Interview: Meet the Urban Hunters Who Created the ‘Hipster Traps’

Much like the urban hunters who’ve been silently setting up the NYC hipster traps, we’re semi-professional trackers too–practitioners of the fine arts in tracking someone down who’s done something of note somewhere on the Internet. I enjoy that pursuit. So imagine my astonishment when one of my Facebook friends–granted, we’ve connected because of a previous meme-y deed–owned up to the traps after the whole shi-bang blew up on Reddit!

So we got in touch. I asked a few questions. Behold, Williamsburg! Meet Jeff Greenspan and Hunter Fine, the urban hunters trapping hipsters and B&T types all across the city. These were answered over email, and they collaborated on the answers, so we’ll credit each one as JG/HF. Plus, below the jump, an exclusive video of smart hipsters avoiding the trap on Bedford ave.

FREEwilliamsburg: So, Jeff! You’re the urban hunter who’s placed hipster traps all over the city?

JG/HF: Yes, along with my friend my friend, Hunter Fine, we’ve started setting Urban Traps – the first ones aimed at hipsters.

FW: And who are you guys, exactly, when you’re not baiting the city’s ‘trustafarians’?

JG/HF: Just two guys with clearly too much free time on our hands. Actually, we both have jobs that keep us quite busy. We both work in the same building, and they make ads in this building. We help make those ads sometimes. But, we’re trying to transition into the Urban Hunting field. It’s a wide open field, with not too many competitors right now, but, there’s also not too much money in it. We hope that changes as people realize we can help them with their infestation problems when it comes to Hipsters, Bridge and Tunnel types, or any other subcultures that are pushing out the natural populace of an area. Also, social-scientists might be interested in studying some of the species we capture.

FW: Can you tell me a bit about the ideation of the traps? How’d this come about?

JG/HF: We saw a Wile E. Coyote cartoon and thought to ourselves, hey, why not.

FW: And then a Redditor snapped your pic. Was he random? Or did he know you? Are you gigaface?! [note: i asked this one before it came out gigaface was Will Simon].

JG/HF: INTERVIEW OVER! How dare you accuse us of being Giga-whatever-his-name-is. Actually, we met him that day and he’s a nice guy. His name is Will Simon. We had just set our first trap on Avenue A and 6th street. Within 5 minutes, Will walks by and asks us “is that a Hipster Trap?” which is exactly is what we hoped people would assume it was. He asked to take a pic with his phone, and within hours his pic had 250,000 hits on Reddit where it remained the top story for awhile. We were amazed.

FW: What’s it been like–seeing your traps all over the interwebs…and now, newspapers (Metro ran a front-page cover today)?

JG/HF: We were both shocked. Our moms would be shocked too, if someone could explain to them what Reddit and imgur.com are.

FW: Where else have you placed the traps?

JG/HF: Besides the East village, all over Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

FW: What are all the items–the hipster bait–you’ve included across the city?

JG/HF: Neon sunglasses in assorted colors, Pabst Blue Ribbon, American Spirit Cigarettes (yellow and orange), a yellow fixed-gear bike chain, and a Holga camera.

FW: Did anyone see you doing that? If so, what was their reaction?

JG/HF: Lots of people. They all seemed to enjoy it and take pics.

FW: Have you caught any hipsters? What would you do to them if so!?

JG/HF: We caught one, and he was all like “dudes, I got caught by a hipster trap so long ago, before they were even made.”

FW: While we’re on the subject–Wikipedia defines a hipster as, “young people who try to imitate past countercultures in a way so as to seem cool, without actually sharing the ideals of the authentic counterculturists.” How do YOU define hipsters, and what, if any, is their role in modern society?

JG/HF: That’s why we’re doing this. To study hipsters and determine their societal worth. So far, we haven’t discovered any yet.

FW: So…is hipsterism over?

JG/HF: Hipsterism is over. If you want it.

FW: Thanks for answering the Q’s. Any parting words for an aspiring hipster hunter?

JG/HF: Thanks for talking with us, please be on the lookout for Bridge and Tunnel traps. If you have ideas for locations that need traps, or have a subculture infestation, please contact us at UrbanTraps@gmail.com.