Good afternoon, Saturday. It's a snuggled in type of day and I'm feeling super lethargic, in a good way. I'm also craving doughnuts, and I hate doughnuts so no idea what that's about, but I think a doughnut of some sort is in my very near future.
Interesting I'd be craving such an old fashioned pastry- the doughnut long the provenance of a bygone era of police officers, blue collar workers, and elementary school parties. I'm not a big doughnut kind of woman, but time has been kind to the humble confection- with stellar offerings from the likes of Doughnut Plant to breathe some chic into the whole experience. And though it's nice to have something new that shout outs something old, I think I sometimes and way too frequently prefer the old version.
Case in point- the use of pop star and relationship ne'er do well Taylor Swift as the new ambassador of New York. The choice of Taylor, at first, seems insane to most New Yorkers. New Yorkers pride themselves with being subversive, edgy, in the know, and above all- cool. There is nothing cool about Taylor Swift, and watching her explain hot to properly pronounce "Houston Street" (Howston) or tell an eager non New York public what a bodega is is enough to make most New Yorkers head for the nearest bridge. As one blogger aptly put it and was incidentally quoted in the NY Times: "Welcome to New York,” a song so bloodless and indistinct in its vision of the city that it presents to you, the New York you would get “if you populated it entirely with humans raised in the Times Square Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., then let them out into the world with only a penthouse apartment, an Amex black card and leopard-print Prada luggage." If you didn't feel like jumping before, perhaps you do now. And there's a reason why you do.
In that same piece in this weekend's Times this noted that although Ms. Swift is annoying, it's the people (myself included) that mourn a New York that was once subversive, edgy, and cool are, well, far more annoying than any pop singer ambassadress. The piece very aptly points out that "paradoxically, whenever a beloved institution closes in New York, it is precisely this kind of person — someone old enough to have lived through more thrilling days and now well situated in Cobble Hill or Fort Greene and not easily moved from a Donghia sofa and Hulu account — who is often the quickest to lament the disappearance of this restaurant or that bar without having visited them in a decade. A cherished institution now closes in New York practically each week (as readers of the poignant and richly reported blog Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York well know) and yet the institutions are often cherished the most voluptuously by people who love them the least actively. A passive nostalgist is perhaps the most dangerous kind."
It's like they can see me or something. Oh, you too?
I love the term passive nostalgia, and it's true- it's very dangerous. There's no reason for me to detach from NYC in the way that I have of late, secretly cursing yet another 50 million dollar apartment sale but also not doing much to keep a more accessible version of New York alive. It perfectly explains my craving for something that once was, even though I've done little to preserve it. Perhaps we need to become active preservationists instead- so we can fight for those things about this city that make it worth living in. There's no doubt to me Jay Z would have been a better choice to represent us out in the world, but shouldn't we all be doing a better job of fighting for the right things in this city vs. passively hating all of this new stuff? I for one may be a unique hybrid of someone who enjoys new versions of things- I like a reinterpretation by a smart person to reflect a new generation of fans- take Mile End Deli for instance- they pay homage to the Jewish delis of the past but reinvented to craft something more original. What's so wrong with that?
But I will say this- if the people behind this marketing campaign with Ms. Swift thought that showing a young woman who came to New York from elsewhere and so easily fell victim to its charm, I cry foul. As a young girl in Philadelphia, I wanted nothing more than to get out of braces and move to New York as fast as I could. And when I did, I moved here with absolutely nothing but a job that paid crap and a shared one bedroom with a girl I had never met before move-in day. I think that what's more troubling about Ms. Swift's new role is that she moved to New York as a huge success, a sad state of affairs in the "new" New York- this is no longer a place where people can come from other places and "make it". It's best to make it now before you come. Sad, but true. It's just that those of us who do remember a very different New York need to get our noses out of our DWR catalogues and reusable Trader Joe's bags and find ways to preserve some vestige of the city we grew to love- to me, New York is a celebration of old and new thriving together with an authenticity that I have never been able to find anywhere else. And what's funnier still is that Swift's new album is called, quite simply, "1989". I gotta give it to her for not being passive about her nostalgia. She'll probably sell millions of records from shouting out the past, while I sit here, grumbling about the demise of the Holiday Lounge. I'd go to the nearest bridge, but I'm too lazy to get off the sofa. The one I am sitting on in Cobble Hill. With my Hulu.
Perhaps we need our own hero, our own ambassador, our own non commercial entity to represent our city and what we want it to be, or better yet, maybe all New Yorkers need to take matters into their own hands and do it themselves- it's always been the people that make this city so amazing, so how about we spread love the New York way and stop being so passive about the times we currently live in? Honestly if Taylor Swift is now the poster child of New York life, I can't help but somehow feel we could and should do more to keep this city cool. There are so many brilliant, creative , beautiful people here that can inspire and keep this city alive. Now about that doughnut...
Cause that's what's up this second post this week that mentions Taylor Swift kind of Saturday in New York, New York. Yours, in still wanting to be a part of it. XO