71 responses so far ↓

• 1 hipster // Sep 19, 2008 at 9:25 am

  I like this blog and sad to see it go. I have to say, though, I do not like the whole “we are leaving under mysterious conditions” approach.

  It makes me question if this is a gimmick, an act of unspecific apathy or something legitimate.

  Guskind doesn’t owe me anything, but leaving your loyal readers to this state of uncertainty feels dishonest to me.

  Sincerely,

  Brooklyn Hipster

• 2 threecee // Sep 19, 2008 at 9:36 am

  What?? I hope that this state of affairs is temporary, as it leaves a gaping hole in the BK blog world.

  Hope that whatever is keeping you off the air isn’t too tragic, sad or permanent.

  Best Wishes!
  tracy

• 3 Anonymous // Sep 19, 2008 at 9:40 am

  Yeah, seriously. Two completely ambiguous posts pulling on people’s heartstrings and leaving them in the lurch on what happened is a little unfair.

• 4 brooklyngirl // Sep 19, 2008 at 9:43 am

  Wowzzers gone for good, what will a girl do now. So sad I hope whatever happened works itself out soon!!!!

• 5 alyssa // Sep 19, 2008 at 10:01 am

  much as i’m really sad to see GL shutter its doors, it’s obvious something painful has happened and to make little snarky comments about why rguskind did so helps nobody.

  rguskind, i’m sorry something unfortunate happened. i hope you and GL will come back. enjoy today’s weather.

• 6 zoofroy // Sep 19, 2008 at 10:13 am

  Oh man, this blog actually makes me excited that I’m moving to Brooklyn in a few weeks. Hang in there man, I hope things get better soon!

• 7 david // Sep 19, 2008 at 10:37 am

  calm down people. he didn’t say he was closing it. he just said he didn’t know. big wup! as to his treatment of the readers, pulling their heartstings, etc…please. if you’re unhappy, or feel mistreated, you know where the door is (it’s back there with the “free admission” posted in the middle.)

  and for those who need more information, need to know the details of GL personal life, need to know why, why, why…just pretend GL already held a national press conference, and ABC’s Charlie Gibson asked him “Why, why, why?” and in response GL said, simply, “Because.”

  so be it.

  re-sending good vibes GL’s way, in partial repayment for his great posts over the years…

• 8 Sam // Sep 19, 2008 at 10:43 am

  I wonder what happened.

• 9 hipster // Sep 19, 2008 at 10:52 am

  alyssa, I wasn’t being snarky and david, I don’t feel mistreated, so no need to act superior to me. your post seems the least calm. i think it’s okay what i wrote and fair.

• 10 wjcohen // Sep 19, 2008 at 11:00 am

  I read this blog everyday - please don’t abandon ship!

• 11 RT // Sep 19, 2008 at 11:05 am

  Don’t shut down! I need my music advice!

• 12 Janet // Sep 19, 2008 at 11:26 am

  []

• 13 Anonymous // Sep 19, 2008 at 12:29 pm

  Lame.

• 14 Heather D // Sep 19, 2008 at 12:51 pm

  We heart you Bob, come back soon!

• 15 abeanpie // Sep 19, 2008 at 2:04 pm

  Thanks for leaving us with a picture of Beer Island. We’ll be thinking of you and Brooklyn.
  good luck

• 16 Brenda from Flatbush // Sep 19, 2008 at 2:08 pm

  This place (”place”) renewed my faith in the Brooklyn blogosphere after Brownstoner hardened into a loathesome hatefest (and never covered much beyond real-estate and its associated neuroses anyway). It’s become a real town square under RG’s stewardship, and I’ve always thought it must have involved an enormous amount of work and caring. Best wishes to RG during a tough spell and here’s hoping GL will return.

• 17 TA // Sep 19, 2008 at 5:32 pm

  GL is a world-class blog. Thanks for the amazing words, images and connections that you have shared over the years.

  Best Wishes

• 18 IMBY // Sep 19, 2008 at 5:57 pm

  You are my first read of the day. Black hole in the blogosphere, there is.

• 19 bigmissfrenchie // Sep 19, 2008 at 6:45 pm

  Well, I have to say that this is best blog of any of the ones I read, and I read a lot of ‘em. Sounds like you’re going through a hard time right now and don’t really want to discuss your reasons, but we hope things work out and you come back soon.

