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Cobble Hill's Sexy Shower Couple Has A Message For Nosy Neighbors
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 20, 2013
Modified Aug 20, 2013
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 20, 2013
Modified Aug 20, 2013
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On a drearily slow news summer Friday last week, we posted a photo that was sent to us. It showed a see-through glass shower on the second floor of a newly renovated townhouse in Cobble Hill. Our tipster told us it was the talk of the block, with neighbors imagining orgies of up to eight people in there once the couple who owned the home started using it. It was just a fun little bit of neighborhood gossip, you know? But then all these other news outlets picked it up, and the sexy shower became the Cronut of showers. The Rain Room of Cronuts. EVERYONE WAS TALKING ABOUT IT.
And now the couple—Julie Scelfo and James Cavoli—has responded with a giant letter taped to their shower.
"Dear Neighbors, We are still under construction and we regret that our design, which was approved by the Landmarks and the city, has alarmed you. It has always been our plan to put up privacy coverings on our shower, which we anticipate will be installed in the coming weeks. Of course, the shower cannot be used until then.
We are dismayed and a bit heart sick at the attention our half-finished house has created. We have lived in Brooklyn all our adult lives. We expect to live on this block, and raise our extended family here, for the next thirty years. We look forward to a day when we know our neighbors well enough to discuss any concerns over coffee, and not in newspapers and on gossip sites on the Internet."
But don't feel too bad, neighbors say that the couple likes the attention: "I remember [Scelfo] saying, 'Is everyone talking about us? Are they all talking about us?' And I think they like it. I just think they like the attention. They're getting exactly what they want." And in her NY Times article "Window Watchers in a city of Strangers," published in 2009, Scelfo did declare: "Observing the lives of strangers out the window is a staple of city life."
No matter what side of the shower you're on, it's always good to remember what a wise REO Speedwagon once sang, "I know the neighborhood, And talk is cheap when the story is good, And the tales grow taller on down the line, But I’m telling you, babe, That I don’t think it’s true, babe..." and so on.
Tagged
cobble hill
James Cavoli
Julie Scelfo
sexy shower
talk of the block
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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