from the files of barry beck...

who secretly wants to move to upper east side to be nearer reggie roby and the swinging singles scene at dorrians



June 23, 2005 -- IN the same way that something tragically uncool often becomes kind of cool (like tunics, or Justin Timberlake) the staid, charmless Upper East Side is becoming the neighborhood of choice for those New Yorkers who would consider themselves avant-garde, anti-establishment and ahead of the curve: namely, downtowners.

"In my neighborhood, there are a couple of really funny Williamsburg-type kids who are up there and loving it," says Upper East Sider Will Hooks, a 27-year-old assistant art director at Entertainment Weekly who himself moved from Williamsburg two years ago. Hooks finds his new neighborhood cleaner, calmer, cheaper and less sartorially stressful.

"In Williamsburg, I had to wear my corduroy pants or my tight jeans, and I was very emo-ish - even though I didn't listen to emo," he says, laughing. "I had mohawks. I had a mullet - and I'm black! That totally worked there, but it wouldn't work uptown."