We were so close to making it through a whole day believing that the pure joy of Obama's win had redeemed hipsters. That spontaneous post-election street celebration amongst Williamsburg's creative-class was both bad-ass and beautiful. Until the cops inevitably showed up. After all, the streets were completely blocked with people. In places like Harlem, Union Square and the East Village, clearing intersections seems to have gone pretty peacefully. But we've been getting shocked reports all day — police brutality against white kids! — and Brooklyn Vegan posted a comprehensive photo gallery of the festivities, including the copster-on-hipster clashes.One breathless account: "A few minutes after the riot cops rolled in, I saw one cop break a beer bottle on the ground with his baton for no reason at all amidst all the positive energy and celebrating crowd. I assumed for intimidation purposes." (Uh, how about for open-container-law purposes?) This is a perfect example of hipster overreach—you see, they deserve to block traffic in one of the densest cities on earth! We're all for reclaiming the streets—punk rock!—but the shock and indignation over some arrests only adds to the stereotype of the massive self-entitlement these relatively privileged young transplants possess. Brooklyn Vegan's commenters pretty much agreed:
We had 3x as many people partying on 125th St in Harlem and not a single person got arrested. There are some things you just don't do during a joyus celebration.
i hope i'm not the only person sick of what's happened to bedford ave. go back to the midwest. seriously. your votes mean more there anyway
It seemed the crowd was enjoying a slice of anarchy... You know anarchy.. Like drinking a 22oz of Olde English in front of a cop out on the Quad. At one point, a woman on top of a vehicle was enjoying the attention she was getting after she took off her top and exposed herself. Go Obama!! From afar the celebration congregation looked like a good thing, but when I looked closer it was sad.