I'm curious. Do you still refer to a corner store as a Bodega, even if the proprietor isn't Boricua...or maybe Dominican? I've always understood the term to be used for those stores, specifically. Now, every time I hear someone use 'Bodega' as a blanket descriptor for any neighborhood store, ridiculously I'm a little disgusted.
It's recent though, ever since that John Mulaney SNL sketch--the musical about his neighborhood 'buh-day-guh'--I've been thinking about this. A corny sketch but I had a conversation at a bar with strangers who thought it was hilarious...then went on to tell stories about their very own neighborhood 'buh-day-guh'.
2. "hearing white girls say 'beau-dais-gahhh' is severely grating" In response to Reply # 0
it's up there for one of the worst try-hard thing for new york residents to overdo and overuse
at the same time i don't think it's only for spanish-speaking owners especially since many dominicans are losing their stores and yemenis and other arabs have been dominating for a while, the name still lives on despite that because the character of the establishment has remained consistent
i wonder what the arab to latin ratio is for store-owners in new york. my wife's family used to own two in the LES and my father in law had one in East NY for years but lost it recently because the landlord wanted to revamp it as a bougie white-friendly store (no white people around but she thinks if you build it, etc. etc.)
it's just not lucrative unless you are selling loosies, running numbers, or doing whatever else to add income
6. "The near disappearance of " In response to Reply # 2
Puerto Rican or Dominican bodega's, like your Father in law's story, is probably why I'm particularly annoyed. Botanica's too, the only one I can think of quickly is in Red Hook. https://i.ibb.co/2N9P4h0/spike.jpg
Also, being able to maintain and thrive without selling loosies and being a numbers book, seems like an organized method for success. I was amazed to see how these Yemeni owners galvanized as a group against the Post. Then noticed they have an entire specific trade association. This is dope - https://www.yamausa.org/ Not because I work for one, but not until I did, did I realize how much power Associations wield, beyond just politically lobbying.
My point, we need more associations to better represent the underrepresented.
10. "yeah i know that botanica in Red Hook. I think the one in Park Slope" In response to Reply # 6
is still open too. And there are a few in Bushwick.
I agree with your point that learning about the Yemeni store-owner association is 100% the best thing that came out of that disaster of a New York Post cover. I was very happy to hear firstly that the group existed, and secondly that they exercised their clout in denouncing the inflammatory actions of the Post within the current political / social climate.
For a little while I was seeing new spaces in Fort Greene like Gotham Market being used for meetings among Black entrepreneurs and business-owners. Not sure if that's still going on but that type of solidarity is needed.
3. "I grew in a neighborhood in Philly with zero Rican presence, so" In response to Reply # 0
we just called them delis (even though Jews had stopped owning them many years before that point - they were all owned by Koreans by the 80s and 90s). It wasn't until I got to New York that bodega entered my vocabulary, apart from Ghostwriter.
I do try to limit my reference to stores that are real bodegas, though.
11. "NYC calls them that too" In response to Reply # 8
throughout plenty of hoods & in all 4 boroughs. bodega as a universal word seems new. i understand if it used to be an actual bodega, and ownership changed. it's the places that were never described as a that before, but are now.
9. "I blew my wife's mind last week with the concept of "liquor store"" In response to Reply # 0
I'm a Californian living in NYC.
I get it that here in NYC a bodega = corner store.
She couldnt get over the fact that liquor store = corner store but corner store ≠ liquor store
or the fact that the liquor store ie quite literally where you go for drank outside of beer and the most busted ass liquor stores can sometimes have extensive wine selections.
I can't get over the fact that if you want booze you have to go to special store.
legsdiamond Member since May 05th 2011 79614 posts
Tue Apr-16-19 03:48 PM
19. "First went to a drive thru liquor store in Kentucky " In response to Reply # 13
wildest shit ever.
Just seems wrong. Lol
**************** TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*
21. "LOL! That's what my cuz said. "It just shouldn't be that easy!"" In response to Reply # 19
I knew a cat who worked in a drive thru. One late night, a dude came through that he didn't like. My man closed the garage doors (the entry & exit) on this dude, dragged him out of his car & beat his ass.
Then he politely opened the garage doors & let the dude roll out.I don't know if he fulfilled the dude's liquor order though.
14. "purchasing liquor in states like PA & VA" In response to Reply # 9
where you have to go to specific state owned liquor stores for anything harder than beer, is the real hassle. the liquor anywhere-ers prob don't realize how friction-less their liquor buying experience is.
18. "i used to always think of a bodega as a stand alone structure" In response to Reply # 0
like a kiosk, newspaper stand.. like a corner store in a gazebo not a shop attached to a building.. but I'm canadian west coast... bodega is really an east coast/usa thing no?
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