Comments on: A Greenwich primer

By: Way Up Valley

Way Up Valley — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:26:48 +0000

One of the really cool things about being in Cos Cob is nobody who’s not from here ever heard of it.

1) When we lived in 06831 every time we went on vacation it was like “Oh, Greeeeeenwiccccchhhh, do you own a hedge fund?”

When we say “Cos Cob” the responses range from “Is that closer to New York or Hartford?” to silent shrugs.

We like the shrugs. Do shrugs not drugs.

2) In talking with a potential employer in midtown Manhattan, he finally got around to “And where in hell is Cos Cob, Connecticut? Can you make it down to Manhattan every morning from wherever in hell that is?”

When I told him it was Greenwich, he said, why the hell would I want his piss-ant job since obviously I must own a hedge fund.

I hit him, as we are known to do in the Cob, and told him if he talked that way to me again they would find him floating in my above-ground pool, which has a clear view of the projects.

PS The only hedge funds I know about are the money we put in the jelly jar to pay our guy to trim the hedges.

PPS Of course there are no projects in Cos Cob, unless you consider the small nuclear reactor I’ve been working on since the 70s a “project.” Based on the popular response to Fred’s cell tower — well, never mind.

These are not the droids you’re looking for.

By: cos cobber

cos cobber — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:00:23 +0000

I admit, its fun to stereotype cos cob. I am guilty, from time to time, of
Fostering CF’s myths and legends regarding the fine people
Of this neighborhood.

The truth is, at least on my street, which is actually south of rte 1,
That many of the old time hardy blue collar families have left over
The past decade. My street has two hedge fund traders, two equity guys, anf various other upper mgmt types in finance all in a small cluster. Sure their are a few plumbers left, but not as many as 20 years ago.
Cos cob is evolving…and hopefully without the concededness of other neighborhoods.

One last thing, backcountrygal is right. Enough with the newbies who want to hide behind their hedge-fence-moat.

By: christopherfountain

christopherfountain — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:10:39 +0000

Adams Gardens, Riverside, behind Caldors (ok, Walgreens). Nicely maintained, no gangs or trouble that I ever read about, no problems. If your kids went to Eastern they attended with students from here. The fact that you were unaware of that speaks for itself – if they were bad kids, you’d have known it.

By: Riverside Dog Walker

Riverside Dog Walker — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:06:29 +0000

A housing project in Old Greenwich? Where? I’ve only been here 14 years and never heard of it.

By: pulled up in OG

pulled up in OG — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 04:37:08 +0000

Greenwich has a series of discrete neighborhoods, and they all get assaulted nine or ten months out of the year by friggin’ leaf blowers.

By: christopherfountain

christopherfountain — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:32:41 +0000

I think you summed up its charms and attractions perfectly, Byram, but I worry that you’ll be flooded by a wave of Cos Cobbers now, looking for greener pastures!

By: Byram

Byram — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:30:22 +0000

I used to live in Riverside (since ’68) and moved to Byram, not on Byram Shore Rd. I really like it here and in my current life plan, which is looking like it will happen as planned as I haven’t got a lot of years to go, I plan to keep my house in Byram until the end. Keep downplaying this section so it doesn’t change and my taxes stay low. You might point out those waterfront condos that are vacant and crumbling, that should help the cause. And don’t forget to mention I-95! Every home in Byram hears the endless screeching of air brakes day and night. The beach, our only amenity if you could call it that, is the most closed-by-pollution beach in Connecticut. The whole section of town is obviously unsafe for children or women of child-bearing age, it is a big sewer.
Finally, the one restaurant that people from real Greenwich frequented, That Little Italian Restaurant, closed. There’s really no reason to go to Byram anymore.
I don’t think your write-up went far enough about what a dump this is, and I haven’t even mentioned the Port Chester traffic or crime.

I hope this helps you steer out-of-towners away from Byram. If you need any more info, please don’t hesitate to write.

By: Helsa Poppin

Helsa Poppin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:23:11 +0000

Hi Stanwich (if you or anyone else is still reading this thread),

I live in and love Cos Cob. I didn’t realize that my poorly ordered sentences implied we have public housing here; we most certainly do not. Though I have heard rumors that some want to raze the Pinetum in order to build some.

By: christopherfountain

christopherfountain — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:43:05 +0000

Stan, it’s precisely because Cos Cob kids can’t attend our elementary schools in Riverside and Old Greenwich that we put in housing projects – we wanted the diversity they provide and to give our children a chance to rub shoulders with the less fortunate.

By: ogrcc

ogrcc — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:43:05 +0000

if the folks that take the train to work = short bus kids, then

the folks that are driven to work in black cars = assholes

I’ve only met a few money handlers that I have actually liked