• 20 Motorokr // Sep 19, 2008 at 7:03 pm

  ouch! sad to see that this happened, and harder to believe that such a blog was so reliant on one person, who wasn’t an admin. I hope you find the strength necessary to proceed.

• 21 S ryan // Sep 19, 2008 at 8:06 pm

  You will be very missed.. I read your blog for well over a year…. having a home on 9th street and 2nd avenue your blog meant so much to me and all of us who live in the Gowanus… Thank you so much for all that you all did to support us.. and good luck to all of you in the future!

• 22 Ron // Sep 19, 2008 at 8:59 pm

  I live in No. California but read GL everyday. I feel as if I have come to know Brooklyn as well as I know my own neighborhood. Take care of yourself and when the time is right … I’ll be waiting.

• 23 sebb // Sep 19, 2008 at 11:24 pm

  I need this fix daily

• 24 Daniel // Sep 19, 2008 at 11:28 pm

  RG, I’m very sorry for your loss. Also, I want to add my voice to the chorus of appreciation: You’ve done amazing work on Gowanus Lounge. It is, without a doubt, one of Brooklyn’s most important news sources (and artfully written and beautifully illustrated to boot). It will be much more difficult to be an informed citizen of Kings County in its absence. I will certainly miss it greatly. Thanks so much for all your incredible work!

• 25 deborah matlack // Sep 20, 2008 at 8:17 am

  Keep the faith, my friend, thanks for everything and for giving me the opportunity so many times to showcase my photos. If there’s anything we can do to help you, let us know, please. Sincerely, Deborah M

• 26 Chris. // Sep 20, 2008 at 1:17 pm

  The folks over at Falconworks will miss you while you’re absent and hope you’ll return soon - and that all is well. Best wishes and thanks.

• 27 MK Metz // Sep 20, 2008 at 9:13 pm

  Our sincere sympathies are with you. We still don’t know how you make this one of the best blogs in Brooklyn. Take all the time you need. Your readers (including us here at the McBrooklyn blog) will be here when you get back.

• 28 jerky // Sep 20, 2008 at 11:24 pm

  Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it? Maybe now you’ll be less snarky about what you post on Curbed.

  Jerk.

• 29 resa // Sep 21, 2008 at 2:18 pm

  Sorry to hear that. This IS the best blog in Brooklyn. I don’t know why people are such asshats about your personal decisions but I wish you all of the best.

• 30 rob // Sep 21, 2008 at 3:41 pm

  first blog i read every day… hope you come back

• 31 XO // Sep 21, 2008 at 6:14 pm

  you’ve got a whole community on your side. please hang in there.

• 32 lounge lizzard // Sep 21, 2008 at 9:51 pm

  Wah, my favorite and only blog i read regularly gone. Thank you for all the local info and years of hard work.

• 33 miles // Sep 21, 2008 at 10:49 pm

  yeah. sucks. i read this a lot.

  ‘nice picture’

• 34 Jeanne // Sep 21, 2008 at 11:16 pm

  thanks for being a great source of info about coney island and brooklyn in general and for the links to my own little blog whenever i ranted about our beloved coney. thinking good thoughts for you.

• 35 BIB // Sep 22, 2008 at 10:13 am

  The G Lounge was my virtual key to the wonderland that is Brooklyn. I could not have imagined a better way to connect with my new home when I first moved here. The blogfather will be missed.

• 36 Kristen // Sep 22, 2008 at 3:17 pm

  So, so sorry to hear that we might lose one of Brooklyn’s best blogs. I hope everything is OK, and I hope to see you all back online soon.

• 37 Karen // Sep 23, 2008 at 3:38 pm

  This is the only blog I read regularly — it’s become my favorite form of procrastination throughout the day! I can only imagine how much work it must be, though, and how hard it must be to even think of taking that on when dealing with a loss. I really do hope you come back at some point soon, but in the meantime, best wishes from Downtown Brooklyn, Midwood, and the bike ride in between.

• 38 Lee // Sep 23, 2008 at 5:42 pm

  Gowanus Lounge helped me to make Brooklyn feel like home in the two short years I have lived here. Thank you for connecting so many of us to our community. You are one of the best blogs out there, and I hope to see you back in action soon. All my best!

