Hipsters vs. Immigrants: NYC's Newest Culture War (VIDEO)
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The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has crossed the great Atlantic to investigate the most (least) pressing culture war of our time: New York City's "hipster" community moving into the areas previously inhabited by immigrants.
In the above video, Miesko Kalita, an immigrant from Poland describes how his neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, once inhabited by Polish and Latino immigrants, was overtaken by "people who consider themselves artists." Cut to skinny kids with scarves and asymmetrical bangs.
Some, like Kalita, attribute these hip migrations to re-zoning laws which have made it more expensive to live in parts of Brooklyn.
Kalita says there have been lots of "artistic happenings" and "strange haircuts" since these newcomers arrived. Once undocumented himself, Kalita concludes that, "They're definitely not illegal immigrants."
A woman with pink hair and cat eye sunglasses, presumably a member of one of the earliest waves of hip, decries the loss of "ethnic character" in the neighborhood. But Greenpoint isn't the first part of Brooklyn to be subjected to hipster sprawl.
Two years ago, the Canon-toting newcomers to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, clashed with the long-residing Hasidic community over the question of bike lanes.
"Groups of bicycle-riding vigilantes have been repainting 14 blocks of Williamsburg roadways ever since the city sandblasted their bike lanes away last week at the request of the Hasidic community," the New York Post reported.
WATCH: Hip Bicyclists Repainting Bike Lanes In Williamsburg
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First Posted: 02/13/2012 2:18 pm Updated: 02/13/2012 3:56 pm