No Place to Be
The people and things that John Wilson assembles in his beguiling anthology remain unassimilable in their bizarre singularity.
How To with John Wilson, written and produced by John Wilson, ended its three-season run in July.
There is a sign next to the Barclays Center that sends pinpricks of revulsion down my spine every time I see it. You know the one: “We Belong Here,” in pink, neon cursive script. Opened in 2012, Barclays famously displaced hundreds of neighborhood residents, drove out small business owners by raising property prices, and created a permanent traffic jam on Atlantic Avenue. The arena’s arty welcome mat is, of course, a paean to the “authentic city” marketing tactic that effaces and tokenizes those who really did once belong. But read another way, the motto effects a defensive posture in the face of suspicion and recites the consumer’s prerogative: “We have our tickets, we bought our treats, we have a right to be here.”
Pay to enter, pay to park, pay to piss (bathroom for customers only). Everywhere you look, the city glares back and demands a dollar. The commodification of our shared urban space is mostly met with weary resignation; the homogeneit…
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