• 39 gowanus neighbor // Sep 23, 2008 at 10:14 pm

  Not a newcomer, moved to brooklyn in 1988, but you’re a great community builder. Hope your woes pass quickly and you’re happily blogging again soon.
  Take deep breaths.

• 40 Meghan // Sep 23, 2008 at 11:29 pm

  This was always my first stop in the morning. Definitely the best of the bunch! Take care of yourself!

• 41 holy r thn thou // Sep 24, 2008 at 9:21 am

  I moved to Brooklyn in 1763, so I am the coolest of all. Hope to see your blog up and running again.

• 42 Shield // Sep 24, 2008 at 9:56 am

  RG, my thoughts are with you in your recent loss.

  Your blog has been an incredible Brooklyn gem for the last 2 1/2 years. It quickly became the go-to blog for Brooklyn information and analysis, and I’m also so grateful for your support of and shout-outs to smaller Brooklyn blogs. Thank you.

  Do what you need to do re: the blog. Please know that I (and hopefully many others) support whatever decision you need to make. I wish you the best as you get through this difficult time.

• 43 Anonymous // Sep 24, 2008 at 10:29 am

  Was it a loss of funding?

• 44 lorna // Sep 24, 2008 at 11:26 am

  My heart is broken…

  Come back Gowanus Lounge, came back!

• 45 bloomie // Sep 24, 2008 at 11:41 am

  Wow, I take a few days vacation from the blogosphere to return to see that my absolute favorite Brooklyn blog has retired. Please, please, please let it be a hiatus and not permanent.

  Either way thank you for so much. I’ve gone to amazing concerts b/c you told me about them, gone to parties and art shows that I would not otherwise have known about, hooked up visitors with great hotel rooms at a discounted rate, eaten at new restaurants and so much more.

  I’d say it’s almost impossible, but you made me love my borough even more, you brought it alive, you gave me new and different ways to experience it.

  I don’t know what else to say aside from thank you and I hope that your personal issues get better.

• 46 JR // Sep 24, 2008 at 3:54 pm

  Just wanted to chime back in and say that I’m still missing this place!

• 47 Anonymous // Sep 24, 2008 at 4:14 pm

  Just wanted to chime in to say that I’m not!

• 48 Anon // Sep 25, 2008 at 9:09 am

  This sucks. Please come back.

• 49 Marie // Sep 25, 2008 at 9:56 am

  Thank you for your commitment to GL - it was (and perhaps will be again…I hope) a big one. There are so many blogs, and this wasn’t one of them. Total stand out. Thank you again and I’m sorry…

• 50 Daniel // Sep 25, 2008 at 11:46 am

  Robert,

  Good Luck!

• 51 Winden // Sep 26, 2008 at 3:53 pm

  A serious loss in my daily routine. GL always had the best information. Not sure it can be replaced by reading all the other Brooklyn blogs together.

• 52 Erica // Sep 26, 2008 at 7:42 pm

  Bob, just wanted to wish you a happy New Year (Shanah Tovah), and pray that whatever was wrong can be righted, and I wish for you sweet new beginnings, that all your prayers be answered, and that an endless bounty of goodness, health and happiness be showered upon you and your loved ones, this year and every year. Godspeed, bro.

  E.

• 53 Abraham // Sep 26, 2008 at 11:22 pm

  I hereby rescind that wish.

• 54 Kdubs // Sep 28, 2008 at 1:38 am

  Good luck and great job! Especially Katie Rush!!!

• 55 PZ // Sep 28, 2008 at 12:06 pm

  My sympathies for whatever is going on and I do hope things get better, Rob.

  You don’t owe anyone anything and continuing again is your choice. Though if it’s going to close shop, I beg that you please at least do a concluding post with some closing thoughts, predictions and reflections about Brooklyn and blogging. It would also be great to read a clear-cut explanation of what is causing the shut down (I think most people have no idea what’s going on, to be honest).

• 56 Michael // Sep 29, 2008 at 8:28 pm

  Hope all is ok soon

• 57 g-spa luva // Sep 30, 2008 at 9:04 am

  I should probably stop coming back here to see if you’re back on line.. can you just email me when this party starts again?

• 58 Brenda from Flatbush // Sep 30, 2008 at 2:02 pm

  I echo PZ; we need closure, those of us who made this a cyber-town square. Please?

