinguish her from the thousands of others trying to do the same thing, other than she is trying an Etsy?
“when it comes down to it i suppose i can just ignore the request and not donate, but something bothers me about people begging for money for a cause thats so selfish/inessential.”
Dan just summed up my feelings perfectly. I am choosing not to donate because when I had to move without very little money saved, I found a way to make it happen. If it means sacrificing certain things (bringing in lunch, going out less, cutting out vices) then that’s what she has to do. I’m not going to hand out money to someone who just wants to move to Brooklyn. Start saving your own cash and make it happen yourself. Suck it up and live with dad in AL until you have more than enough money to move to NYC.
So, when she gets the $2500 and comes to BK, what the hell is she gonna do when she needs 2 months rent in advance? Oops. And furthermore, why would I help her fund a ONE BEDROOM apt. while I’m living in a way too expensive studio? Lastly, I’m from Mississippi and I made it happen with NO help from strangers online. *rolls eyes*
i totally understand having a dream and wanting to seek help for it- i’m a musician about to launch a kickstarter campaign for my next ep.
but sheesh, as much as i want to support someone’s hopes and dreams, it does sorta rub me the wrong way. first of all, if she lives with her dad, can’t she save up her own money? i feel like i could save $2,500 in a snap if i weren’t paying rent.
second of all, she’ll get here with $2,500 and… ?? i mean, she’ll need money to keep going. i feel like you need more like $10,000 to get a decent start, coming here with no job.
i did it once. i came here with nothing, and it’s very, very hard. i wish her luck, but i think her expectations are a little unrealistic.
mediocre art is right … does she really think she’ll make it as an artist in BK selling paper airplanes and shrinky-dinks? i would never give money to someone to do something crappy with. if she showed talent and was selling her artwork to raise money, i would consider helping out…but she’s not…so i won’t
Get a job! We have enough useless mooches’ in NYC
It looks like I’m the only Bklyn native here so far, so I mean no offense to the rest of you, but…. I wouldn’t give money because Brooklyn doesn’t need another “artist” transplant.
I can empathize with wanting to get the eff out of your parents’ house in the suburbs, but 2,500 for a one-bedroom?? What are you going to eat after you move in? The only people I know living in one-bedrooms in NYC are either a) computer programmers or b) in their 30’s and 40’s. I say sack up, save $4000, and get a place with at least two other roommates if you want to live in Brooklyn so badly.
Dayummmn, this is an un-supportive bunch.
But I can’t really hate, cuz I was thinking the same thing and then read it in 10 different comments.
It does seem kinda bitchy that because we didn’t have any help moving here we don’t want to give whats-er-face any.
But then MAYBE that’s part of the journey/process to move to Brooklyn. You aren’t allowed any help, otherwise you get penalized with a GO TO QUEENS card, do not pass Brooklyn, go directly to Queens or any other outer borough.
Oh hey! I was looking to get drunk tonight and go for a helicopter ride. Anyone wanna spare donate a dollar or two for a share of my hopes and dreams? Hugs!
nice concept but totally wrong way to do it. new york is not that kind of place. has this person ever been to NY? Sad really.
so reporting this person on esty. wish i could do the same for this article.
THIS type of post and thought train is what needs to be stopped.
i am curious why this got posted? i also saw it pop up on Gothamist. is it just comment-bait?
if so…you got me (twice)
She’s the spitting image of one of my favorite late artists:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.altmanphoto.com/TinyTim.JPEG&imgrefurl=http://www.altmanphoto.com/Tiny.Tim.html&usg=__3VdvD2W6IIvy-8ZgprLNjN53zYU=&h=666&w=428&sz=91&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=szHpeYjjdmalzM:&tbnh=159&tbnw=102&ei=NhQ_TYL8AYG78gbGyaidCg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtiny%2Btim%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_enUS352US352%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D656%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=247&oei=NhQ_TYL8AYG78gbGyaidCg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=48&ty=103
Ugh. She doesn’t need $2500 and a one bedroom. She needs to get to Brooklyn on a bus and find, like, three roommates. Also, she needs to take the carrots out of her mouth. It’s like screaming, “LOOK HOW QUIRKY I AM!” No one likes that girl.
