Urban Traps

March 18, 2011 5:38 AM

Urban Traps

"Urban Traps is a project where we lay traps for certain subcultures. Our goal is protect neighborhoods from infestation and collect different species for further study."

posted by Blazecock Pileon (53 comments total)

"Oh, awesome, I love bear traps...oh, crap, now I'm covered in PBR!"
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:45 AM on March 18, 2011 [6 favorites]

Is it just the one kind of trap? It would be a more interesting project if the bait changed according to the area in which the trap was set, but instead, this is just kind of smirk-inducing.
posted by xingcat at 5:47 AM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just thinking out loud -- Would this be funny if they had traps for other subcultures? Why or why not?
posted by empath at 5:48 AM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Would this be funny if they had traps for other subcultures?

Probably a lot more funny, but there would be less approval - and probably outright ridicule - of those who think so.
posted by three blind mice at 5:56 AM on March 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

If you RTFA, you'd see they are talking about traps for other sub cultures.. Not that I know what you'd bait a "bridge and tunnel crowd" trap with ...
posted by k5.user at 5:59 AM on March 18, 2011

Urban traps trigger trendy tropes
posted by KirkpatrickMac at 5:59 AM on March 18, 2011

Yeah, I think these would be funny regardless of the subculture targeted, though urban hipsters do represent an easy target as they and their supporters are likely to be amused rather than horrified, and they're easy to stereotype and, therefore, come up with bait items for.

What would go in a hasidim trap, I wonder? A hedge-fund manager trap? A Park Slope mommy trap?
posted by killdevil at 6:00 AM on March 18, 2011

Not that I know what you'd bait a "bridge and tunnel crowd" trap with ...

Aqua Net and the keys to a Thunderbird?
posted by backseatpilot at 6:00 AM on March 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

I can't wait to see the one they make for Harlem.
posted by ColdChef at 6:05 AM on March 18, 2011

I can't wait to see the one they make for Harlem.

I wonder if they could get Monica Lewinsky to sit in it.
posted by allkindsoftime at 6:08 AM on March 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

Not that I know what you'd bait a "bridge and tunnel crowd" trap with ...
posted by k5.user at 1:59 PM on March 18
posted by Decani at 6:11 AM on March 18, 2011

o thaaats why my leg hurts
posted by flyinghamster at 6:12 AM on March 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

Arghh! Hit post too early! Let's try again!

Not that I know what you'd bait a "bridge and tunnel crowd" trap with ...
posted by k5.user at 1:59 PM on March 18

You'd bait it with a Dressler reservation and tickets to the Music Hall of Williamsburg, of course.

You do know that for at least eight years the "Bridge and Tunnel crowd" is what we've been calling the hordes who descend on Bedford Ave every weekend, right? :-)
posted by Decani at 6:14 AM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

For me, it would be odd porn, Mountain Dew (diet or regular), bacon, and a prepaid Steam card.
posted by Samizdata at 6:16 AM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

And I SOOOOOOO had my leg almost severed back before it became so... commercial and mainstream...
posted by Samizdata at 6:17 AM on March 18, 2011 [9 favorites]

Some people say unilegged is the new black.
posted by Samizdata at 6:18 AM on March 18, 2011

Christ, I need to sleep SOOOOOOO badly.
posted by Samizdata at 6:18 AM on March 18, 2011

Having just posted in an AskMe about goth culture, I have a sudden urge to set one of these with some black eyeliner, an old Siouxsie album and a pint of snakebite and black.
posted by permafrost at 6:22 AM on March 18, 2011

Would this be funny if they had traps for other subcultures? Why or why not?

Depends on the subculture-- many (most?) subcultures are made up of people in marginalized groups. Hipster-mocking isn't really problematic on the level that mocking subcultures that are made up primarily of, for example, racial/ethnic minorities or LGBTQ people. The only generalizations people make from hipster culture are that all young people are like that, and you get a sort of "kids these days with their PBR and their sunglasses" ageist reaction, which draws far less cultural ire. It'd still be funny to make traps for subcultures that either aren't loaded with the baggage of marginalization or that are associated with a dominant, oppressive culture.

Overusage of privilege-guilt terminology aside, I would love to see a Mefite trap. Perhaps with a vibrating broomstick and a slab of bacon a bit past its expiration date in it.
posted by NoraReed at 6:23 AM on March 18, 2011 [5 favorites]

and beans. Don't forget the delicious, tasty beans.
posted by bonehead at 6:27 AM on March 18, 2011 [4 favorites]

those sunglasses are blue
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 6:29 AM on March 18, 2011

I quit smoking three years ago, but there's no way I could pass by one of these things without nabbing the American Spirits. In fact the trap makes them look even more deliciously forbidden.

I'd use a stick, of course. Cardboard or not, I've seen Straw Dogs and I'll never un-see it.
posted by biddeford at 6:35 AM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

A Park Slope mommy trap?

32 year old childless indie-band bass player.
posted by rusty at 6:46 AM on March 18, 2011 [8 favorites]

Not that I know what you'd bait a "bridge and tunnel crowd" trap with ...

Discount cards to Woodbury Outlets.
posted by Smart Dalek at 6:51 AM on March 18, 2011

What would go in a hasidim trap
I don't know, but if it's the sabbath, they'd have to hire somebody to trigger it for them.

A hedge-fund manager trap?
Blackberry, starbucks, and the wealth of the American Middle Class. This one is an actual bear trap, and not an art installation.

A Park Slope mommy trap?
Again, no idea, but it would have to be large enough to be able to swallow an SUV-sized stroller whole. Whole Foods reusable grocery bag.

