If you’ve spent any time on social media or TikTok in the past couple of weeks, then you’ve probably heard “Dimes Square” thrown around a lot. Many were unsure what Dimes Square referred to. Others, like me, who have been in NYC for years now and have spent time downtown, are a little bit annoyed by the fact that a neighborhood has turned into a small “sensation.”
In the past year, many skateboarders and the so-called “cool kids” of New York have migrated towards a corner of lower Manhattan that they call Dimes Square (after Dimes Deli, and according to internet folktales, because everyone there is a “10”).
Dimes Square has been the inspiration for hundreds of think pieces, as well as its own DIY newspaper called “The Drunken Canal,” and has even been called the first ever “meme neighborhood.” Now, this niche neighborhood of Manhattan is getting its very own reality TV show.
Dimes Square became an online sensation, bringing in hip influencers as well as online tastemakers, but as all online trends go, these cycles come and go pretty fast. So perhaps the new show, titled The Come Up, is the last attempt to keep the neighborhood relevant.
The show, which premiered on September 13, is described as a docuseries about 6 Gen Z New Yorkers who go about their lives—from hustling to hanging out—and as all reality TV shows go, it is meant to be unscripted.
The cast is made up of actors Claude Shwartz and Ben Hard, model-performer Fernando Casablancas, photographer Sophia Wilson, fashion designer Taofeek Abijako, and nightlife personality Ebon Gore.
- Photo via Curvel Baptiste
- Photo via Curvel Baptiste
This TV show is a bizarre twist to a location-turned-fad that is rooted in post-irony and extreme internet culture. I personally am not sure that this warrants a TV show, however, it would be interesting to have a documentation of this phenomenon of micro-neighborhoods becoming hubs for subcultures relating to fashion, art, youth, naivete, and streetwear.
A lot of people’s main concerns when it comes to this show is the effects it could potentially have on young people who look up to these micro influencers, who potentially come from a lot of money and don’t necessarily need to work to make a living.
But as always, we will wait for the show to air its entire first season to evaluate its merits (or lack thereof). The Come Up premiered on Freeform and Hulu on September 13.
Speaking of influencers, here’s guests at New York Comic-Con worth standing in line for, and how Social Media can trick you into thinking you’re taking Ls.
Photo via Maria Tomanova