It’s 6:20 p.m on a cool fall evening. The sun is starting to set and just a few beams of light make it through the high-rise that is directly across the street. It blocks the view of the east river from the window but a glance of the New York City skyline can still be seen if you’re on the right angle.
The coffee table in front of her is littered with rolling papers and raw tobacco. Carson Cachevsky sits down after a long day of work and starts to roll a fresh cigarette for herself. Julia a life long friend sits to her left in a zebra print chair. Demi, another life long friend sits to her right in a tiger print chair. She sits back on her black leather couch, seemingly like the queen of her own little Williamsburg jungle, flicks her thumb and lights her cigarette.
“I moved here a year ago in September. At the time I was a server at the Brooklyn Flea Market, Smorgasburg. It was very different than any other part of Brooklyn, especially this Part of Williamsburg. It was a little trendier, a younger crowd with a little more money. It was cleaner. I was apartment hunting with some friends online and we stumbled upon this place. As soon as we saw it we knew we had to check it out, it was twice the amount of space we would have gotten anywhere in Manhattan.”
She takes a sip of her beer, a bud light 40 that she got from the bodega across the street. There are still signs of her years spent in Manhattan that she refuses to let go of, no matter where she lives.
“It was the first time I had ever been out of the house and I wanted to see what it was like across the bridge. It was a personal decision. It was getting out of my parents hair but also just not being in midtown anymore. I have a very strong connection with my family at home, I just wanted to find a new part of Manhattan, or I guess what I should say is a new Manhattan for myself. I was so used to Midtown, it became my perception of New york and when I moved everything sort of changed. I started to want to learn about new neighborhoods, new communities new people”
Moving into another borough has actually made the relationships with her friends a bit more meaningful. Although they may not all live in the same building anymore, they still see each other, enjoy each others company and catch up on anything and everything that’s relevant in their lives. The only thing that has changed is where they find themselves on a Saturday night.
“The crown Victoria. There’s also the night of joy and northern territory, which just opened up right as I moved into the neighborhood. One of the great things about bars in this area is the rooftop. I don’t have to have a great view of the water and the skyline because almost everywhere I go there’s a rooftop where you can see it all. And when it comes to art and music Brooklyn does it best. Better artists, better venues, and better crowds are out here so its no surprise that more well known artists are moving their shows to gallery’s and venues out in BK. Something I think is really great is that a lot of bigger venues are giving smaller bands the opportunities to play bigger shows or open for headliners. They want locals to play and get their name out. There are also a lot of smaller venues around here, which are sort of like holes in the walls but they really give that opportunity and you’d be surprised, a lot of people go. I regularly attend shows at Cameo, The music of Williamsburg, Output, Brooklyn Bowl.”
The term hipster has become a stereotype to residents of Brooklyn over the past decade. If you wear ripped denim, vintage frames or have facial hair you’re automatically categorized into the mix.
“I don’t think I’d call myself a hipster, But I know a lot of other people that would. People see the way I dress, they hear about the neighborhood I live in and there’s this automatic label that comes my way. I haven’t changed really, my style is probably the biggest change I’ve been able to see within myself. I do a lot of shopping at consignment and thrift shops so I’ve picked up on that trend. It makes for a nice afternoon and I work within a flea market so whenever I see something I like I grab it! A hipster is a trendy person with a certain attitude. A bit grungier. Anybody can be a hipster. How you live at home, what you do with your daily life, and where you hang out are all different aspects of being a hipster. A lot of people here are considered hipsters because they’re starving artists that are just trying to make their own way as an artist, which is beautiful and awesome, they’re not trying to go down the corporate route which so many others are trying to take. Hipsters act accordingly to their surroundings. They wear clothes that are vintage because they shop at thrift shops. They go to see friends playing in bands at those whole in the wall venues we discussed before, and they live where they live because that’s how much money the make. They’re not trying to fool anyone, they’re just being themselves
I have another meeting with Carson and a friend of hers, Demi, on Wednesday October 8th where I hope to ask some questions I did not think of the first time and elaborate on some of the things she said in the past interview.