Brace yourselves, Park Slope, here come the tourists.

Image via nycgo.com

If you thought it was tough getting past all the double-wide strollers on 7th Avenue, get ready for Park Slope to feel more like Christmas in midtown now that NYC and Company launched its latest "Neighborhood X Neighborhood" campaign featuring our little corner of the city and highlighting all it has to offer. From the NYC and Company website:

If Williamsburg is the face of the "new" hipster Brooklyn, Park Slope is the leading light of the borough's classic incarnation—the brownstone-populated, tree-lined version. The neighborhood's residents give it a literary, socially conscious feel. They shop at their own food co-op. They patronize independent book and record shops and sip coffee at local java joints. And the constant stream of strollers on the sidewalks makes it clear that this is a place where many choose to raise families. It's those features that keep landing Park Slope on lists of the "best" neighborhoods in New York City, even the nation. -- Jonathan Zeller

Wow, Mr. Zeller, you totally nailed us! Most of the suggestions they give are pretty smart, and I guess would give out-of-towners a pretty accurate sense of what it's like to live here: having coffee at Gorilla, going skating at Lakeside, having a drink at The Gate, eating dinner at Franny's, shopping on Fifth Avenue. This might be my favorite, though:

Area institution Union Hall, meanwhile, is beloved for hosting Karaoke Killed the Cat, comedy from the likes of John Hodgman and rock shows by up-and-coming acts. It was also the center of a controversy a while back when it banned strollers. 

Imagine this scenario: You're sitting at the bar at Union Hall, and Ned Flanders comes up to you and says, "Will you take a picture of me pretending to kick my wife and kid out of the bar?" It could totally happen! 

All kidding aside, if this actually encourages people to come spend money in Park Slope's establishments, that's a good thing, I suppose. I just hope all these tourists remember to Get Outta Da Way when I'm trying to get to the subway in the morning.