February 21, 2004: Death of the Q Diamond Party
Mike and I were going down to Coney Island to do some night shooting, and we thought the Death of the Q Diamond Party would be a great way to get there. Picture 300 or so ravers, train buffs, and hipsters stuffed into the last 2 cars of the last ever Q Diamond, partying all the way from Union Square to Brighton Beach. It felt like 1982- and I don't mean just the alcohol, vandalism, and marijuana smoke. By the time the train arrived at the beach, I was ready to collapse. [More pictures are available in the gallery section.]
I wish you had passed out in Coney Island, so headlines could read "End of Subway Causes Hipsters Headaches" or something.
damn, i didn't know you were going to coney island to take pictures too! oh well. katz's hit the spot.
Since when did flash mobs become the realm of yuppie brats?
wait- am i the yuppie brat in question? b/c i don't even have a job! plus, they never let me get an 8pm resy at blue ribbon- the earliest they'll give me is 10pm, so at best, i'm a marginal yuppie. but, to be frank, this party looks pretty much like any other flash mob i've ever been to!
Jesus, what happened to NYC?
I predict the Q diamond will have a glorious resurrection someday.
Actually, I saw one on the A/C tracks at Chambers Street today. I guess it was probably headed up to the Bronx to become a B train on Monday.
why isnt anyone smoking?
there were plenty of people lighting up- it was actually pretty dangerous, as the place was totally overcrowded. oh the burning!
what are those drawings you're holding, mike?
Oh buh-ruther....
I wonder if I should feel at all sorry for the transit workers who had to clean up after those clever hipsters....sheesh.
Major props to Don and Henry. My sentiments exactly.
Bunch of hipsters and slumming yuppies using the city as their own exclusive playground and posting pictures like we're supposed to be impressed? It's just arrogance.
We all know that the trustafarian parents of these brats clean up after this kind of mess, but for the rest of us here in NYC. We're not your babysitters.
totally- i think more people should have stayed behind to clean up the cars. at least picking up the garbage left behind. also, some people ripped down posters and took off the plexi on the maps and stuff like that, which is not a nice thing to do. i think it's perfectly possible to have a great train party without creating a mess for the MTA staffers who have to clean the train at the yards.
*clap* *clap*
Jake, what kind of politically neutral statement is that? If you and your friends organized it, then there's no person to blame for the best than you and your friends.
You yuppie bastards treat the urban landscape of this city like a playground and then act dumb when busted. The deal is that you're just a bunch of brats who really don't give a rat's ass about anyone else.
One day you'll pull this kind of crap in front of a real new yorker. And they might snap you back into reality.
Can't wait for your apartment to be freed up when you move off to scarsdale.
whoa- i was just there as an observer- i certainly didn't organize it. and frankly, i've been here for about 27 years, or my entire life, so i'm thinking that if i was going to leave, i'd have done it already.
I have pictures of my own at
http://members.aol.com/radi5hli2000/images
There's a picture of me in your gallery, is all :)
Jake you do not sound like any New Yorker I know. And your blog reflects an attitude of someone who just moved to New York. Not a real New Yorker.
The deal is that if any other group of people pulled something so self-absorbed on a subway they would be busted. Yuppie hipsters do it? Nothing happens.
Get five black kids in a subway car and FOX news is on the scene. 100 or so hipsters? nothing.
According to liz, Jake is "Hot Hipster #2"!
Well, now I'm embarrassed.
"Real" New Yorker? What kind of elitist b.s. is that? If you don't like it, simply leave... or is it that you've nothing better to do than harass people trying to enjoy themselves? Never taken pictures at a party and passed them around for laughs/entertainment later? When did this become a cool contest with you as judge and jury? Are we going to hear about who is the most "real" next? Give us all a damn break.
It was a great blow out
here are more picts
http://www.fotolog.net/lugolounge/?photo_id=6558488
Whiny trust fund babies.
Like I said before, in 2 years when you move out of NYC many people will be a bit happier.
It's really obnoxious to assume anyone is a 'trustfund' baby just because they happen to listen to a certain kind of music and/or attend events such as this. I certaintly AM NOT, my mother is unemployed and my father works for the MTA.
i agree with that. despite a little bit of rowdyness, the people at the party seemed to have a genuine love for the Q Train- there was poetry recited about it. talk about true blue new york city love.
but the fact is, anyone who talks about being a real new yorker is most likely living in hoboken themselves- real new yorkers realize that the city is filled with people who just got here. being a real new yorker isn't about how long you happen to have resided in the city- it's a state of mind. in fact, i've definitely met a couple of real new yorkers who have barely spent a week in the city.
Great event! Makes me see that there's still hope with human-kind.
