Vanishing New York Backup

Mr. Nusraty, what's the story? You said it was just a rumor here , but today we hear the rumors are true and Afghan Imports will soon become a Brooks Brothers offshoot on Bleecker. [ Racked ] Just in time, a new Bank of America branch opens in the Toll Brothers McTower and has some strong words for would-be panhandlers. [ EVG ] More evidence the tide might be turning, luxury landlords are starting to choke on their high-priced units. [ Times ] Christopher Gray's "Streetscapes" provides a handy follow-up to my piece on the Schrafft's building at 61 Fifth Ave : "architect Alta Indelman says she is working on a design for a 10-story apartment house with one triplex, three duplexes and ground-floor retailing. She said that she had considered trying to salvage some of the Schrafft’s facade but that it was too far gone." [ Times ] Read this gorgeous story about a forest of rolling ladders in Soho. [ Times ] Do you get anxious when your cellphone battery r...

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One of my favorite books about the city, E.B. White's Here is New York , is coming to the subway system and the City Room's readers debate what makes a "real" New Yorker--one sums it up nicely with this quote from E.B., " New Yorkers temperamentally do not crave comfort and convenience –if they did they would live elsewhere." A look at New York's vanishing breed of eccentrics and characters. [ Gawker ] The Slacktivists are at it again : After the big Die Hard Yuppie Scum demonstration, John Penley "and his merry band of crusties" have more plans for the EV, including the July 11 "let them eat cake" (and shit) demonstration at 47 East 3rd . Pizzas will be courtesy of the Bowery Wine Company! Fun, fun, fun! [ Villager ] Read this detailed and lucid account of how Red Square helped launch the current super-gentrification of the Lower East Side --with brochure copy to make you sick, in which seamstresses and poets are sold out for Mr...

One member of a favorite pair of buildings, the old Bickford's on 8th Ave and 34th, is draped in Vornado. That means it's probably time to say goodbye. photo: nick widzowski According to 14to42 , this Bickford's location opened in 1929. A New York Times article, found here , tells us that the sign was revealed in 2000 when a facade for the Adult Entertainment Center on the site came down: "Bickford's, trim and tidy in white terra cotta, its distinctive script logo in a stepped entablature over a field of Art Deco chevrons... 'It's a gift back to the street of a beautiful facade,' said William K. Dobbs, a lawyer and amateur preservationist who has immersed himself in Bickfordiana ever since discovering the old facade. He determined that the branch at 488 Eighth Avenue, whose telephone number was once CHIckering-3339, went out of business in the mid-60's. It was replaced by a restaurant called Snacktime, which was supplanted by the adult book store....

Florent to remain open as non-Florent restaurant. What happened to Ralph Lauren? He couldn't afford the $60K a month? [ Eater ] And tipster quixoticire tells us that Nicola Paone--a 50-year-old Italian joint in Murray Hill , formerly owned by a troubadour known as the Italian Bing Crosby"--will be closing this weekend. [ Crain's ] The Hotel Gansevoort goes ghetto. Even when you take the tenement laundry lines out of New York, people will use ingenuity, turning tiny luxury balconies into public drying racks. Maybe there's hope for the city after all: July 11: March against the tenement-evicting millionaires of the East Village. [ EVG ] ...and here's another nice shot of that flyer, against a background of the typical New EVill scene. [ NMNL ] Times Square not seedy enough for Hollywood. [ City Room ] ...just as Malcolm McLaren softcore porns it up. [ NYDN ] "The Lower East Side of Manhattan is being SoHo-fied. (Or is it Chelsea-fied?)," and here'...

It's been a bad week for Manhattan's bookstores. First we heard the Strand Annex will be shuttering . Then the rumor that Biography Bookshop might be closing turned out to be partly true--they are in their final year. Finally, I discovered that 12th Street Books will be closing this summer. After a decade on 12th between University and 5th, the bookshop's lease is ending and the neighboring restaurant, Strip House, is expanding into the space . Strip House is one of those odd upscale chains that manages to keep its chain-identity on the down low--they've got a total of 9 locations, and their owners, the Glazier Group , also own at least 4 other restaurants, including Michael Jordan's Steak House. Their website says, "Our locations reflect our interest in historical environments throughout New York City. Drawn to preserving important cultural landscapes , we interpret their past and blend those details with a modern spirit." Sadly, in 1999, Strip House re...

Strand Annex to close : “We were doing very well with that store, and then they started the construction, which really hurt our sales.” Call it "death by construction," another way in which condos kill. [ Urbanite ] Drunkorexia: young women starve themselves all day so they can save up their caloric intake for binge drinking. Are we losing the fabulous Biography Bookshop to yet more Bleecker high fashion? This will be a horrible blow to the Village. And, yes, Carrie Bradshaw, I'll blame you . [ Racked ] * Update : I checked in with Biography and they are not leaving anytime soon . However, their days are numbered. About a year from now they'll be gone. They're looking for a new spot, so if you know of an affordable place for a bookshop, drop them a line. Get the lowdown on last night's lively meeting to save Coney from turning into yet another outdoor shopping mall. [ AMNY ] And here's more, more, more on that Coney scoping meeting. [ GL ] I love the ve...

