The Envy Index

New York City has long been a destination for the young and ambitious. We show up, ready to have our genius discovered, only to find that we're surrounded by thousands of other would-be geniuses, and that our dreams of fame have to take a backseat to rent-paying toil. Every now and then, though, we encounter fellow New Yorkers, younger than us, smarter than us, and more successful than us. We envy them, and we are inspired by them. Mostly, though, we envy them.

Portraits by Jesse Hlebo

Kathleen Alcott

Novelist

Other Press released 24-year-old Alcott’s first novel this year, The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets, to positive reviews.

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
We’ll be celebrating our two-year anniversary on January 3, Brooklyn and me; I began in Fort Greene and now I’m in Park Slope. I ended up here thanks to a nonstop flight from San Francisco and a somewhat impulsive approach to terribly important choices. I had just finished writing Alphabets and felt my life needed a new blankness.

Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
Sometimes I just want a spice for seasoning meat that wasn’t made with herbs grown by multilingual wizards in a mountain range, and that’s frustrating. 

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
Um, can I quote the woman who birthed me? My mother said I was using my big heart the right way. There’s sometimes guilt about writing fiction instead of curing diseases, but words like those are a sturdy reminder of why we write.

What’s next for you?
  I’m looking down the final bend of my second novel. It’s a literary octopus.

 

Lindsay Howard

Curator

At just 27, Lindsay Howard is the 2012-2013 curatorial fellow at Eyebeam and the curatorial director at 319 Scholes. She’s surely a curator to watch.

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
I started living in New York as an intern every winter beginning in 2004 and then moved here permanently in 2008. After trying out various neighborhoods off the L train, my roommate and I decided to move to Greenpoint to be closer to her work.  I love it—Greenpoint has all the necessities, plus a little bit of nature.

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
“Lindsay Howard consistently produces smart, gender-balanced exhibitions, and that track record isn’t an accident. It’s the result of a kind of professionalism that not only demands curators carefully consider how the content of a show may be received but also possess the self-awareness to make sure that happens.”  — Paddy Johnson (L Mag Art Editor)

What’s next for you?
I’m headed down to Art Basel Miami Beach to speak on a panel called “New Media, New Markets: Buying, Selling, and Collecting Digital Art” as part of the Lunch Bytes series.  When I get back, I’ll be resuming my fellowship at Eyebeam: Art & Technology Center in Chelsea, where I’m organizing a week-long symposium around their digital archive recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy.

Next year I’ll be working with a number of international curators to produce four major group exhibitions at 319 Scholes in Bushwick.  In April, I’ll be presenting F.A.T. GOLD, a five year retrospective of F.A.T. Lab, at Eyebeam.

Jesse Hlebo

Publisher, artist

Jesse Hlebo, 24, has his own record label/publishing press called Swill Children; he also publishes _ Quarterly with his friend Justin Sloane, a publication whose every issue centers on a theme related to obsolescence. He also recently opened an exhibition with Joaquín Segura at Otras Obras in Tijuana, Mexico.

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
I’ve lived in Brooklyn for four-and-a-half years, first in the northernmost part of Bed-Stuy—I guess it’s called Stuyvesant Heights?—and now a bit further in. When I first moved into the city, I couldn’t afford anywhere else, but after eight months or so I realized how amazing the neighborhood I lived in was and that I most likely wouldn’t live in any other. At least for a long time.

Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
I’m not a fan of the L train. Right now I live near the G train, which has major minuses but gets you to PS1 fast, which is great! I’m not a fan of Bedford-area Williamsburg, and Morgan Town bothers me a lot.

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
There’ve been a few times that I’ve had people tell me that my work has made them feel something very affecting, that it made them think long after and had a certain level of profundity. Each time I’ve been told this has been incredibly humbling and has caused me to rethink the things I do and the ways in which they’re executed.

Tatiana Berg

Painter

Twenty-six-year-old Tatiana Berg’s career is skyrocketing. Over the last year she’s shown at Storefront Gallery, BAM, NUDASHANK and Regina Rex, and she’s been written about in The New Yorker, Hyperallergic and Art Fag City, just to name a few outlets. Given that success, it’s surprising to hear that she hasn’t yet finished her MFA... at Columbia, no less.

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?

