Yeah you really need a car to get to Red Hook because I don't Fusk with busses (don't ask - I just don't Fusk with busses) but it's really nice. They have an outdoor eating area that's right on the water and all. And I do have a car so I would be using that on the shopping tip anyway - be it BK or Uptown. For real I am not lugging mad bags on the train or on a bus and shit.b,121b,121But consider that we're going to be uprooting ourselves into a place we don't really know from a place that we're really familiar with and have kind of created our world around for the past couple of years. There's lots of shit that we're going to have to consider - shopping, schools, all that shit.b,121b,121I will tell you this though - I got love for Harlem strictly off of the fact of what it is - Mecca. And of course this is a big move too because we would be purchasing so I'm not mad at that. But that also got me shook. I know you can dig that.
Quote:/font1h,121b,121Yeah you really need a car to get to Red Hook because I don't Fusk with busses (don't ask - I just don't Fusk with busses) but it's really nice. They have an outdoor eating area that's right on the water and all. And I do have a car so I would be using that on the shopping tip anyway - be it BK or Uptown. For real I am not lugging mad bags on the train or on a bus and shit.b,121b,121But consider that we're going to be uprooting ourselves into a place we don't really know from a place that we're really familiar with and have kind of created our world around for the past couple of years. There's lots of shit that we're going to have to consider - shopping, schools, all that shit.b,121b,121I will tell you this though - I got love for Harlem strictly off of the fact of what it is - Mecca. And of course this is a big move too because we would be purchasing so I'm not mad at that. But that also got me shook. I know you can dig that. b,121b,121h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121I dont drive so I hit up Fairways and lug my shit on the D train or get one of the Escalade cats to drive me home. But I feel u on the Luggin steez.b,121b,121Schools - I dont know. With the amount of new money that has sprinkled Uptown, i would think its way better than the 80s/90s. I have a few (Caucasoid)friends that have re-located to Haarlem and I havent heard any complaints about the elementary level of education. I can imagine some of the public schools being a nightmare.b,121But that's pretty much what most of the NYC Public schools are like, unless ur gonna play the lottery game a try to get ur kid into the specialized joints sprinkled around town.b,121b,121I feel you on the "shookness" of a new NYC culture. Shit is real.b,121Jay-P & Rillz seem to be quite content UPtown. b,121Shit has changed alot but still has retained the OLD NYC steez regardless, unlike the shit I see in Brook-Lyn, in the "mixed" hoods. It seems to be less interaction between folks over there in terms of the gentrified areas. I could be wrong, but I have friends out there who say the new kids dont even speak/deal w/ the locals. That's just a couple of opinions.b,121Haarlem is like a village. And the friction "seems" different when it comes to "mixin'" if u catch my drift.
Well one thing is Harlem is just way, way bigger than any one neighborhood in Brooklyn - it's more like combining Prospect Heights Crown Heights and Bed Stuy. So it's hard to compare block by block but I would generally agree that folks seem to interact a bit more uptown and that was one of the things that impressed me the most. But yeah the difference between the east side, west side, st nick, sugar hill, central, mount morris... it's all Harlem but it's different vibes, you dig?b,121b,121I lived uptown on 133rd and Convent back in 1996-97 and it was a LOT more grimey, but even back then it wasn't wild like BK or the LES. Just a whole different vibe. Harlem hustlers is some real schitt - not like it can't happen to you, but folks tend to be a bit more about their business and there's less beefin.
Quote:/font1h,121b,121but folks tend to be a bit more about their business and there's less beefin.b,121b,121h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Manhattin keeps on Makin' itb,121Brooklyn keeps on Takin' itb,121The Bronx be Creatin' itb,121And Queens keeps on Fakin' itb,121b,121Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!
Uptown? When I was staying around 103rd/Manhattan I was rocking all up and down 116th, there was a card shop on Douglass & 116th, there was a video shop on Manhattan between 116th/17th, there was a bodega on 116th between the two. The card shop was the best out of those. A lot of my folks would go up to 116th on Lexington but that was too far of a hike. If I was lazy I would just go to 113th in a basement apartment with a sliding window. I would much rather cop in the LES (10th & B all day) and bring it home though... better herb and the count was the same.b,121b,121When I moved further up to 133rd I would go over and Fusk with the Dominicans off Broadway.... 135th, 137th, 155th if I felt like taking a walk. There was a decent spot up Amsterdam between 33rd/34th that was like the go-to local option.b,121b,121Up in the Bronx it was Creston Ave. around St. James park.