• 59 Jack // Sep 30, 2008 at 3:39 pm

  I think you have closure. If you want any more clarification please re-read his posts again.

  I really like checking out Gowanus Lounge, but like most anything anyone does in public, the creator has every right to pull the plug if they can’t do it anymore for whatever reason there might be.

  And as someone who went through some deep family/personal issues over 10 years ago, I can honestly say: Mr. Guskind should do whatever he needs to do to make himself better. Readers—including me—are really not owed anything. Especially considering how much readers “pay” for this great resource (ie: 0).

  Take care of yourself and don’t feel obligated to keep a blog alive. There’s life and personal needs and those are always more important.

• 60 JC // Sep 30, 2008 at 9:17 pm

  I echo Jack’s sentiments — please do not feel obligated to keep this blog alive. In fact, I encourage you to take it down immediately so as not waste any more energy fishing for sympathy from these poor people you’ve left in the dark. Please, you owe it to yourself. Don’t do it for us. Just take care of number one, Bob. Put the dog down already.

• 61 Jack // Sep 30, 2008 at 11:38 pm

  JC, it’s geniuses like you that ultimately make people pull sites down and go “Why do I bother?” Seriously, you have any clue how stressful it is to run a site even in good times thanks to trolls like you? It’s one of the main reasons I personally pulled down my own blog: Real-life or writing things and patrolling comments from ass-hats who never got enough attention from their parents as a child.

  Might I ask you crawl back into the hole you came from.

• 62 JC // Oct 1, 2008 at 10:39 am

  Jack - Please, enough with the drama. If my comments brought down the Gowanus Lounge, I’d pat myself on the back, but unfortunately I’m sure that’s not the case. It’s not so much the blog I don’t care for, it’s Mr. Guskind himself. I and many others have grown more and more aggravated with Mr. Guskind and other bloggers’ continued snarky commentary online. We feel that he and others like him have helped to fuel and incite the types of culture wars that are now prevalent throughout Brooklyn. Specifically, we feel his subtle assaults are misdirected at the newest guard of regular, hard-working, middle class folks who are just trying to find a place to live and raise a family, rather than assailing the underlying problems that have nothing to do with these people. While he is hardly responsible for the resulting prejudice that new transplants face moving into evolving neighborhoods, and in particular, into new construction in these evolving neighborhoods, he is obviously one of the louder and more present voices online. He knows that his snarky posts will generate a largely evil dialogue from posters and trolls alike, and for what? For page views and revenue generation for a cesspool of a site like Curbed, that’s what. Sure, maybe GL was more pure, but at the end of the day, I and others think the guy is a jerk. And I don’t feel the slightest bit bad about pissing him off, stressing him out, or otherwise taking pleasure at his beloved blog coming down.

  Put that in your pipe and smoke it, asshole.

• 63 Jack // Oct 1, 2008 at 1:16 pm

  JC, the only asshole here seems to be you. It’s amazing you should post any of this. Your pejorative use of the word “bloggers” is hilarious. You know how hard it is to simply start a blog? Not at all hard. Sign up for a free account at any number of blog hosting sites. Post something. And that’s it.

  So if you feel that Mr. Guskind is responsible for the “…resulting prejudice that new transplants face moving into evolving neighborhoods…” then please start your own blog an express your opinion.

  And if you can’t do that then why not fully identify yourself, you self-centered schmuck.

  PS: “Specifically, we feel…” don’t presume you speak for anyone but yourself. The Royal “We” is laughable otherwise.

• 64 JC // Oct 1, 2008 at 2:07 pm

  Jack, trust me. I was blogging long before the term even existed and only gave it up when every Tom, Dick and Harry put one up to satiate their narcissistic desires. So please don’t talk down to me as if you know anything about me. It’s not about me anyway. It’s my right to be an asshole if I choose. That’s not the issue.

  And believe me, there just may come a time when I start blogging again on just this very topic. But because I DO understand how hard and time-consuming it is to maintain a blog, I choose not to. I am quite happy posting my opinions on other peoples’ blogs as I see fit. If someone has a problem with that, then they should disable comments altogether. And let’s face it, Mr. Guskind and the editors of others blogs are certainly no stranger to censorship — I’ve seen many a comment “disappear” from the roll when someone finally figured out how to hit a nerve.

