Cool or Not Cool: Parkwanus

Every so often, man comes up with a wholly brilliant idea. While I'm wholly not brilliant & wholly not a man, last week I wrote a lil' sumpin about the opening of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que & at the end of it, I tossed in a phrase referring to Dino's locale on Union St west of 4th Ave as part of "the just-now-invented nabe of Parkwanus." As I sat alone in my apartment blogging in my boxers, I actually LOL'd a bit, just like the tweens do. A few of you chimed in in the comments, calling bullshit on my bullshit nabe name, as you should have. I mean, I made that crap up on the fly.

I'm certain there are people in Bushwick who have been all panty-bunched for the last decade about more & more of their hood becoming "East Williamsburg." Personally, I was slightly offended when I rented a place in "Greenwood Heights" a few years back. I'm pretty sure people are calling that area "South Slope" these days anyhow. In the end, we all just get on with our lives & call nabes what the fuck we want to call them & realize that there are more important things going on in the world...more important things like the abortion battle in Texas or the triumphant DOMA death or Kim Kardashian's ploy to trap her friends by sending them fake pics of her new bebe & seeing which of them leak the pics to the tabloids.

Anyway...I had my LOL & went on with my life until yesterday, when Gothamist wrote us, inquiring about the origins of "Parkwanus." I told them the origin story: I'd had a few beers & thought the word was hilarious. Then they wrote a piece about "Parkwanus." In it, a local realtor said of the name, "I like it, personally. I'll probably use it." Thanks to the Gothamist commenters, I'll now occasionally think of the hood with an emphasis on the "anus." Then L Magazine & Brooklyn Mag ran a Parkwanus piece. NY Mag posted a one line article that read "There is no 'Parkwanus.'" An enterprising gentleman named Christopher Fusco snatched up parkwanus.com. I LOL'd again.

...so last night a friend & I headed to Parkwanus to check out Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. It was SUPER packed. Apparently people are flocking to Parkwanus for BBQ. Since Dinosaur was packed & we were starving, we walked to 3rd Ave between 7th & 8th to Fletcher's, a BBQ joint that is clearly within the clearly undefined Parkwanus borders. Quick review: their BBQ is the real deal, son. As we walked down 3rd, we passed some Parkwanus bar called Halyard's. They apparently have "old school cocktails, toasted cheese sandwiches & McClure pickles." Parkwanus. Rooftop Films is right there on 3rd Street. Parkwanus. Littleneck and Four & Twenty Blackbirds are in the nabe. Parkwanus. There's even a Super 8 Motel & a storage place along 3rd.

Parkwanus.

I don't know about you but it kinda seems like Parkwanus is blowing up & I'm getting in on the ground floor. Shit...I practically named the place. Who's with me?

Read way more from Shawn at eatdrinksnack.com and eatdrinktaco.com.