Last week I rented The Night They Raided Minsky's , which just came out on DVD. I don't recommend it, unless you're interested (as I was) in seeing the interior of the Village East prior to its renovation from a live theater to a cinema. The red curtain is there, along with the stage and the balconies. film still photo: tony marciante The Village East did a stint as a burlesque theater around the 1950s and 60s (above and click for boobs here ), but it was never a Minsky's. The original Minsky's, represented in the movie, was located farther south at 111-117 East Houston. That's where the Whole Foods/Avalon building stands today. Here it is in 1930: NYPL image My research in the NYPL's digital gallery took me away from Minsky's and in another direction, discovering this image of the Sunshine theater, also in 1930: NYPL image Zoom in to see Yonah Schimmel's knishery as it was in its early days: Notice the major construction on Houston. They were diggi...

I can't quite figure out this new blog, NIMBY Brooklyn , but I am pretty sure it's making fun of bloggers like myself and others. It's kind of funny and kind of sad. I mean, are they pro Red Lobster or what? [via GL ] In the VNY "Steal This" tradition ( bicycle , stroller , laptop ), I submit the following scene of stealable baggage left on the sidewalk outside the Orpheum theater on 2nd Ave, where Stomp has been "hypnotizing" tourists for years. Maybe that explains the unattended luggage: Writer David Kamp, coiner of "Vongerichtified," found himself here and further adds to the meaning of the word, saying, "A Vongerichten restaurant is like a plasma TV that’s been wired into the wall of a Victorian townhouse: a flashy add-on that’s cool in its way but messes with the overall vibe. And is obsolete within five years." [ DK ] What would Jesus do? He apparently would not care to visit the gentrified (Vongerichtified) Lower East Side...

As we all know, the Stroller Wars have been raging in Park Slope . Recently, EV Idiot worried the East Village would similarly be "mobbed by the stroller mafia." With more strollers in town comes more bad stroller behavior and more anger from the child-free. Here's a sampling: George Carlin (RIP) on our child-obsessed culture. [ TBTI ] Anti-stroller signage. [ Gothamist ] Moms and bars. [ NY Times ] The original Stroller Manifesto. [ Heideblerg ] Line-cutting, on-demand flat fixes. [ Curbed ] And one In Defense of Parenthood [ Observer ] If the grudge match between the Stroller Mafia & the Angry Child-Free is going to continue, and it is, then we should at least have team uniforms . It might help us all have a sense of humor about this issue: Where'd I find these T's? How We Roll Stroller Brigade I Hate Your Kids Back That Shit Up

Brand-new Carroll Gardens residents hail the drugstores, Subways, and clothing stores that gentrification has brought to their nabe. Yes it is a satire--and a funny one that's scary because it feels so very, very, very real. [ Gothamist ] Go deep inside 47 East 3rd , where the writer is also a tenant: "My neighbors and I know that if evicted we cannot afford to remain in the East Village, suddenly full of trendy boutiques and luxury housing. I stubbornly believe the neighborhood will be a less vibrant place with all of us gone." [ Gothamist ] If you missed Folsom Street East , check out links to pictures here. [ JMG ] I have noticed an increase in crusties lately . Maybe it's just summer, or maybe it's an indication of the improved health of the East Village. Kind of like finding sea turtles in the East River. Kind of. Anyway, enjoy a night with the gutter punks of the EV . [ NYMag ] via [ Curbed ] Listen to the saviors of Coney Island on Brian Lehrer today: Cen...

This past weekend, amid a sense of impending doom and passionate protest, the mermaids paraded once again through Coney Island, many of us wondering if it would be for the last time. You couldn't miss the message. T-shirts at Lola Starr's and Ruby's urged "Save Coney Island." There was an odd requiem or two here and there. Through a fence bannered with the words "The Future of Coney Island," you saw a view of flattened earth and digging machines. And in a window on Surf Avenue, sailor girls prepared a place for Queen Mermaid, Savitri D , to hold a hunger strike to rescue Coney from the " gentrifying apocalypse of retail entertainment hell ." She and King Neptune, Reverend Billy, led off the parade, following the big drum of Dick Zigun , the former unofficial Mayor of Coney, recently resigned in protest. One troupe sent evildoing real-estate developers in yellow hardhats , with money spilling from their stuffed shirts, running down the boardwa...