Even more pics...
http://www.fotolog.net/moredogseat/?photo_id=6556763
http://www.fotolog.net/frank_bklyn/?photo_id=6533165
"being a real new yorker isn't about how long you happen to have resided in the city- it's a state of mind. "
When did Billy Joel enter the room? And since when did arriving in NYC and living here for 4-5 years--the average lifespan of yuppie college grads in NYC--make anyone a New Yorker?
Back in the day, a subway carload of people pulling that stuff would get busted. Heck, they still would. A bunch of predominantly white kids jump and take over a train and somehow that's better? Please get off it. Seriously, you come off as a privledged clown. That's a fact.
And if you were born in NYC, I doubt you explored anything below midtown up until a few years ago.
If there were at least one non-white on that train, I would not be saying this. But as it stands, it's simply a slumming trip made but a pack of white yuppie brats. Deal with the reality of it.
i am so sick of people like mayor koch hiding behind anonymity to judge what they perceive to be a "real new yorker" to be and then spewing about it. i get it on my site too. i wont even respond any more to it. it's so fucking redic.
Do you know these people? Why are they evil because they're white? I'm not a trustfund baby and neither are any of my friends. So who the hell are you? Rather large chip on your shoulder, eh? Can only regurgitate what you've said before, eh? A bit bored and lonely, eh?
"Do you know these people?"
Not at all.
"Why are they evil because they're white?"
I never said that. I did say that the chances of 300 people of any other race pulling what these clowns did on the train are zero to none. Basically, that's the privelege your skin color can have. You were able to treat a subway car like a personal playground and trash it. I know people arrested for much less.
"I'm not a trustfund baby and neither are any of my friends."
If you say that long enough, you might end up believing that.
"So who the hell are you?"
Someone voicing an opinion against a bunch of privledged white kids using a subway car as their own playground and expecting other people to clean up for them. Yes, $600 worth of fares were collected if the headcount of 300 was correct. But what about the basic cost of simply running the train? The salary for the conductor and the motorman? The wages of the people who had to clean up after the folks left the train? C'mon you're not that naive.
"Rather large chip on your shoulder, eh?"
Pointing out the obvious. If you don't want to face that fact that the color of your skin allows you to get away with crap like this, sorry. But that's reality.
"Can only regurgitate what you've said before, eh?"
Sorry but what I said before stands as is. No need to expand on that.
"A bit bored and lonely, eh?"
Not at all. But it says a lot about your mentaility that you think the only people who should post in this thread should agree with you.
The claims that people who were on the train had a genuine love for the Q diamond are full of shit. It was just an excuse to get loaded and party. If you respected the Subway as you claim the cars on that train would not be left in as sorry shape as you left it. That's the fact. There was no honor in this gathering just a bunch of semi-privledged white kids getting their rocks off and treating this city as their playground.
Just saw an older hispanic man get busted for having an open bottle on the 4 train. Bud in a brown bag. Why did he get busted and 300 predominantly white yuppies and yuppies in training did not?
You don't know any of these people - precisely. And you don't know me. You don't know my race, my background, my upbringing or the fact that anything accomplished by me has been accomplished as a result of me and not as a result of a free ride. It's worth noting that I'VE been arrested for much less - not "people I know," mind you - but ME. You make far too many assumptions about people based on their race (white or otherwise). You can have your opinion AND your ignorance. Enjoy! PS: I'm joining rachelleb in the silent corner - this garbage clearly doesn't benefit from further commentary.
"And you don't know me. You don't know my race, my background, my upbringing or the fact that anything accomplished by me has been accomplished as a result of me and not as a result of a free ride."
Ryan, you sound like a whiny brat and act like one. There's no reason people should not be able to comment on the pictures of a predominantly white yuppie hispter crowd using the subway for their own purpose and with no regard for others.
Sorry if the pictures on this and other sites clearly reflect the clearly predominantly white crowd on the train. My apologies for not closing my eyes and ignoring that.
Also Ryan, according to you friendster profile you're white, you live in chicago and you came from michigan. So get over yourself. We know you're not purple or green.
You were arrested once? For what? Not much probably. But that does not explain how 300 predominant white yuppie hipsters can get away with murder on a subway but one lone non-white can get arrested on the subway for doing much less.
listen- could you all just cut it out? everyone has had their say- the anonymous poster above especially. but it's not adding much to the site now, so unless you have something to say about the pictures, or you want to post a link to your own from the same event, let's consider this thread complete.
Actually, I did have something to say about the pictures. My friend who is muslim is in a few of your pictures, and expressed concern for his parents finding these photos on the web, and would like them removed, if it's convenient. I know that you can't control what other people put on their sites, but I thought I would ask anyway.
Specifically,
http://www.bluejake.com/images04/2004_2_qdiamond/pages/IMG_6719_jpg.htm
and
http://www.bluejake.com/images04/2004_2_qdiamond/pages/IMG_6694_jpg.htm
Thanks.
Delete my comment but not Henry's? Hardly seems right.
Great photos! I've posted some, plus the invitation text, at:
http://foody.org/q.html