The New York Times continues its blanket Williamsburg coverage not with a report on chain stores or cheap beer, but rather, an investigation into the sudden spike in sightings of a new species of human that's both smaller and more dependent than the typical Williamsburg resident, with limited language skills and an inability to control bowel movements. Oh, those are kids? Our bad!
Two years after the Times dropped its seminal "Diaper District" story about young families flocking to the Financial District, the paper informs us that Williamsburg is the new breeding ground of choice for parents looking to raise their broods in the big city. Why? As one mother puts it, "You can go out in the neighborhood on a Friday night and feel sexy and single-ish, and then wake up next morning with the kid and take him to the farmers' market and the play center." Oh, and also all the single people have been priced out of the neighborhood. No farm-fresh veggies for them!
But why are these parents shunning more kid-friendly Brooklyn 'hoods like Park Slope and Cobble Hill, with their great schools and stroller-friendly cafés? For that answer we turn to Eve Kessner, a jewelry designer/blogger/mom who ditched the Slope after only six months: "It felt really suburban to me. Park Slope has puppets and guitar strumming for kids. In Williamsburg, it is like rock 'n' roll for kids." Anarchy in the pre-k! The 'Burg baby boom is getting so big that the folks in charge of new condo building Warehouse 11 are walling off part of the lobby to make a playroom (hopefully the fumes don't stunt the kids' growth!). So how long before Brooklyn Bowl installs bumpers?
· Williamsburg, Toddlertown [NYT]
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