Now tell us what you really think

Who are these people? By "these people" I mean the endless source of individuals reporters seem to find in New York who are willing to say the darnedest things.

First there was "one parent, Angie Vazquez, 37, acknowledged that her upbringing had led her to wonder: 'Wow, we’re going to have a Jewish person [as school principal], what’s going to happen? Are the kids going to have to pay for lunch?'" Now, following in Ms. Vazquez's footsteps is Abigail Cusick, who has no shame. A postgrad returnee to her native Upper East Side, Cusick explains to the New York Observer:

"Having her parents close by has also proven convenient, she said. 'I can go over for dinner,' Ms. Cusick said, 'the housekeeper comes over to clean for me, I can stop by and pick up a bottle of wine; I get to play with the dog, then return it. It’s nice.'"

I bet! Of course it gets better:

"Even the most satisfied, young, life-time Upper East Siders admit there are some pitfalls to the neighborhood, like the overcrowded 6 train and 86th Street.

'My sister, who is seven years my senior, wasn’t even allowed to walk down 86th Street when she was in high school and now they are charging two million and up for these apartments,' Ms. Cusick said of the luxury condos in development on the Upper East Side’s most incongruous commercial strip. 'I think it’s laughable when you think about it 10 years ago. … I mean, it's still 86th Street. It’s where classes collide.'"

To repeat, who are these people? While the ranks of those who fear Jewish usury and who find East 86th Street déclassé surely extend beyond Vazquez and Cusick, respectively, what exactly motivates these people to announce these worldviews to the Internets? Is this the result of a fame-addled culture, or of clever selective-quote journalism?