The New York Times Ponders, 'Is Hillary Clinton Cool Enough for Brooklyn?'

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

It's the question everyone's asking: No, not "Should I eat an ice cream cone right now?" (yes) or even "Who will be the next President of the United States?" (boring). It's this far more important inquiry: "Is Hillary Clinton cool?" Now that she's moved to Brooklyn and bought a couple of rompers, the New York Times finally, heroically attempts to solve it. The answer? Kinda.

The piece starts with an anecdote about Clinton supporter and noted Cool Person Audrey Gelman, a PR consultant best known for her longtime friendship with Cool And Also Famous Person Lena Dunham: Back in 2008, she was "berated" for wearing a Clinton campaign button on the subway, but now, she says, "If you go to a party in Williamsburg or Bushwick and wear a Hillary pin, people are going to be like 'Right on.'" Hillary Clinton Cool: 1. Hillary Clinton Not Cool: 0.

Plus, other cool, famous people have already shown their support for the Clinton campaign, including Ciara, the Broad City girls, Katy Perry, 50 Cent, Kelly Clarkson, and America Ferrera—Beyoncé even attended a campaign fundraiser. Hillary Clinton Cool: 8 (plus however many Cool Points Beyoncé equals, probably a billion). Hillary Clinton Not Cool: 0.

But! Despite the parade of celebrities, the New York Times wonders, "What about the cool people who aren't famous?" So they head to Washington Square Park in search of answers, and find a thoroughly unimpressed NYU student, an 18-year-old who says plainly, "It's not cool to support Hillary," and, in a bizarre twist, the actress Anne Hathaway, who happens to be sitting in the park with her husband "watching toddlers interacting with dogs," but will not comment. Hillary Clinton Cool: 8 (plus a billion Beyoncé points). Hillary Clinton Not Cool: 2 (plus Anne Hathaway's non-answer).

Also asked if Hillary Clinton is cool: A man who happens to be talking to the actress Jennifer Connelly across the street from Clinton's Brooklyn Heights campaign headquarters (answer: no), a couple walking out of a trendy Greenpoint restaurant (answer: no and no), and artist Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic "Hope" logo for the 2008 Obama campaign (answer: hellllll no).

Final tally? Hillary Clinton Cool: 8 plus Beyoncé. Hillary Clinton Not Cool: 7 plus Anne Hathaway. Do with this information what you will.