My friend dragged me to some church in Harlem vvvvvvvvvvery early on a sunday morning to see this amazing service she kept harping on about. The queque was insane!! Wrapped around the block and then some! I was still jetlagged and a tad hungover so had to scoot and missed it but heard it was very impressive even for people who aren't religious! People on the streets seemed real friendly though and the food smelt awesome, though it was the 1st time that i had ever actually heard of chicken and waffles together!!
Quote:/font1h,121b,121Isn't it just waffles and breast......with golden syrup?? b,121b,121h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Waffles from scratch and Chicken marinated in Buttermilk overnight.b,121b,121No kitchen skills - NO residency.....DILL.b,121b,121
Uh-Oh!! Can only do roast complete with veg and cauli cheese, steak, chicken (not in buttermilk), spaghetti bolognaise, omlettes, mee-goreng, eggplant lasagna and as of wednesday...beef cassarole!b,121I thought you said no cats in the house anyways!!
yeah manb,121uptown is sneaky as hellb,121ya'll showin mad love an i respeck that but be careful out thereb,121things go pop pop blam when you least spect it in the night a lickle more frequency than anywhere else in the applecoreb,121but i know you already nose dis
Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121 The buildings, the churches, the friggin SIDEWALK is the size of some entire streets elsewhere. b,121b,121h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121^^^MOTHER LIKES TO VISIT THE OLD CHURCHES^^^ b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121SLIPPERS?? BOY THESE IS CLAAAAAAAARKS! b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121/font1
Quote:/font1h,121b,121Less Gym Class Heroes - if u get my drift.b,121b,121h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Last year sometime dude from Gym Class (Travis?) was here in town hanging out with M*rs. It was the day that their big hit hit #1 on Billboard. Anyways, M*rs told me they were at the mall and dude started singing "I heard the thunnnnnder and I seen the lightnnnnnning..." from a KMD b-side (was it "What A Niggy Know?" I can't remember).b,121b,121Anyways, any one who will sing a song from a KMD b-side HAS to be Real Head. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121HAARLEM doesnt listen to KMD. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121nah they listen to Zhigge
Quote:/font1h,121b,121139 and Lenox is the danger zone!!!b,121Where we quick to put a bullet through a stranger's domeb,121b,121-Big L b,121b,121h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Yvonne Yvonne on 135th St btwn St. Nicholas and Frederick Douglass is that real deal Jamaican joint. Oxtail is for real, curried goat is for real, stewed chicken is for real, fried whiting and kingfish are for real, coconut shrimp, oh man! Don't sleep on her homemade juices and desserts!b,121b,121b,121And I am forever riding for La Fonda Boricua, but that's in El Barrio on 106 btwn 3rd Ave and Lex.b,121b,121b,121Rillz, my cousin just moved a few blocks from you, expect to hear from me soon!
Quote:/font1h,121b,121I doubt Haarlem has the highest crime rate in NYC. b,121b,121h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Purely anecdotal, but when I was living on 10th/Ave C for the last couple years there was a fair amount of crime, more than I've ever experienced uptown. My car was broken into on 3rd/1st Ave, a kid was shot (killed) on my block 10th btwn B & C, chad & becky getting robbed down in the jects along ave D all the time. All within the last year when it's supposed to be all good. The projects on my block were completely rat infested to the point of having to walk down the middle of the street at night - I once counted ~30 individual rodents as I was walking from the corner to my doorstep and that was just my side of the street. Foul shit.b,121b,121there are several neighborhoods just in Manhattan I'd rate lower than where I currently live. For instance I never bring my girl around Washington Heights... dudes around Broadway have no class, will grab ass whistle hoot and holler all day provoking a situation where you have to either act a fool or act a bitch. Not a good choice.b,121b,121The biggest problem in my area is dope fiends and they are relatively harmless. Gone are the days of climbing up your fire escape to snatch a TV.
i have been to almost every neighborhood in NYC and the other 3 boroughs (not including SI) and have never had a problem in any of them except for....b,121b,121Washington Heightsb,121b,121I have been sized up for my sneakers plenty of times. i have had bottles thrown at me. and i have been approached by people saying "yo u look like a white boy...oh shit you are?!!"b,121b,121first off why would you go up to some random dude either way and question his ethnicity??b,121b,121and one time some kid up there smacked into me with his bike on the sidewalk and i was like "watch where u going" and this little punk was like "you watch where u going" and he dropped his bike like he had a problem...b,121b,121he didnt do shit but just the ignorance made me hate the place!b,121b,121never had a problem in Harlem!! met a lot of nice people there. mad heroin buzz dudes leaning on the blocks though in the doorways! at least from what i have seen commuting!
