Vanishing New York Backup

Yesterday I wrote about the transformation of Elizabeth Street and mentioned that I am worried about sole survivor, Albanese Meats & Poultry shop. The last time I visited Elizabeth, one year ago, the shop's windows were full of signs and memorabilia, and the shop was cluttered with photographs, papers, and other signs of busy life. Today the place is spare and uncluttered. It was closed when I went by and the only indication that Mr. Albanese was still at work was the calendar on the wall, turned to the current month. October 2007 October 2008 Maybe he's just neatening up the place. Maybe it's a sign of vanishing. Either way, it got me in a sentimental mood (not hard to do). For those who remember, or want to remember, the way Elizabeth once was, the following is excerpted from a journal I kept in 1996 . Bear in mind, I was younger then and more exuberant, and the city was a more enlivening place. 1996: Walking home, I stopped at LaRosa's on Elizabeth Street. I ca...

Houston Street is getting benches. Who wants to sit in the middle of Houston Street? Same people who sit in the middle of 9th Ave I suppose. If you build it (and add WiFi), they will come: Tonight the public is invited to a Chelsea Community Meeting at St. Paul's Church, 7 pm , to welcome the Gem Hotel (no comment). The enticing part is there will be a presentation on the history of Chelsea , complete with some great vintage photos, including images like this one of the old Allerton : Our cuddliest Slacktivist , John Penley, is leaving NYC for "parts unknown." Now what will we do? [ EVG ] Remembering the magical Martinka . [ BBoys ] How marketing concepts become sickening realities: Please let's not nickname West Harlem "ViVa." [ NYB ] As an addendum to today's Elizabeth Street post , another shot of the 290 Mulberry scaffolding signage, because the sky is not falling, right?

Some years ago, when Elizabeth Street began to change, I began to avoid it. But before then, it was possibly my favorite street in the city. I used to go out of my way just to walk on it. Now I make sure not to go near it. Recently, I made the terrible mistake of visiting. Today Elizabeth is another street altogether. She's the plain, approachable girl who went on Extreme Makeover and came out wrapped in a shiny, plastic, Barbie-doll skin. You don't recognize her , searching in vain for some familiar feature that will bring her back to you. On her polished, high-maintenance storefronts, she proclaims herself "Trust Fund Baby" and "La Petite Princesse." This transformation began about 10 years ago. In 1998 Bella's Luncheonette became Cafe Habana . And then a shop opened. It blared ear-splitting music and expelled obnoxious people who stepped over the Italian ladies peeling potatoes on the sidewalk. I was nervous then, but had no idea just how complete t...

Tribal Soundz , the music shop on East 6th Street that sold instruments from around the world, has vanished. A benefit concert was held for them last year when they were about to lose their space "to the real estate bastards who seem to own NYC," according to voodoojive . So I'm not sure when it closed. I just walked by and noticed it was empty and shuttered. A shop girl recalls her days selling dumbeks and djembes at the shop, saying, "I used to fill in for the digeridoo teacher and the jaw harp teacher... East Village was my spot, I made friends with every sitar player on Indian Row." Indian Row itself is vanishing, too . Little by little, this block is being nibbled away by demolition and new, non-Indian restaurants. How long before the sound of sitars is gone?

Remember the recent plan to stick a condo on top of the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection in the EV? It's not happening . Someone at the church told someone at CB3: "the whole plan is CANCELLED ...CB opposed the new plan and were looking to landmark it. Church does not want landmarking and were trying to get this in place before new zoning...hallelujah!" The new Maysles Cinema in Harlem is offering a selection of documentaries about rent control. View their calendar here . Is the Hunter College School of Social Work good for East Harlem as it demolishes small businesses for its new building? [ Times ] Watch movies and more about the decline of manufacturing in New York City --a decline that makes the city more vulnerable to economic instability. [ 13 ] From the VNY Flickr Pool , thanks to Roaring Twenties , a pretty amazing ghost sign from some subway: Hats Cleaned! As a 100-year-old Villager passes away, so does the memory of cows wandering Washington Square. [...

What's going on with Christine's Polish restaurant in the East Village? A reader wrote in to say: "Christine's, at 208 First Avenue, closed recently . My friends and I ate there the very first day it opened back in the long-ago summer of 1982 , and I can still clearly remember how the addition of just a new Polish coffee shop to what was then a really hardcore neighborhood could bring about such a sense of euphoria and excitement. (Little did we know what lurked ahead.) And now it's gone, leaving only Neptune (formerly KK's) on that stretch of upper First to carry the pierogi and blintzes torch." But is Christine's shuttered for good? I went for breakfast at Neptune's and the waitress told me it's been "closed, like, forever." How long? "About two weeks," she clarified. A photo on flickr shows it gated in mid-September with signs reading, "Closed for Renovations." But those signs are gone now, the place is em...