In celebration of those vanished men in leather--many taken by the AIDS epidemic--enjoy my visual retrospective of the city's lost queer fetish clubs, showing them as they were yesterday...and what I discovered in their places today. Be sure to click the lavender club titles for more juicy info and images. The Ramrod 394 West St. Yesterday: Today: photo: forgotten ny Badlands 380-390 West Street Yesterday: photo: Richard Wandel Today: see Christopher's End The Anvil: 1974-1986 500 West 14th St. Yesterday: photo from bitter queen Today: The Mineshaft: 1976-1985 835 Washington St. Yesterday: photo from bitter queen Today: Vault/Hellfire/Manhole 28 9th Ave at 14th St. Yesterday: Today: The Eagle's Nest 142 11th Ave at 21st St. Yesterday: Today: see also: Bitter Queen The Lure 409 W. 13th St. Today: The Spike: 1974-2000 120 11th Ave at 20th St. Today: More reading: Christopher's End NY Press: ...

Update on the passing of Taxi Ray Kottner : I heard from his niece Maria via email, who informs us that Ray "went into cardiac arrest while sitting in his cab late Saturday night" and passed the following morning. His ashes will be interred at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale , sharing a mausoleum with the remains of luminaries like Judy Garland and Joan Crawford. Writes his niece, "So maybe it's fitting that he is ending up in the same final resting place as all of these other icons of his era." Indeed. But why is VNY thus far the only one to cover the passing of this New York icon? Things are not going well these days for Mosaic Man Jim Power. He's got some signs on his lamp posts requesting donations, saying "We're out of funds," and some of his art on 8th Street has been vandalized . Bowery Arts & Science is sponsoring him. Contact them for info on how to donate: East Village crime spree-- the Blue & Gold was robbed . [ DBTH ] Read...

Slaving over a hot blog every day, day in and day out, doesn't pay (I am seriously considering the evils of ads), but now and then, there's a perk. The NYPL sent me a free ticket to their Eminent Domain talk last night and I don't turn down free stuff. The speakers were political scientist Marshall Berman, urban studies professor Tom Angotti, blogger Brian Berger , and psychiatrist Mindy Fullilove. It began with the trailer from a short film about the Atlantic Yards Project by moderator Michael Galinksy. Angotti gave a brief history of eminent domain and its abuses, saying, "There is no definition of blight. It's a hoax. Blight is in the eyes of the beholder ." Mindi Fullilove discussed the trauma of gentrification and displacement , which she calls "rootshock," similar to the trauma that happens to plants when you yank them out of the soil. The loss of neighborhood fabric, that collective creation, she said, can lead to "terrible endurin...

There is one lesson I still have yet to learn: When I see a place that tingles my J-Reaper senses and I know it will soon vanish, I need to get in there and partake of their services fast. Instead, I add it to the ever-growing VNY Deathlist and hope for the best. Again and again, I am left bereft. Today, it was Nick's Hair Stylists on Horatio. It's gone. Vanished. The windows are papered and the inside is being gutted. No more sparkly gold chairs. No more beehived ladies. Soon, Nick's wonderful old signage will also go, along with the tagline: "Always at the right wave length." The Villager wrote about Nick Soccodato when he retired back in 2003 after 46 years. He started out styling the hair of doo-wop groups like The Regents and the Belmonts. He did Pacino's hair. Irene Naumova was one of the star stylists at Nick's. A Yelp commenter and fan wrote : " She's a little old Russian lady that reminds me of my grandmother. She remembers the details o...

Red Hook locals waited "in horror" for the "big yellow blob" of Ikea to inevitably open, because, in the end, "Rich people--they get what they want." [ Gothamist ] Owner of Bowery Wine Co. offers to serve pizza to "moron protestors" at the next Die Hard event . Hey, free pizza! [ NYO ] Fulton Fish Market to be replaced with a 42-story (!), Brooklyn-Bridge-dwarfing, totally out of context, apartment and hotel tower that will cantilever over the river (!) and generally go about "dominating many vistas of the East River waterfront." [ Times ] & [ Curbed ] " Hell has found its way into the peaceful town of Red Hook ," says a local as Ikea opens its doors with a lot of screaming and yelling. [ Racked ] Even in Canada, they know New York is vanishing, " diseased now with velvet ropes ." [ Globe & Mail ] Thursday, June 19, 7:30 pm: Freebird Books in Red Hook hosts a " post-apocalyptic discussion " with...

Good news and bad news. I was relieved and surprised to find that Gramercy Pawnbrokers, against all expectations, is still standing. But I was flabbergasted to discover that the rest of the block at 23rd and 3rd has become an immense wall of white stone and glass. Curbed called it a "condstrosity" and it is. Except it's now an NYU dorm . And it cantilevers over the little pawnshop like a giant kneeling on the shoulders of a child. I am sure if it could have, it would have blobbed down the other side to totally engulf the walkup, like its neighbor just one block south at 22nd. I guess a lot of Things are eating Gramercy these days. Unless you are everywhere every day, you just don't see all the changes until it's too late. I used to stand on that corner and wait for the 3rd Ave bus to take me home. There was a magazine store there and I would spend my waiting time looking at the magazines in the windows. What else stood on that block? I can't remember. It...