Holiday season is upon us, and CastleBraid is the gift that keeps on giving. Earlier this week, the Post had a hilarious article in which recent Bushwick transplants whined about the luxury rental building's exorbitant prices and amenities (CastleBraid caters to "artists" and includes a recording studio, a wood shop, and a digital media lab). "It's an adult children playground," said one four-year resident of the neighborhood who owns a yoga studio. A CastleBraid tenant responded by calling the critics "haters" and posed for a jubilant photo shoot with the building's rooftop seesaw.
That was all pretty great, but today the plot thickens, as Runnin' Scared did some digging into the Twitter feud between CastleBraid's account and its main antagonist, Occupy Bushwick. Their back and forth has been going on for months—Occupy is angry that CastleBraid used a loophole to qualify for a 421a tax abatement without having to supply any of the affordable housing that the abatement was meant to yield, but beyond that things get a little uncomfortable. There's a lot of this kind of stuff from CastleBraid:
Look at the scourge of the KNOCKOUT game if u want to see that areas like Bushwick need capital infusion/gentrification to make them safer
— Castle Braid (@CastleBraid) December 2, 2013
Braid is changing Bushwicks culture for the better, breaking the cycle of violence and poverty
— Castle Braid (@CastleBraid) December 2, 2013
It's also unclear who is actually running the Twitter account. The building's management has publicly denied in the past that they are behind it, although Occupy claims that they have privately admitted that they are. When the Voice asked the management who was writing the tweets, the response was, "Our lawyers have advised against answering these questions." Later, the account itself clarified, "The truth is we are CB tenants who do not want to be identified. But we are posting from the perspective of the management for this account ... We know for a fact that MGMT agrees with these sentiments whether they are willing to say so publicly or not, and we feel we are doing right."
Just for fun, here are a few more select tweets:
Many panhandlers on Troutman. Braiders, remember that it is not wise to enable them with food or money. You have nothing to feel guilty for!
— Castle Braid (@CastleBraid) November 10, 2013
@kthorjensen Racist? Absurd. Castle Braid accepts all tenants. If you have the funds to live here it doesn't matter what skin color you are.
— Castle Braid (@CastleBraid) December 2, 2013
How dare they call us gentrifiers? There was barely any art or culture in Bushwick until @CastleBraid, and now it's finally trickling down
— Castle Braid (@CastleBraid) November 10, 2013
Grave societal error -- some will never learn to be self-reliant if they depend on government to feed and house them from cradle to grave
— Castle Braid (@CastleBraid) December 4, 2013
Seems like a fun building.
· The Castle Braid vs. Occupy Bushwick Fight Has Devolved Into a Highly Entertaining, Possibly Fake Twitter Brawl [Village Voice]
· New hipsters fight old hipsters in Bushwick [NYP]
· CastleBraid coverage [Curbed]
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