DownWithTyranny!: John Hodgman, from the un-chic part of Brooklyn's Park Slope, wishes his Manhattan-bound neighbors the de Blasios well

"The end of the world is a little like death": At TEDxMidwest, 2011, self-styled "deranged millionaire" (and former "minor television personality") John Hodgman owns up that he hasn't gotten around to preparing his "go bag" for the predicted nuking of NYC, where he lives.

"Now you may say, 'That John Hodgman, he's crazy.' Yeah, that's how I opened this. I said I was deranged. [Waving his hand dismissively] There goes your argument there."

-- John Hodgman, on the Coming Global
Supercollapse and Total Superpocalypse

"[Park Slope resident John] Hodgman said [the de Blasios] are leaving one of the best neighborhoods in the city, 'And you know that because everyone in Park Slope is constantly saying that.' "

-- from "John Hodgman to de Blasios: You'll
Miss Us in Park Slope," WNYC News

by Ken

Since the NYC mayor primary on September 10, when city Public Advocate Bill de Blasio swept the field so convincingly that he averted a runoff and became all but certain of election (if you had your money on Republican sort-of-candidate Joe Lhota, perhaps out of a deep-rooted affinity for underdogs, or plutocrats, good luck to you), there have been two questions above all to which New Yorkers, or at least New York infotainment noozers, have wanted answers. First, whom would the new mayor appoint as police commissioner? And second, would the de Blasio family move from their home in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to the official mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion?

Now we know that the new police commissioner will be onetime Commissioner Bill Bratton, who was driven out of town the first time when he started getting better press than his boss, the ever-so-touchy Rudy Giuliani. And yes, the de Blasio family, unlike outgoing Emperor Mayor Mike, who had no intention of abandoning his home for some city- provided housing (actually an extraordinarily beautiful building), will take up residence in Gracie Mansion, though they will retain their home in Park Slope. (Hey, it's not as if they can stay in Gracie Mansion forever.)

Actually, Mayor-elect Bill seems well-known in the hood -- everyone who lives in Park Slope seems to know him. I base this on a scientific sampling of everyone I know who lives there, which would be architectural historian and Municipal Art Society tour leader Francis Morrone. Now another Park Slope resident, Daily show mad comic genius John Hodgman, has weighed in, in conversation with WNYC Radio's Brigid Bergin.

He's lived in the neighborhood going on eight years, “in a section of Park Slope that's called the South Slope, which used to be called by people who lived in Park Slope 'not Park Slope,' " Hodgman said.

It was disappointing to hear that his neighbors would be leaving. Hodgman said he was really getting used to seeing the mayor-elect at the 9th Street Y since things could get pretty out of hand there in the mornings.

"There have been many, many fewer knife fights and judgmental stares," Hodgman remarked dryly.

Brigid notes that the de Blasios still consider Brooklyn home but are making the move "for security and logistical reasons."

The mayor often hosts formal events, and at Gracie Mansion there are eight bathrooms available. At home in Park Slope, there's just one.

Hodgman was apparently so pleased to hear that the de Blasios are holding onto their Park Slope digs that he made this promise: "I will not break into it and have a party while they're gone."

Hodgman said he and his family moved [to Park Slope] for the school, PS 107. But he feels like it was just luck that he made it there at all; he used to be a freelance writer.

"Because of The Daily Show, I had become a famous minor television personality and had a little extra money and could afford to continue to live in New York City," Hodgman explained, adding, "We moved to Park Slope where our friends and everyone else we knew who had mustaches lived."
In all seriousness, Hodgman hopes the de Blasio administration can do something to make the city more affordable, particularly when it comes to housing, "such that young people, people who are just starting out, people who do not happen to be natural-resource oligarchs from other countries, can actually live in the city and contribute.”