As new revelations about the impending criminal trial of Dominique-Strauss Kahn continue to emerge, the New York Times went for a triple-play of coverage on the story this (decidedly American) holiday weekend. Buried in the story concerning New Yorkers’ attitudes about the case, however, was this gem of a parenthetical:
(Not everyone, however, had a strong opinion about the case, or even seemed to know about it. At a coffee shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 6 out of 10 customers said they had never heard of Mr. Strauss-Kahn or the charges against him.)
Ah, yes, Williamsburg, ever-reliable for totally-unscientific-but-generally-accurate-and-scoff-worthy-statistics culled from polling of some of the most ill-informed (and inversely proportional to being as such) undeservedly-moneyed individuals in this city. The only pause the Times likely had in using the term “mouthbreathing Williamsburg hipsters” is because they’ve actually been scolded about the whole “hipster” thing before. Across a city, however, insight sprung forth from one quotee:
No one came out well in the story, said Dominique Jones, 42, a designer from Harlem. “The district attorney is culpable, her lawyer is culpable, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is culpable. There is hardly anybody who isn’t tainted.” The summer has only just begun, but Ms. Jones said she was already weary of scandal. “I just feel so cynical,” she said. “This is the summer of cynicism around sex.”
Emphasis ours. We’ll need something catchier than what we’ve got, but for the moment, fair if not decent, and trenchant for a Times temperature-taker.
With Each Twist in Strauss-Kahn Case, City Sees Further Reflections of Itself [NYT]
fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek
