Brooklyn 11223 is an American reality television series that premiered on Oxygen in March 2012. The show follows the lives of a group of twelve Italian-American men and women in their mid-twenties who live in the Bay Ridge neighbourhood of Brooklyn. At the centre of the show is the rivalry between two former best friends, Joey Lynn Teculwe and Christie Liviti, which began after an alleged betrayal, in which Christie’s ex-boyfriend was allegedly involved.
Not everyone liked the TV show, especially among the residents of the Bay Ridge community. The reason was the candid portrayal of community life. However, there were also positive reviews — the show appealed to those who enjoy purely entertaining content. For more details about the Brooklyn show, visit brooklynski.info.
History of the TV show
Therefore, drunkenness, swearing, and fights among Italian Americans are nothing new on television thanks to reality shows. Due to the popularity of such television projects, Bay Ridge found itself in the spotlight that month, but community residents, especially Italian Americans, are not very happy about it.
The premiere of the television show Brooklyn 11223 took place in March on the Oxygen channel. It follows a group of friends in their 20s who live in Bay Ridge and the surrounding areas of Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Bayside, and Gravesend. Like most successful reality shows, it focused on the drama within the group.
It is no coincidence that this series has been compared to Jersey Shore, as it also portrayed the Italian-American community in a negative light. With the exception of a few actors, the remaining 18 people featured in Brooklyn 11223 are of Italian descent. Moreover, one of the most prominent, vocal, and popular opponents in Brooklyn 11223 was City Councilman Vincent Gentile, who represents Bay Ridge itself.
Brooklyn 11223 stirred up the local community to such an extent that a protest rally was held after the show aired. Participants demanded that the show be shut down and that Bay Ridge not be disgraced. Active community members refused to stand by and allow Hollywood to portray the hard-working, proud, cultured, and creative residents of Bay Ridge in such a derogatory light.
Even State Senator Diana Savino spoke at the protest. She stated that the reality show continues the trend of portraying Italian-American women in the worst possible light, which does not contribute to the development of the area. She called on Bay Ridge residents to boycott restaurants and other businesses that allowed the producers to film in their establishments.
Some even had to justify themselves on social media, explaining to their fellow residents that the show is not at all about what is happening in Bay Ridge, nor even about what Bay Ridge wants or needs. But at a press conference specially organized for this purpose, the activists stated that they were there to represent the real women of Bay Ridge.
The Real Women of Bay Ridge
What’s more, in March, the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper even launched a series of articles called “Real Women of Bay Ridge.” It featured successful women in the community. Interestingly, one of the women featured was Sarah Steinweis, the assistant to the aforementioned Gentile. It is known that before joining Vincent’s team in September 2011, she had worked as a teacher for over 12 years.
In a note, the editors of the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper pointed out that this series of articles was dedicated, among other things, to Women’s History Month. However, everyone understood that this was a response to the TV show Brooklyn 11223 and a counteraction to the women who appear on the show, swearing, drinking alcohol, and engaging in physical violence in Bay Ridge and other areas.
But not all residents reacted negatively to the TV show, at least at the beginning. On the contrary, after some Bay Ridge residents heard about the new reality show that was going to be filmed in their neighbourhood, they were actually happy. The reason for their joy was simple. These people had hopes that their often-forgotten neighbourhood in Brooklyn would attract attention after the show’s successful broadcast, and with it, economic growth.
At that time, the undisputed leaders, i.e., the most fashionable neighbourhoods in the borough, were Williamsburg and Park Slope. However, all these thoughts quickly evaporated after the trailer for the reality show Brooklyn 11223 was released.
It should be understood that Brooklyn 11223 is not the first reality show of its kind, and therefore it is not the only one that has caused a negative reaction among some residents of the area. Moreover, many such shows are filmed and aired in Brooklyn in general. This was one of three shows in the area that premiered within a few months of each other.
For example, the premiere of the show “A Slice of Brooklyn” about the well-known tourist company of the same name took place in March on the Travel Channel. And in April, A&E began airing the reality show Rambug about Rambug Pest Control, a Brooklyn-based pest control company. All three shows featured Italian-American participants who have long been associated with Brooklyn.
Who is this show about?
But let’s get back to Brooklyn 11223. The entire plot of the series revolves around two groups of friends, or, as they are called here, “brigades.” One of them is led by 24-year-old Joey Lynn Teculwe from Gravesend, the neighbourhood that boasts the 11223 zip code. The girl has Sicilian roots. On the other hand, there is 22-year-old Christy Liviti, also a Sicilian from Gravesend. The situation is made even more interesting by the fact that the two women were once close friends. But after Joey Lynn allegedly slept with her boyfriend, according to Christie, they stopped communicating.
The show’s executive producer, Michael Hirschhorn, said that he did not intend to exploit Italian Americans, let alone offend them. Casting teams began searching for characters with texture in Queens before coming across Joey Lynn Teculwe and Christie Leviti, who were originally from and lived in Gravesend. At the same time, the girls often spent time in Bay Ridge. It was then that the writers thought that the tension between the two former best friends could make for a compelling story.
However, Hirschhorn himself had to admit that it was very difficult to resist focusing the camera on certain character traits that he believes are common to many Brooklynites. At the very beginning, in a press release for the show, executive producer Michael Hirschhorn wrote that the inspiration for the show came from the Broadway revival of West Side Story. Isn’t that beautiful?
“This isn’t Jersey. This is Brooklyn.”
The introduction to the first episode clearly indicates that the series takes place in a harsh, pure Italian neighbourhood where people care for one another and have a stern appearance. The fact that the word “drama” is repeated several times during the first couple of minutes adds to the drama. The slogan that Oxygen uses for Brooklyn 11223 is “This isn’t Jersey. This is Brooklyn.”
Many local residents dislike this approach and have come up with their own motto for the occasion, which was visualized immediately after the show’s premiere: “This isn’t Bay Ridge either.” At the same time, despite all the possible complaints, some Bay Ridge residents admitted that they were curious to see how the show would portray their community this time around.
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