Poor thing is so naive and clueless.
NYC will eat her alive!
@Rabbi LeFunk, I was about to comment with the same thing in so many words: “Only if she brings along her ukulele and promises to marry miss vicki!”
You may have beaten me to the punch, but I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to instantly recognize a resemblance.
Knowing how much she appreciates the sacrifices of her current patrons makes me want to send her money even more: “I design mediocre things for mediocre clients.”
What makes the cringing especially brutal is the lack of self-consciousness in professing a change in location to be the ends to a dream rather than just the means.
That, and she can’t just save up quietly like normal people. How’s someone gonna succeed anywhere if they’re not willing to put in any effort?
You want your answers?
Read the comments here:
http://gothamist.com/2011/01/25/alabama_girl_dreams_of_1-bedroom_in.php
Try not to cry, my little cliché.
In an attempt to avoid a simple me too, I’ll add that the idea that all artists need 100% of their time to attend to their lofty pursuits and therefore need financial support from others to pay the bills is total crap. TS Eliot was at various times a teacher, banker and worked in publishing while still producing his version of art. This city is saturated with people who want some sort of mythic “artist” lifestyle instead of realizing that 99% of all “art” (my made up figure) will be lost to history.
OTOH, this could be some sort of “ironic” joke…
Listen, Lauren, Austin is the Williamsburg of the South. Just go there. Save yourself $1500 and the piercing glares emanating behind fake prescription Wayfarers.
Here’s the rub, Laura: If you haven’t managed to save $2,500 in a year’s time while not paying rent and working, you should probably come up with a Plan B. (Oh, and most New Yorkers can’t even afford a private one bedroom until their late twenties, early thirties. A sad reality, but check out the current rent prices.) Also, you’ll probably need a co-signer on the lease agreement, which means dad has to agree to pay your rent if you cannot.
If she really belonged here those would be multi-colored heirloom carrots in her mouth not run of the mill baby orange carrots. Anywho, lady needs to understand she’s going to need a roommate. I’ve been here 6 years and just now got my own apartment. Even then, I wouldn’t have it if I didn’t have 2 close friends break up and let me take over their lease. Ugh, this girl irritates me.
The Brooklyn is dead. Long live the Brooklyn.
@rh, another native brooklynite here.
@sps, well said.
I just don’t understand why this situation is special. Lots of people want to move here. Lots of people are trying to pursue their art. That’s life.
Just because she has the cojones to ask for money in order to move here, does not mean there’s any shred of respectability in such a plea. Work two damn jobs, save up money and buy a ticket up here.
So, who’s worse ? She for asking for $$$ or anyone who gives $$$ ? Just saying … :->
wow, Brokelyn, way to set this girl up to be ridiculed. solid journalism. I thought this site was about ‘living big on small change,’ not ‘shamelessly subjecting naive out-of-towners to embittered, self-righteous Brooklynites.’
do us a favor and move to philly instead.
Screw Brooklyn, I think I am going to move to Montgomery, AL. A fully restored Victorian for $900?
http://montgomery.craigslist.org/apa/2181233473.html
They even have these novelties called “lawns” out there. And it doesn’t snow.
Damn straight MF! All the snarks in BK would probably be oozing good vibes if they themselves lived in a sweet spread like that. Hell, they’d probably be inviting Laura here to sleep on the couch, carrots and all.
What is this? High School????
sweetie you’re so annoying it’s unbearable.
get a goddamn job.
or actually instead. don’t move here please. and im originally from queens. so please. don’t move there either.
why don’t you try to raise money for people in haiti who still don’t have homes? or something else worthy of this planet.
Her work is appropriate for Regretsy.com. I’m sending the link to this story there.
I don’t see the plea for funds on Laura’s shop. Etsy is to sell, not to panhandle or ask for encouragement.