So what's up with the bar on 2nd Ave and 4th St? Why can't they decide on a name? And how much money are they spending on awnings? First it was The Bar. Then it was bra-dancing 2 by 4. Last month it became the supposedly upscale Ambiance . And now: E4olution? " Bankers and brokers looking to escape the financial meltdown are scrambling to relocate their families, possessions and rarified talent far from Wall Street to places such as Florida, Chicago, Milwaukee, Virginia and Asia." [ Curbed ] "Many in New York have delighted, at least a little, in a sense of schadenfreude over investment-banker woes , having viewed them as a greedy breed that helped homogenize and gentrify the city." [ Times ] via [ EVG ] The economic downturn is good for the city's tailors . The mending upturn has come too late for Mili and Balabanis , but it may help keep Gino alive. [ Times ] Fight to save Met Foods succeeds , the Clam Shell salads will continue to be sold for ...

This summer I went for a beer for the first time at Farrell's Bar & Grill in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. They were--and still are-- celebrating their 75th anniversary this year , founded in 1933, the year Prohibition was lifted. A man's bar, with few women in it, the place is spare and echoing, with a white pressed-tin ceiling and a wooden phone booth. Unlike other old bars, like Pete McManus or Julius' or Montero's , it isn't dark and cluttered with memorabilia. There are no black-and-white photos of the founders in their shirtsleeves, no dusty felt Dodgers pennants, no faded menus from the 1940s. In its starkness, it's almost anti-nostalgic. But that doesn't mean Farrell's embraces the new. It's still an authentic old bar, a blue-collar enclave on the edge of gentrified Park Slope. Its customers wear firefighter and ironworker t-shirts with pro-union caps. They tell raucous, drunken, curse-filled stories around the bar. But a subdued mood desc...

Though the signs said yesterday was the grand opening, the big day is in fact today. There are festive balloons outside and everything inside (except accessories) is 30% off . You might notice those Love Guru posters have been taken out of the window. The selection here is a Kim's selection, clearly geared toward smarties and cinephiles. They have an enticing Documentary section, where you will find some of my faves, like The Corporation and Grey Gardens . Organized in true Kim's fashion, the movies are sorted according to director and genre--if genre includes Noir, Experimental, and, you might be happy to know, as I was, Sexploitation. Also, oddly enough, the cashiers are friendly and smiley. Remember, there are no more rentals in the Kim's universe. So go to the new Kim's and buy some movies. They also have vinyl and CDs. The Kim's on 1st Saga: Goodbye to Kurowycky Celebu-chefs lose out--XXX to come? Kim's to move into Kurowycky spot Kim's Mediapolis cl...

"Mayor Bloomberg is morphing into our very own Vladimir Putin and Marty Markowitz into Brooklyn’s own low-rent version of Napoleon ." [ GL ] “The people of the city will long remember what we have done here today, and the people will be unforgiving,” Mr. de Blasio said. “ We are stealing like a thief in the night their right to shape our democracy.” [ CR ] "Me, I’m just writing this day down as one more reason to get out of NYC. The Billionaires, it would seem, really have taken over. And you, you have no say in what happens next…" [ AngryNYer ] Who says the City Council's overturning of term limits is " disgraceful "? When asked if she was threatened by Bloomberg or Quinn to change her vote, one councilwoman simply responded, "I don’t want to discuss it." Some cry foul play. [ CR ] "the argument for extending the two-term limit for Mr. Bloomberg...is that the city needs someone with his financial acumen to help weather the fallout f...

The Cooper Union "communal hive" has sprouted giant wings: Another Cemusa typo . First it was Bowery Street , now it's Frederick Douglass Blvd. [ CR ] Silencing, cajoling, horse-trading, and arm-twisting --these may be appropriate tactics for a CEO and owner of a private company, but when an elected public official uses them, doesn't it sort of sound illegal? [ Times ] Looking forward to Synecdoche, New York ? Read an interview with Charlie Kaufman. [ Gothamist ] Here's another peek into Nom Wah --any news about its reopening? [ BPH ] No urinating on The Ludlow ! [ BBoogie ]

It must be in the air-- Gowanus Lounge just visited the former (?) Whole Foods site as did I. Who can resist a hole in a fence on an abandoned lot turned wilderness? At the opening, with one foot in, a shiver runs through you. It's like standing at the edge of a zoo habitat and realizing the gate is wide open. You can't see the animals crouching in the weeds, but you feel their presence. Cement silos, a glittering pile of scrap grabbed by giant mechanical hands, the rib cage of the viaduct silhouetted in the distance... There is something about industrial wastelands that fires the imagination. Especially when they include graffiti, thick vegetation, and castaway toilets . The decaying and forgotten--these are haunted landscapes, filled with possibility and risk. The danger of nature unbridled, pushing back, erupting from concrete constraints. Who knows what is hiding there? Blue Jake ventured in earlier this year and got a gorgeously eerie shot that includes the backside of t...