Some other ideas:
Tourist trap -- items purchased at Sbarro, TKTS, H&M, Shake Shack. Passes for those weird double-decker buses.

Socialite trap -- opera glasses, bowtie, champagne flute, and..... (I have no idea, but NYC is one of the only places on the planet where this subculture actually exists, so it makes sense to capitalize on it!)

Bridge & Tunnel Trap -- EZPass, Bagels, Subway map, timer counting down to the last NJTransit train back into Jersey, Chris Christie voodoo doll.

_{A quick google search turned up this old AskMe about other cities' equivalents of the "Bridge & Tunnel" mokier. "In DC we just call them Congress." Ha!}
posted by schmod at 6:54 AM on March 18, 2011 [4 favorites]

The B & T trap would have paper bags, for the beer they bring on the trains.

The mommy trap would definitely have a hot 30-something musician. And a brownstone.
posted by the young rope-rider at 6:58 AM on March 18, 2011

I would love to see a Mefite trap.

No no no we want something besides the extant hipster trap.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:03 AM on March 18, 2011 [5 favorites]

the mommy trap: an admission letter to preschool of choice + a manny.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:04 AM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Hey look, a stack of first-edition Lovecrafts on a Victorian-era (non-steampunk!) wooden table, and twenty cats with completely intact knuckles!
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 7:08 AM on March 18, 2011 [4 favorites]

So is there a new hipster hand steak industry or something?
posted by Namlit at 7:19 AM on March 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

Hey look, a stack of first-edition Lovecrafts

So a pile of crumbling copies of Weird Tales?
posted by clarknova at 7:19 AM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

they should bait these with tickets to a Neutral Milk Hotel show. Probably worth losing a limb for
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:21 AM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

<Hey look, a stack of first-edition Lovecrafts

So a pile of crumbling copies of Weird Tales?

[clank]

The pedantry trap was super effective
posted by device55 at 7:21 AM on March 18, 2011 [17 favorites]

Mefi Trap: an newspaper opinion piece praising Obama's human rights record, whilst criticizing Wikileaks and cats.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:27 AM on March 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

Socialite trap -- opera glasses, bowtie, champagne flute, and..... (I have no idea, but NYC is one of the only places on the planet where this subculture actually exists, so it makes sense to capitalize on it!)

How about the latest designer bag, a cocktail, and a syringe of Botox?
posted by TooFewShoes at 7:30 AM on March 18, 2011

Man, I'm tempted to do something like this for Davis Square, Somerville, MA.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:34 AM on March 18, 2011

I love bear traps

A bear trap is a bottle of beer, a copy of PINUPS and cargo shorts.
posted by The Whelk at 7:57 AM on March 18, 2011 [5 favorites]

Excellent, from the Gothamist comments:

They should make a miniature one of these and place it in the trap as well.
posted by mendel at 8:06 AM on March 18, 2011 [6 favorites]

Where's Admiral Ackbar when you need him?
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:13 AM on March 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

i'd like to note my mature restraint in not calling myself a bear trap.
posted by The Whelk at 8:18 AM on March 18, 2011 [8 favorites]

"Welfare! Solar Power! No Nukes!"

It's a shame. They're more fun than buffalo.
posted by delfin at 8:21 AM on March 18, 2011 [4 favorites]

I would go for that Holga.
posted by mike3k at 8:55 AM on March 18, 2011

Those who've met me have noticed my gimpiness and concomitant cane use. I used to be as healthy and mobile as anyone. Then, one day, as I was walking to the L stop, I see on the ground an Idries Shah book, some Ritter Sports, and a bag of grass...
posted by jtron at 9:39 AM on March 18, 2011

Also the whole 'protect neighborhoods from infestation' language is creepily eliminationist, and I wish they'd phrased it differently as otherwise I think this is pretty funny
posted by jtron at 9:41 AM on March 18, 2011

the whole 'protect neighborhoods from infestation' language is creepily eliminationist

Considering the hipster-iness of this exercise, it suggests a creepily intriguing identification with the parasite and not the host.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:46 AM on March 18, 2011

delfin: "Welfare! Solar Power! No Nukes!"
It's a shame. They're more fun than buffalo.

Ow! Socialized medicine! Socialized medicine!
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:44 AM on March 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Bridge and Tunnel Traps Have Been Set!
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:48 AM on March 18, 2011

"tickets to the Music Hall of Williamsburg"

But since the MHoW is in Brooklyn, the majority of the bridge & tunnel crowd wouldn't need to cross any bridges or tunnels to get to it. I thought the point of a B&T trap was to catch the ones who came into New York [county], not the ones who stay home on Lawn Guyland.
posted by Eideteker at 12:20 PM on March 18, 2011

Here is my internet nerd trap. I have baited it with two declarative sentences and a question.

VVVVVVVVV
"Yahoo Search is pretty good"

"I am tired of LOLcats."

"How come people always complain about DRM? What's the big deal?"

^^^^^^^

I watch and wait with tented fingers and an arched eyebrow.
posted by ErikaB at 2:01 PM on March 18, 2011

The Hipster Traps were hilarious, but Greenspan is really hitting a sophomore slump with those Bridge & Tunnel traps.
posted by rusty at 2:02 PM on March 18, 2011

Why's everybody always ragging on PBR? I don't even think hipsters are into it anymore since you guys spent the past 10 years mocking them about it.

Seriously, it tastes better than milwaukee's best or busch light.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 3:30 PM on March 18, 2011

PBR is fine if it's a dollar or less.

Anything else is missing the point.
posted by The Whelk at 3:40 PM on March 18, 2011

device55: The pedantry trap

Starring Larry David as identical twins who decide to switch places when they meet at summer camp. Dry humor ensues.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:43 AM on March 19, 2011