Cos, I'm on 136 b/t Lenox & ACP & my wife & I have been here since '02. It's changed a lot in the last 6 years or so. b,121b,121There are noticeably fewer crackheads on our block. There are noticeably more families. Our block is mostly brownstones and not larger buildings and we're friendly w/ many of our neighbors. There's a block association now. We're on a first name basis w/ our local merchants & street vendors. It feels much more personal than anywhere else I've lived in NY. b,121b,121St. Nicholas Park is beautiful. About a 10 minute walk away. Gonna start bringing the baby over there soon, I think.b,121b,121Sunday evenings at the makeshift jazz club/American Legion hall on 132nd are great. b,121b,121I don't worry so much about our car getting broken into anymore. But now finding parking is tougher. It's very active during the week b/c of the Schomburg & Harlem Hospital & the other library across the street from us. b,121b,121There's no more after hours club or conspicuous safe house w/ a large man standing guard on our block anymore. But they still run numbers, for whatever that's worth. There are still two funeral homes (one largely inactive) and two storefront churches. It can get really rockin' on Sundays when the church closest to us leaves the doors open. (Unfortunately, neither the pastor nor the choir sings too well.)b,121b,121At night it can be extremely quiet - much quieter than when I lived downtown. But then you're more prone to noticing the guy blasting Nas' "Hero" out his window on repeat for 2 hours straight. (Your also more prone to hearing Black Ivory or 'Fusion Beats' being blasted out of passing cars than any where else in NYC.) Also more noticeable tho when there are arguments in the street.b,121b,121No more gun shots being shot off the roof. Tho last night there was apparently a crazy car chase w/ marked & unmarked police on the block before I got home. All of 135th was closed off for some reason.b,121b,121As JP & Faux have said the lack of services & diverse places to eat out close by is something you'd need to get used to. We take our dry cleaning over to 8th & 135th. Luckily we have our own laundry. You'd think food delivery would be an option for all the Columbia area eateries, but we're just out of range for most of them. We hit Fairway at least once a week, but like I said, we drive. Also Trader Joe's will deliver uptown. And there's Fresh Direct, but that's more expensive. Avoid C-Town unless you want expired schitt that smells like mothballs. What's really a pain is that there's no kind of gourmet deli anywhere in walking distance. So if you forgot something from the week's grocery shopping - some produce or something - you're out of luck. b,121b,121Anyways, these are just a few random observations from living uptown. Harlem is beautiful (visually still so unique to NY in so many ways; check out 130th b/t Lenox & 5th - all down south style houses w/ verandas, or Hamilton Terrace by City College where the 'Royal Tannenbaums' was shot), historic, warm, proud, yet also still sadly neglected in many ways despite the ballyhooed development. I see a lot of still vacant luxury condo buildings that got thrown up in recent years. Until the services catch up to the asking prices they may stay vacant. b,121b,121That said we have absolutely no regrets about moving uptown. We love our home & were lucky enough to get in when it was affordable. Plus my wife's father's side has roots in the area, so it was a sort of next generational homecoming in a way. b,121b,121If you need any more feedback or info feel free to hit me up direct, homie.
I think East New York, BK has been the worst shit Ive seen out here. I was working at a park doing a show for kids a month ago and I heard some dude get gunned down a block away from the show. Police shut down all the streets so the turn out sucked that night.b,121b,121I really like Harlem though. Im thinking about moving that way when my lease is up. b,121And cosign on the Fairway. I love the cold room where they give you the jackets. That shit is great in the summer.
Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121b,121Dinosaur BBQ across the streetb,121b,121h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121never understood how new yorkers settle for that spot, complete ass! b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121While not the best BBQ franchise ever, Its one of the only games in town. The license to have a real smokers/BBQ equipment in NYC is hard to come by, due to smoke/air concerns.b,121There are like less than 10 in here in the Apple.b,121b,121So beggers cant be choosers. Shit - Muthfuskers still line up for Dallas BBQ, which is far from BBQ.
Quote:/font1h,121b,121Dallas BBQ is it's own animal, but I really can't be mad at it though. b,121b,121h,121
font class="post"1b,121b,121Exactly. b,121b,121Hood cats have been up in that space for a good 20+ years. b,121b,121I wasnt fuskin w/ that spot since the 80's but my homie dragged me to the one on 72nd around 2006.b,121b,121A whole lot of food for cheap. Blue Hawiians and crazy single chicks hangin out just like when i used to go.
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