It’s not posted on the CPC website yet, but the meeting will probably be at 10 AM. The general public can testify, 3 minutes apiece. Not sure if pre-reg is necessary.

Kidding aside, as a former skully player, I’d like to try playing again, except that I don’t think my back or knees will tolerate kneeling on pavement as much as they used to. And I’d MUCH rather play skully than play BOCCE or, even worse, PETANQUE with a bunch of 23 year olds.

Personally, I think there is a double-standard for which retro revivals get labeled as “contemptable hipster” vs “sincere and acceptable”. Certain “old timey” things like home-made sock monkeys, making scrapbooks (”scrapbooking” is NOT a verb), quilting, knitting, story telling, or even COOKING AT HOME can be revived by people under 35 and be considered admirable.

But in NYC, reviving street games like kickball, dodgeball, stickball, freeze tag, skully, etc will be scoffed at as “poser” ironic.

Maybe because the people trying to revive street games appear too “middle class”, too suburban, too “soft”, with no real playground cred.

Yeah, like all the kids that my Dad used to play stickball with in the 1950s (in Queens and Brooklyn) were all hipsters, right? God forbid people try to get kids out on the street to do some physical activity instead of sitting on their arses playing video games all day.

And trying to ensure that getting around by bike is safe, yeah, that’s a hipster thing too, right? Maybe you haven’t noticed the price of gas recently, I dunno, but it sure seems like we could do better than being dependent on the automobile.

I’m way beyond tired of hearing from do-nothing whiners that anybody who tries to improve their neighborhood is automatically a hipster, a yuppie, hippie, a busybody or whatever. Back in the day it was called civic pride and giving back to the community. Now those activities are rejected by grumpy residents who have been so (unknowingly) traumatized by the way things are that they automatically defend that status quo that is killing them.

NYC is going to the hipsters.

What was said about the Willets Point project at the meeting?