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Williamsburg in Crisis: Parents Sending Less Money!
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 8, 2009
Modified Jun 8, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 8, 2009
Modified Jun 8, 2009
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Ugh, with the financial crisis totally shredding mommy and daddy's investment portfolio, many young adults in Hipsterland are being forced to find jobs. Times reporter Christine Haughney talked to some landlords and people in the real estate industry, who confirm the tragic trend: parents are cutting back on their contributions to rent and apartment down payments, in some cases eliminating their support entirely. Landlord Ernie DiGiacomo says that instead of getting checks from his tenants' parents, some of them are moving back in with their parents!
Unfortunately, this is going to impact all New Yorkers, with longer lines at cash registers now that these diffident roustabouts are flooding the retail workforce. Luis Illades, an owner of Urban Rustic Market by McCarren Park, says he's getting a steady number of applicants who've never held paid jobs—though according to him most are immediately turned off once they discover what a "job" is: "They say, 'You want me to work eight hours?' There is a bubble bursting." (We're so wearing our Mister Bubble T-shirt to Glasslands this weekend!)
It's all a big sad mess, but not everyone's heart is bleeding for those delicate trustafarians forced to fend for themselves. 27-year-old Katie Deedy, for instance, works two bartending jobs while trying to get her designer wallpaper business of the ground. And she's simply got no sympathy for peers whose parents have cut them off: "If I’m going to be completely honest, it does make me feel a little bit better. It’s bringing a lot of Williamsburg back to reality." FML. With kickball season getting into full swing, this "reality" thing couldn't have come at a worse time.
Tagged
hipster
money
nyc
parents
recession
rent
trust fund
williamsburg
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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