I lived for three years in what I guess we’re now calling “East Williamsburg,” if not quite Bushwick. I loved it! I moved there along with a bunch of people I was in school with, and it was the best place to look for places to live and studios to work in. Right now I’m doing my MFA at Columbia, so I’ve moved to the Upper West Side. It’s nice up here, and it kinda feels like living in a Woody Allen movie, but I miss Brooklyn terribly. Summer 2014, I’ll be back.

Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
Around my studio nobody was shoveling or salting the sidewalks around all the big industrial buildings. When everything froze over I just ate it constantly.

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
When racehorses are trained some of them are given little goats as pets that live with them in the stables and keep them company, so they stay calm when they’re traveling or in a new place. Some of the paintings you’re going to make are horses, and some of them are going to be goats. The goats are really important, you just wouldn’t ever send them down the race track. 

What’s next for you?
I get to go Miami soon! My work is going to be displayed this year by Postmasters Gallery as part of the SEVEN Art Fair.

Maggie Lee

Photographer

The 25-year-old frequently shoots for VICE, including its covers, and other magazines, and her work has been shown at galleries around the country and world. She’s presently featured in a group show of sorts in the New Museum Store’s window display.

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
I moved to Brooklyn in 2005 to study at Pratt Institute and have been living here for seven years now. Since then, I’ve been moving around in Fort Greene, Bed-Stuy, and Clinton Hill.

Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
I wish there were more pets that dressed up. I wish pets would wear more cute outfits like boater hats or bucket hats, fringed jackets, matching top-and-bottom running suits, shoes, bells, stuff like that. Depends on the vibe of the day, you only live once... wait... what?

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
Someone on the street once stopped me and said they knew I was a little punk and they didn’t know me that well or anything, but they knew that whatever I was doing, it was gonna be good.

 

What’s next for you?
I’m gonna make some tea, go to the studio, edit some videos, shoot some photos, collage, water the plant, go for a walk, refresh my Gmail page, listen to some Fatima Al Qadiri, work on a book, make a blog post, look at some magazines, and reflect.

Kate Lyn Sheil

Actor

Sheil, 28, has become the movies’ New York indie It girl ever since Greta Gerwig went commercial. She seems to turn up in every notable small release, including, just this year, The Comedy, Green, The Color Wheel, V/H/S, First Winter and Sun Don’t Shine.

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
I lived in Brooklyn from 2006 to spring of 2012 in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. I moved to an apartment on Devoe Street with my best friends from college after we graduated. They’re all really talented actresses: Jennifer Kim, Lindsay Burdge and Kerry Barker. But I left Brooklyn to move in with my boyfriend. He lives in the East Village.

Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
Nothing about Brooklyn really bugs me except that it’s a rabbit hole that all of my friends disappear into. That’s ok, though. I guess I did the exact same thing for a long time.

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
There’s a movie called Esther Kahn. I think it’s one of the most insightful pieces about wanting to be an actor that I’ve ever seen.

What’s next for you?
I’m working on something with my friend Alex Ross Perry in January. I’m also writing something of my own.

Angel Haze

Rapper

On her six-song Classick mixtape, itinerant Detroit native Angel Haze (née Raykeea Wilson), who lived in Williamsburg on her way up, turns her 21 years of life-experiences into sharp-focused lyrical snapshots. Critics from The New York Times to Pitchfork cite songs like “Cleaning Out My Closet,” recounting a series of childhood rapes in piercing detail, as evidence of her “potential to change the whole game.” Just three weeks after releasing her first EP in July, she inked a deal with Universal Republic Records, making her major label debut, Dirty Gold, one of the most anticipated of 2013.

Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
The fucking massive amount of hipsters. 

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
“You don’t touch lives, you save them.”

What’s next for you?
Everything, hopefully! 

Sinead Daly

Playwright

The 24-year-old New York native (and Yale Drama graduate) Sinead Daly is a writer’s assistant on CBS’ Blue Bloods, as well as a member of the Old Hat Theatre Company and a prolific playwright. Her work has been performed at festivals including Fringe and Planet Connections.

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
I was born and raised in Park Slope, then did a stint in Connecticut for college. I moved back to the great BK after college and have been in Greenpoint for about a year. I guess I ended up back in NYC after college because it seemed like the best place for me to get to work in both the theater and TV worlds.

Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
I have a major fear of pigeons, especially those in Brooklyn. I have been hit in the face twice by pigeons taking off.

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
I’ve always found great truth in Gloria Steinem’s quote: “Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.” But then there’s always the great Beckett line, “We are all born mad. Some remain so.” This definitely applies to all the writers I know.

What’s next for you?
I’m currently writing a freelance episode for CBS’ Blue Bloods and I’m prepping a play for a staged reading. I’m also working on a new musical with the wonderful and talented Becky Bicks and Ben Wexler.

Paul Legault

Poet

This fall, McSweeney’s published 27-year-old—“I’m a Cancer!”—Paul Legault’s The Emily Dickinson Reader, a hilarious “English-to-English translation” of all her poems. (It’s funny even if you’ve never read her work before.) It was his third book of poetry. He also founded Telephone Books, which publishes works in translation.

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
I moved here from Virginia after grad school, landed in East Williamsburg, then Bed-Stuy,  and now Crown Heights. Slowly moving deeper, as one does. All my friends from LA had packed up and moved to Brooklyn by the time I finished my MFA. So it looked like the right new home. 

Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
Sometimes it makes me feel like a poor person in a bad way. Most of the time it makes me feel poor in a good way. What else... the new Barclays Center sucks.

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
I don’t know if it’s directly “insightful”—knowledge is often indirect—but Susan Howe, one of my idols, and an extremely insightful Emily Dickinson scholar, sent an email to tell me she was surprised to find out she liked The Emily Dickinson Reader. And I was, too. I hope more people have that reaction to the book, but it’s enough that she did—and a hint that writing out of some kind of weird love-obsession is both a good way to be prolific and to introduce yourself to the rest of the fan club.

Alexander Heir

Designer

The 28-year-old Heir’s business has come a long way since he first started a clothing company out of his apartment in 2007. In addition to his line Death/Traitors, he now co-owns Funbot Press, a silkscreen shop whose clients include Frankie’s Spuntino and Matt & Kim, along with Burn Books Records, which helps to put out “records, books, ‘zines, art, smut and everything in between.” 

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
I’ve lived in Fort Greene for 10 years. I moved here from New Jersey to attend Pratt, or I attended Pratt to move to NYC. I had a nice apartment and liked the neighborhood, so I just stayed.

Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
The inflated and ever increasing rent, the out of control police, and the rampant development without regard for the communities they build in.

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
“You seem to hit an angle that’s 50/50 gothic vibes and anti-authoritarian anarchy.”

What’s next for you?
I’ve got an art show in Madrid next February with Heather Benjamin, a talented artist and friend of mine also living in Brooklyn. I’m working on a book project, and always new things for Death/Traitors.

The Skins

Band

Teenage guitar heroes The Skins, made up of the Brooklyn-born siblings Bayli (18), Kaya (17) and Reef (14) Mckeithan and their chums Daisy Spencer (18) and Russell Chell (19), operate at a level of hard-rock virtuosity that’s deeply implausible for a band containing a 14-year-old. This year’s debut EP quickly caught the ear of important tastemakers like Afro Punk Festival founder Matthew Morgan with its assured take on Zeppelin-era heaviness.
[The Mckeithan siblings] have lived in Brooklyn for a little over 10 years. We’ve lived in the Bed-Stuy/Clinton Hill area and have lived here for most our lives. Our mother moved us here after living in a few other places, including Long Island and Roosevelt Island. Daisy and Russ only live in Brooklyn on Sundays from 2:30 to 5 or so, when we are having rehearsal in our basement.

Anything about Brooklyn that bugs you?
Bayli: Honestly there are a lot of little annoying things about Brooklyn that some would recognize as flaws, but I see them as characteristics that make Brooklyn distinct and amazing like the people that live here.
Daisy: The G train!
Kaya: The most annoying thing about Brooklyn is that there’s nothing annoying about Brooklyn.
Reef: Oh... I don’t find anything annoying about Brooklyn.
Russell: I would also say the G train, because it’s the only annoyance I’ve experienced thus far.

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?
That we’re on the right path to success. We’re hoping they’re correct.

What’s next for you?
The next huge things were doing is finishing our full-length album and going on tour in France for a few weeks with The Heavy. Donate to our campaign to help us get there! (indiegogo.com/helptheskins)