The Uptown TwitterVerse Explained

BY Claudio E. Cabrera (@cecabrera21)

[slideshow]

If you’ve ever been on Twitter and typed in #Inwood, you would notice how many funny, lively, gangster, no ish-taking personalities we have in this neighborhood. Luckily, I’ve been able to meet a lot of these people and become friends with them.

So, I decided to spend some time matching some of my favorite people in Inwood with network series characters who I think they resemble. I’m sure some of you guys will hate (haha) me after this, but you want to know something: “No me importa!”

On to the comparisons:

Carla (@carlazanoni) as Morgan from Dexter –  Keeping it in the family, our neighborhood journalist, Carla Zanoni, closely resembles Dexter’s sister Morgan. Morgan is a detective and both are similar in the sense that they will be up at all hours of night to get the story right; or wait on completing it because she has a hunch something is coming. Two people who take their job seriously because they love it so much.

Tony Peralta (@peraltaproject) as Lafayette from True Blood –  Well first off, Tony doesn’t sell V (Vampire Blood) and he isn’t interested in men, but these two have an energy, flamboyance, and I don’t take any crap attitude that endears them to people in the neighborhood. While Lafayette prefers to show his ‘art’ through naked webcam videos, Tony uses canvases and anything he can find to share himself with the general public.

Led Black (@Led_Black) as Stringer Bell from The Wire – The glasses, the chill demeanor, the studious nature and the drive to make the Uptown Collective more than just a local thing is Led Black. In the same way that Stringer looked at the drug game with Avon and wanted to expand out of that, Led looks at the Uptown Collective. A website that is not only meant to educate and inform our neighborhood residents, but those not from around here; maybe enough to make them want to move to the two best neighborhoods not only in Manhattan, but in the city. He’s making uptown a drug that many can’t seem to resist.

Carolina Pichardo (@c_pichardo) as Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City – I had trouble finding someone who mirrored Carolina, but I settled with an individual who has a similar body type, job and passion.  Carolina is a young independent writer who holds her ‘show’ together just like Carrie does. She’s raised a smart, young daughter, runs a website dedicated to Young Urban Mothers,  launched a neighborhood radio show and is just an all-round good person.

Jim Swimm (@Jims_Whim) as Omar Thornton from The Wire – This one is pretty self explanatory. Anyone who saw ‘The Wire’ knows that Omar is the big, tall Black guy who walks the streets with a huge shotgun settling scores. He doesn’t take crap from anybody. Oh, he’s also gay. While Jim barely walks around with a shotgun and is as white as rice, you can always find him debating people on Twitter in a snarky, smart manner with a tinge of I’ll f you up in it. It’s no surprise he usually wins like Omar did.

Jose Breton (@jgbreton) as Big Pussy from The Sopranos – When you think of Big Pussy from the Sopranos, you immediately think of a larger-than-life figure who is all about family and has a great relationship with his children. That’s what I think of when I think of Jose.

Richard Herrera (@ArtForStrangers) as Ari Gold from Entourage –  A guy who has a filthy mouth just like Ari and says some of the wittiest, funniest things I’ve heard. Check. A guy who mirrors Ari’s mastery in the sports agency world with his great work in the photography/video circles. Check. So I guess this makes Rich the most powerful man in Holly-In-wood now.

Paul Lomax (@PaulLomaxPhoto) as David Brent from The Office – David Brent is the boss on The Office and I consider Paul to be the boss of all bosses when it comes to photographers uptown. We can’t forget that they are both British and have a real offbeat sense of humor. I mean that in a good way. Some of the things Paul and I joke about would make some people cringe haha.