  And all this about self-identification. Puh-lease. What does that accomplish other than shifting the debate from the issues to the individual? You sound like a smart guy, I’m surprised you wouldn’t realize that. In this case people like Mr. Guskind and other bloggers like him have inserted themselves into the frey such that they have BECOME part of the issue. And that’s why I and many others feel quite justified in being a thorn in their side. Everything else karma can take care of. (And karma has obviously dropped by recently given the recent turn of nebulous events.)

  You know, it’s awfully ironic how so many bloggers can dish it out, but then start whining and crying when they get a taste of their own snarky vomit. And Jack, my friend, you have made that point so very clear.

• 65 Jack // Oct 1, 2008 at 5:54 pm

  You bile and specific complaints about Gowanus Lounge make one thing clear: You are somehow involved in the real estate market or own enough of a stake in condos/coops to be angry at Gowanus Lounge.

  There were some trolls based in Carroll Gardens that reared its head when the battered women’s shelter geared towards the Asian community opened.

  So I’m willing to put some money on the fact you’re one of them.

  Enjoy your misery.

• 66 Daniel // Oct 1, 2008 at 11:05 pm

  BTW I hate the both of you for ruining these comments.

  What sites have been people reading now that there is this huge hole in Brooklyn news?

• 67 JC // Oct 2, 2008 at 12:10 pm

  Jack,

  I take great enjoyment knowing that you couldn’t be more off in your assessment of me. I wish I could take your money.

  Anyway, enough of all this. I have bigger fish to fry than you, little man.

• 68 Ruth Edebohls // Oct 2, 2008 at 12:54 pm

  Daniel,
  I agree with you. And I have great faith that GL will return .

• 69 Marie // Oct 3, 2008 at 6:06 pm

  GL does not owe anything to anybody. Not closure, not an explanation, nothing.

  It might be back, it might not. So what? It was a small and enjoyable part of our lives, and a bigger, major, part of someone else’s life, who entertained and informed us at no expense to ourselves. RG will move on, here or elsewhere.

  Why on earth anybody feels that they have been let down, or that GL’s suspension is a personal betrayal, is beyond me.

• 70 JC // Oct 4, 2008 at 1:32 am

  Well, let’s see Marie. People don’t put up blogs to send information out into entropy, now do they? No. They put them up so people READ them. And then people start reading them and become loyal followers. This is obviously good for the blog owner. It strokes their needy ego, and may even help generate revenue through advertisers. In short, most blogs exist because they have a FOLLOWING. If a blogger didn’t have a following, he may as well just keep a personal diary. Right?

  You’re kind to be so forgiving to someone who basically left all his children at the front door of the hospital without so much as a note as to why he left them behind. What a stand-up guy this Robert must be.

  But I’m now realizing from the majority of these comments that the Gowanus Lounge is merely a Brooklyn blog almost wholly supported by other Brooklyn bloggers. And that would make perfect sense given how little people seem to care to comment on the stories on this blog. (Remember: Bloggers have their blogs! They don’t have time to comment on other peoples’ blogs!)

  Who knows? Maybe that’s why Robert canned it for now. I mean let’s face it. It’s a lot of work to put this blog together. If only your mom, dad, a few colleagues, and a few dissenters like me read it, then why bother? I just feel bad for the 2 or 3 people who obviously love this blog and have dedicated themselves to reading it daily, and now get left in the lurch by way of a bunch of ambiguous BS commentary designed to attract a bunch of sympathetic comments. (As exemplified in this comment thread. Pathetic.)

  As I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again — Robert’s a self-centered, self-promoting, egotistical little shit.

  That’s my genuine opinion having read Robert’s pedestrian posts for years now, and I’m entitled to it.

  If you don’t like it, stop re-visiting these comments, or tell Robert to turn them off or to censor my posts as he is wont to do anyway.

  You want Robert to start the Gowanus Lounge up again? Well, here you go:

  *** Hey Robert, I’m so glad you brought this blog down. I feel vindicated that you’ve been compelled to end it all. I hope it never returns. ***

  Now you watch people… the Gowanus Lounge will be back up in no time. That’s how ego and hubris work!

  You can thank me later.

  Just call me JC.

• 71 Kill JC // Oct 5, 2008 at 7:14 pm

  Come on back when you are ready

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