Althouse: "the thing that gets me is why anyone would allow the NYT to report on their search for the perfect airy 1.5 million dollar Wburg 1-bedroom"

February 7, 2015

"the thing that gets me is why anyone would allow the NYT to report on their search for the perfect airy 1.5 million dollar Wburg 1-bedroom"

"wouldn't it be simpler to just march down the street handing out pamphlets that say 'I'm terrible, AMA'"

10 comments:

MadisonMan said...: AMA?

As it happens, my nephew is looking for a place in NYC. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have $1.5M to spend on it though.

I hope he isn't profiled in The Hunt -- which I'd never heard of before today -- but it would be nice to see his picture in the paper.; 2/7/15, 5:19 PM
Mary Beth said...: "Architect" is a verb?; 2/7/15, 5:24 PM
MadisonMan said...: The website that the couple profiled in the article maintains is absolutely precious. I won't link to it -- click through the article to get to it. Don't do it on a full stomach.; 2/7/15, 5:30 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "AMA?"

That means "ask me anything."

It's used on Reddit, to indicate that someone setting up a post where he will take questions from anyone.; 2/7/15, 5:30 PM
ALP said...: Oh, that was TOO GOOD! I would love to see a similar take down of the NYT article that finally pushed me over the edge, years ago. It was about how these wealthy folks tend to have kids later in life, after they had spent a shitload of money on designer furniture. OH LORDY...once a kid enters the picture, how to keep little 2 yr old Snotleigh's grubby little hands OFF THE EXPENSIVE FURNITURE! These educated elite, these "movers and shakers" of our world...can't figure out that maybe getting some cheaper furniture until the kids grow up is the ticket. No, instead they fret and worry like deer in the headlights. It was hilarious, like idiot savants. Apparently good at SOMETHING to pull in a big income, but utter inbred morons when confronted with reality.

Never went back to the NYT after that. And the sad part of it is I see the Seattle Times going the same way: its all about elite, urban dwelling, white collar professionals with software jobs, who would rather die than live somewhere outside the city line. This obsessive focus on the Tech Oligarchy and the Clerisy makes their attempts as becoming a regional paper fall flat. I would imagine all newspapers covering affluent cities are going down the same path.; 2/7/15, 6:18 PM
rehajm said...: The people shocked by Brooklyn is not New York are not form New York, or putting on airs. The notion New York begins and ends with Manhattan originated long before Saul Steinberg's cover.

The attitude was once considered acceptable and aspirational, at least by Manhattanites.; 2/7/15, 6:47 PM
David said...: It's not clear how they make money. Not the blog, that's for sure. Maybe they just have money.; 2/7/15, 6:55 PM
ken in tx said...: Question authority, AMA.; 2/7/15, 8:13 PM
tim maguire said...: The New York Times exists to provide a way for disgusting, self-satisfied affluent liberals to feel that they are morally superior to everyone else without going to the trouble of not being disgusting, self-satisfied affluent liberals. (I say that not as a mid-Westerner who hates all things New York, but as someone who lived in New York for over 15 years, who knew some of the reporters and many of the readers.)

Look through it's sections some time. Especially Travel. There is very little in the Times that doesn't function as the print version of lifestyles of the rich and famous. You can care about the environment while jetting to exotic locales, just use recyclable diapers while you're there! (Yes, I have witnessed discussions about the environmental ethics of using disposable diapers while summering Italy.)

This particular section is commonly, and accurately, called "real estate porn." It's not intended to be informative in any useful way. They don't care if the people offend or depress you.; 2/8/15, 6:42 AM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Re: "real estate porn": I thought that was captured by the WSJ's Friday "Mansion" section, but ... no, this is worse.; 2/8/15, 1:33 PM