535 replies to this topic

[Sneakeater]

ETA: exactly as much? of course not. but there would be a lot of opposition. look how much how the nightclubs have fared. it's also interesting to think about how much an evening at the proposed multistory nightclub would ahve cost.

Sure, but the nightclubs are a different (but related) issue, aren't they?

I think people would be pissed off at a Cheesecake Factory, but they wouldn't be outraged. Do you think the Pintchik family would refuse to rent to them? (Also, see my post above about how much difference moving any of these places a few blocks north would make.)

also missing from the discussion - can you guys really picture women wearing something as short and tight as a hooters uniform at any other business within walking distance? low cut shirts and tight jeans are pretty different from those shorts.

Wilfrid kinda made that point above. You're absolutely right.

[Nathan]

hooters, the people that work there, and the people that eat there are lower class. a lot of the people who live around the arena aren't. I think sneak is right about hooter's concept bothering liberals more than a cheesecake factory would, but I don't think it would be that different.

Franny's or Flatbush Farm could serve liquor 24-7 and no one who didn't live directly above would care.

Do you really think there would be as much opposition to a Cheesecake Factory?

I think Adrian got it right when he said this was the single chain that would be most offensive to area residents.

a cheesecake factory is much more upscale than Hooters. In suburbia, CF, Wolfgang Puck's and PF Changs are aimed at the upper middle class family demographic....which is more or less exactly what Park Slope is. This isn't even debatable...in good faith anyway. Heck, you'll find Hooters next to the strip mall anchored by a JC Penny's, you find CF in the mall anchored by a Neiman Marcus.

[Sneakeater]

That's why it isn't JUST a class issue.

[AaronS]

I think a cheesecake factory would face a lot of the same hurdles - community opposition at the liquor board etc.

Nathan is right of course, but I don't think that a place like the cheesecake factory serves the same function in an urban environment. I don't think it would draw from the neighborhood in the same way that other places at the same price point would. look at the crowd at the olive garden in the west 20s.

[Nathan]

That's why it isn't JUST a class issue.

nah, cause CF wouldn't face the same opposition (or the same hit on property values)...cause it's an upscale chain.

to persuade me that this isn't 90% about class you'd have to show me that CF would face the same opposition as Hooters...and it wouldn't. but I bet Waffle House would.

[Nathan]

I think a cheesecake factory would face a lot of the same hurdles - community opposition at the liquor board etc.

I doubt it. for one thing they'd agree to close at like 10. too many younger residents have parents who'd like to eat there when they visit

[AaronS]

I really don't think that a cheesecake factory at flatbush and bergen would draw the same kind of crowd that one in the suburbs would.

[Wilfrid]

Hooters gives people a foothold to attack it without them having to admit it's a class issue.

Not much to the story really, but the only time I visited a Hooters was in Nashville during a heatwave. It had been over 100F for six consecutive days; schools were closed because of the heat; but I had sightseeing to do.

After an hour or so frizzling in the sun, my family and I were desperate, and we were right outside a clearly air-conditioned Hooters. So.

I guess my daughter was about eight years old? Anyway, the staff - who weren't busy - made a huge fuss of her. She thought the uniforms were cool.

It was a pleasant experience.

[Sneakeater]

I think a cheesecake factory would face a lot of the same hurdles - community opposition at the liquor board etc.

I doubt it. for one thing they'd agree to close at like 10. too many younger residents have parents who'd like to eat there when they visit

They don't accommodate their parents like that. My wife and I certainly didn't. We made our parents do things like go to Chinatown for Dim Sum.

I think you're missing that cultural differences can work the same way as class differences: people in different places can have different preferences even if they're similarly placed economically.

[Anthony Bonner]

I can't begin to tell you how much this thread sounds like an argument I would have with my mother about the hypocrisy of well-off liberal boomers.

[Sneakeater]

The problem is, in this case we're right.

[Anthony Bonner]

Right about what?

[Sneakeater]

Who are you? Alex Keaton?

[Sneakeater]

Right about what?

Right about Hooters being odious.

[Nathan]

it's odious cause the food sucks the staff are quite nice...