Carroll Gardens-Boerum Hill Attacked by Strollers, Skateboards

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[Image courtesy of Pardon Me for Asking]

Here's a little slice of life from Smith Street and Court Street, starting with an email floating around in the Boerum Hill Group that skateboarding teens in front of a shop on Smith Street called Homage are a menace. This, in turn, led someone else to say the real neighborhood annoyance is strollers. (Just in case anyone thought it was strictly a Park Slope issue.) Independent of this, blogger Pardon Me for Asking noted the incredible stroller gridlock at Court Street's Tea Lounge. And, another resident rewrote the original skateboarding rant substituting "moms" and "strollers" for "teens" and "skateboards."

So, first the skateboard menace:

The skateboard store on Smith...really has me in a funk. Yesterday I tripped over one of the kids practicing in front of the store, on the sidewalk, as I tried to navigate with my 10 month old son (who will not be riding skateboards - ever). On weekends it is like an obstacle course trying to get down that side and block of Smith. The top of Bergen Street is now used as a skateboard course, so driving up to Court is a nightmare. Does anyone feel the same way or am I just cranky? I hate to wish a small business fails, but...do we have to put up with skateboarders on the sidewalk and the street until the shop owner's rent goes up so high he can't afford it?

Then, the anti-stroller response:

Personally, I find the stroller parade to be more of a nuisance. there must be 50 of them outside of Tea Lounge this morning.

And, then, the ultimate response:

Hi -- I went ahead and substituted a few phrases here and there (highlighted) in your original e-mail to express some recent dismay I've been having: "The cafe on [Pick a street]...really has me in a funk. Yesterday I tripped over one of the strollers being paraded in front of the cafe, on the sidewalk, as I tried to navigate with my wife (who will not be having kids - ever). On weekends it is like an obstacle course trying to get down that side and block of [Pick a street]. The top of [Pick a street] is now used as a stroller course, so driving up to Court is a nightmare. Does anyone feel the same way or am I just cranky? I hate to wish a small business fails, but....do we have to put up with strollers on the sidewalk and the street until the shop owner's rent goes up so high he can't afford it?"

Coming soon: The Boerum Hill-Carroll Gardens Stroller & Skateboard Olympics.
· Stroller Gridlock on Court [PMFA]
· Union Hall Succumbs to Boozy Park Slope Stroller Rage [Curbed]
· More Smith Street: Let's Not Forget New Skate Shop Homage [Racked]

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