NY Magazine Profiles a Blog Commenter - Who Is 'The What'

Ever think the comments are better than the post? Now New York Magazine dissects a Brownstoner commenter who calls him/herself "The What."

No one knows who The What is -- or even if The What is one person or many, since anybody can call themselves anything they want. Adam Sternbergh in "The What You Are Afraid Of" writes "His posting style is so schizophrenic that one might suspect he is either (a) several very different people posting under the same name or (b) schizophrenic."

The What writes crude, angry comments about Brooklyn's "new anxieties, shameful prejudices, and secret fears," like being left out (buyers) or being pushed out (renters). Sternbergh says The What’s favorite subject of interest is the coming Brooklyn Apocalypse:

"He calls it the Mutant Real Estate Bubble. From the beginning, he has contended vehemently, and repetitiously, and often profanely, that there’s a massive correction coming to the real-estate market that will swallow the borough’s fresh-faced transplants and their artfully renovated brownstones as surely as if a chasm had opened up in the earth."

Though many readers hate The What -- and some have asked Brownstoner to ban him -- lately, Sternbergh says, economic events have "somewhat inconveniently, lent at least a little credence to The What’s erratic raving."

Photo by Aymlis, Creative Commons license.