Brooklyn hipster bar smacked down for 'chic' fake bullet holes in the walls and 'cheeky' drinks
Fake bullet hole in the wall of Summerhill in Brooklyn (Photo via Dan Sugrue for Summerhill/Press release)
July 23, 2017
A Brooklyn bar and grill in the Crown Heights neighborhood is being criticized by the residents for it's "chic" decor and trying to glamorize gentrification.
As The Root revealed, a press release from the new Summerhill establishment calling itself a "boozy sandwich shop," was sent out with photos of cocktails in front of a "bullet hole ridden wall." The owners claimed that they were eager to keep the wall as it is. It turns out the bullet holes are actually fake.
It didn't take long for neighbors to attack the establishment online. The Yelp page is flooded with claims of gentrification and tone-deaf "marketing" of black poverty and violence. The Root also explained that the owner of the establishment has the misfortune of having a version of the name "Becky," which brought about insults of a whole different kind.
The fake bullet holes aren't the only problem. The chi-chi cocktails like the "40 Ounce Rose" is served in a paper bag to appear as though it is a 40 oz. malt liquor bottle. She showed off the bottle being held in the water bottle cage of a bartender in an Instagram shot.
Can't help but when your head bartender rides around with a forty of rose in her cage.
A post shared by Summerhill (@summerhillbk) on
“That’s not what the neighborhood needs,” Gothamist quoted Crown Heights resident Ayanna Prescott saying. “The neighborhood needs child care. It needs schools.
“And a ‘boozy sandwich shop’ with fake bullet holes is totally disconnected,” the longtime resident of the neighborhood added.
The former attorney from Canada turned owner Becca Brennan has apologized for the press release, but activists refused to cease their "Bye Bye Becky" signs and protests claiming “This is what gentrification looks like.”
Brennan tried to explain that her marketing was meant to be “cheeky” not offensive and she apologized “deeply.”
“I did not intend to be insensitive to anyone in the neighborhood, and I am sorry that my words caused pain,” she said in a statement.
Another letter of apology came Saturday saying that she respects the comments and understands she has more work to do to build relationships with the neighborhood.
According to Gothamist, between 2000 and 2010, the majority-black neighborhood shrunk in residents of color while white residents nearly doubled. Between 2011 and 2015 DNAInfo shows a significant increase in higher-income renters in the zip code.
“When you’re using the challenges we have as a community to mimic us ... (that) is very distasteful to the human experience,” said Crown Heights shop owner Tracy Reid. She opened her own business 18 years ago when the neighborhood was a historically Hasidic Jewish and West Indian community. Many of the neighborhood's original residents have been lost to gun violence.
"You are making money off of... negative aspects in our community which, you know, you're happy when these things go on because you can make money off of it," said Natherlene Bolden, a founding member of the Crown Heights Tenants Union. "And it's like you're not thinking about the black people or the long-term residents in the community. Or maybe you are thinking about them but they don't matter."
Residents staged a protest where hundreds filled the block Saturday.
"I witnessed people die in front of me," one resident said to fellow protesters. "Nobody talks about the PTSD we go through."