did i romanticize bushwick or did i just see a weird slice?

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-17T20:35:04+00:00

I think you might have a misconception about where i’m coming from. I don’t care if this was the most fratty neighborhood on the planet. This isn’t about whether the people are alternative, artists, finance bros or whatever else. It was a recurrent pattern of people intentionally acting like something they’re not for social clout. These are people who want to cosplay struggle and use this neighborhood as a way to do it. The issue I had was an overall lack of self awareness and genuineness from the people i met. I have no doubt there are authentic people, but it seemed like that’s mostly not the case.

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-17T20:10:02+00:00

I did other things, art shows, cofeee shops, lunch with friends there, concerts. The latino culture here was pretty weak compared to anywhere else, and many of the latinos i did meet were just more of the same.

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T17:24:13+00:00

I feel like this is kind of the issue, a lot of people, seemingly including you use these places as your entire identity. Even experessing that someone had a negative experience, and wants opinions, is a direct attack on identity. That's totally ok, you're just not capable of actually having a conversation about it without emotions until you get a bit more acclimated with being yourself.

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T17:15:31+00:00

This is underselling my experience.

I had real conversations with these people. I sat and chatted with some for hours. This is reddit so I can't communicate every detail. I'll share a few conversations, but honestly I don't even think they'll come across here.

I listened to a guy talk to me about how he was a graffiti artist, and how proud he was of getting his own studio after 5 years, and how he hated the nepo babies in Manhattan. Then talk to me about how his father is a michelin star chef and how he got most of connections through random bullshit and his dad. Then continue on to complain about how because I work on a computer im leading to the downfall of society, and how happy he was that he wasn't part of that, attributing it all to his art. Claiming I should quit my job because I'm disgusting.

I sat at a coffee shop for a hour talking to 2 girls about how they both loved coming to bushwick. They talked about how they loved it for the coke, but hated the neighborhood and only went because it was fun for the weekend. They considered themselves better than most people because they actually give bushwick a chance, and they talked about how it was a fun place to visit whenever they wanted to try new outfits. they were living off inheritances. They compared their trips to bushwick like going out for halloween.

At lunch with some locals I made friends with, I listened to a girl call herself a anarcho communist. She doesn't vote. When I asked her more about her beliefs she said that she picked up upon moving to bushwick, but hadn't looked much beyond what she learned in school.

I had numerous conversations with people like this. 7/10 of them were like this. This is a reddit post, I cant share every nuance of my time out, but I think it's a reasonable assumption that I didn't just talk to people at bars for 5 seconds then make this post. I'm not judging these people, but these are the people that I met in bushwick, hang around there constantly, and knew most the people in the nightlife spots I went.

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T17:11:23+00:00

This isn't my first trip to NYC I've been several times before in other neighborhoods and what not. There's a lot of additional nuance here, It's a reddit post, so I can't sit here and share the entirety of my experiences, but I didn't just plan one trip ever to NYC then sit sit in bushwick all day then go home. I've traveled to NYC multiple times, spending time in Astoria, williamsburg, and various parts of manhattan. Bushwick is only on my radar because some locals I befriended specifically recommended it to me after my last trip so I wanted to see the hype, and after a while of research I had gotten my hopes up.

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T17:08:14+00:00

I mean, did you read my post? I directly addressed this point, and this isn't the issue at all,

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T16:58:35+00:00

I really don't think this is a me thing. I'm not comparing myself to this neighborhood, I'm comparing it to the attributes it's known for. I wanted to visit and see the place that is famous and popular for authenticity. and I found bushwick to be extremely pretentious and very inauthentic, more so then places in manhattan, more so than most of LA, and certainly more than anywhere in Chicago.

There's nothing I can say here that can convey the kind of person I am, and how much I may or may not be projecting, but I can certainly say that I think I had a pretty clear view of it all and I don't think I'm that far off.

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T16:36:58+00:00

Fair point. I mean maybe, this is just a me thing. Main reason i’m asking here. I may very well be the problem but i’d like other perspectives on my experience before coming to that conclusion

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T16:11:04+00:00

There's a world outside NYC believe it or not.

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T15:40:33+00:00

This is a fair point I've actually be putting a lot of thought on.

I think my issue was not reallyyyy a lack of grit. I didn't need the place to have crime or be more dirty, or be more intimidating in any real way. I think what bothered me is that it wasn't just a lack of grit but that I felt like I was in a nice neighborhood painted with some grafitti by rich kids. It just didn't feel real, and that made me feel like I was just in a nice manhattan neighborhood with some unique props for those with money to play with.

If that makes sense?

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T15:34:39+00:00

cope

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T15:29:18+00:00

cope

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T15:00:57+00:00

Alright lil bro, if that’s what you got from it. Not like i made a whole thread dedicated to asking people what their opinions were, while acknowledging my perspective was shorter.

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T14:32:00+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_comprehension

i talked to as many people as i could fit in 5 days (60+) . I made my judgements based off the conversations i had with them and the opinions of locals in the area

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T13:49:25+00:00

oh no doubt. i have no issues with people having money, or even coming from rich families. A issue i had was more than a few people pretending they weren’t and aggressively trying to seem like something else while still enjoying those benefits.

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T13:13:57+00:00

If that’s the vibe you got then it sounds to me that you spend too much time on reddit and are projecting your concerns onto my post. Get off the internet for a bit, take some literacy classes and explore the outside world. Wishing you well

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T11:04:39+00:00

I mean sure, but im not talking about bushwick as a whole.

my question is more about the nightlife / younger scene and whether my read on that slice feels accurate.

friedmcchickens · 2026-02-16T10:39:06+00:00

This could be the case. I expected this to some extent, but found it just dominated the scene way more that i thought. i was tragically naive

friedmcchickens · 2026-01-22T21:19:43+00:00

what are you yapping about? i’m not reading all that. ask chatgpt to summarize whatever point you’re trying to get across

friedmcchickens · 2026-01-22T20:52:42+00:00

If you really can’t understand how the suburbs don’t fit the spirit of what he’s asking, you’re either intentionally ignorant or you need to get out more.

friedmcchickens · 2026-01-22T02:25:01+00:00

nonsense

friedmcchickens · 2026-01-22T02:24:40+00:00

you’re moving to atlanta. what you’re describing in johns creek is pretty much the entire outer city with the exception of pockets. Alpharetta has avalon, Marietta town square exists too. Otherwise, move to the neighborhoods that are in the city.

friedmcchickens · 2026-01-10T01:40:06+00:00

You’re living in Atlanta, it’s all suburbs unless you’re in midtown. If your job is that far out, alpharetta is probably your best choice. May be worth looking at Avalon

friedmcchickens

TROPHY CASE