Is the city addicted to real estate? Check out the new book by Tom Angotti, "New York For Sale." Hey, it's the Bloomberg Way . [ CR ] Mass evictions underway at The Chelsea. [ LWL ] Kim's is getting so much love-- The Observer and Nerve both covered the story. And now it's official: The new Kim's opens tomorrow, 10/23 , on 1st Ave, according to the signs in the window. That Recession graffiti on the 8th and University Capital One ? It's been quickly and efficiently painted over...but not before making the cover of Washington Square News : The neighbors and Community Board are not happy with the bank's sidewalk-hogging plywood. Writes one VNY reader: " The bank's intent to 'squat' on the sidewalk...to build on the footprint of the old BBQ's former outdoor cafe...is illegal and wrong . Your readers, rather than venting their righteous fury in impotent graffiti, could then write, call and email their council people, the state se...

Julian Brash, Ph.D. , a Brooklyn-born professor of anthropology and urban studies now at Montclair State University, has written a book entitled “ Bloomberg's New York: Class and Governance in the Luxury City .” As our economy crashes and burns, with the City Council set to vote on term limits tomorrow , I talked with Professor Brash about what he calls the Bloomberg Way and its effect on the city. Doctoroff & Bloomberg What is the Bloomberg Way? It’s a notion of governance in which the city is run like a corporation. The mayor is the CEO, the businesses are clients, citizens are consumers, and the city itself is a product that’s branded and marketed. And New York is a luxury product . This is all about class. Bloomberg and many in his administration are asserting their right to both govern and shape the city into a place for corporate elites and high-level professionals. This is the culmination of a major shift in policy, underway since the 1970s, away from the post-...

Blame Starbucks for financial woes : "The higher the concentration of expensive, nautically themed, faux-Italian-branded Frappuccino joints in a country's financial capital, the more likely the country is to have suffered catastrophic financial losses." [ Slate ] via [ Eater ] Now coming to a digitized bus billboard near you--because drivers need more TV ads to watch. [ Gothamist ] The blue fencing has come down from around the Balazs Standard Hotel , revealing a hodgepodge of lobby facades and outbuildings. I am no architecture expert, but none of these look like they're in the same style. Reminds me of the suburban FrankenMansion way of building. From the sprawling compound, here's one lobby facade, with bright yellow canister doorway (?). Kinda looks like IKEA. Click for more photos here : What's it liked to be sealed into a concrete tomb ? Watch this video from East 13th Street. [ EVG ] A startling before-and-after of the once mysterious and wondrous 11...

First we lost Fontana's . Now it looks like David's might be the next to vanish. Yesterday I got an alarming email from a reader, who wrote: " David's Shoe Repair at 74 East 7th Street is closing this week after 28 years in business . Same old story: landlord wants to double the rent. Just walked in with a pair of shoes that needed fixing. He said I'd have to pick them up before the end of the week." I've been worrying about David's for awhile now, but all is not (yet) lost. Last night I went by to talk with the cobbler. From what I could understand, he's not sure what's happening with his lease, but he hopes to last until after the new year, perhaps until July, as long as he can sell and repair enough shoes to pay that new rent. He needs your business, so go to David's . He even sells those trendy little Worishofer clogs , and recently I noticed he had some items from the Paris Hilton Footwear collection. Anything to stay alive. Over the...

On 1st Ave, the new Kim's is making us excited with a "30% off Grand Opening" sign as they keep their gates closed. As this peek inside shows, it's stocked and swept--should be opening soon: Meanwhile, the Post catches up with Kim's closure news --didn't know "Mary-Kate Olsen was a customer until she refused to return several out-of-print Jane Campion films ." Maybe she'll volunteer to sponsor the collection for us all. [ NYP ] On a sidewalk book vendor: "Some local residents see the books as an emblem of the Upper West Side’s rich intellectual and cultural history. Others see the assemblage as a case of one man taking over an entire stretch of public sidewalk." [ Times ] Recession prices at Gray's Papaya going up. [ Times ] A visit to the Domino Sugar refinery. [ EVG ] Feisty Carnegie Hall tenant wants a bunch of bucks before she'll be booted. You go Editta! [ Curbed ] A close-up of Nicola Verlato's public art at 14th a...

Heralding the arrival of autumn, Canada geese make their way across the skies in V formation. Green leaves turn to gold. The air smells lush with mud and decay. In the city, we catch only glimpses of these seasonal shifts, never quite getting the full effects of fall that people in the country enjoy. But there is one sign of fall that never fails to come to our streets: the appearance of the Chinese ginkgo gatherers. photo: charmante's flickr The seeds of the female trees are a traditional Chinese food, writes Wikipedia , "often served at special occasions such as weddings and the Chinese New Year (as part of the vegetarian dish called Buddha's delight). In Chinese culture, they are believed to have health benefits; some also consider them to have aphrodisiac qualities." I saw my first ginkgo gatherer of the season on Friday night , an elderly woman stooped over the sidewalk, scooping seeds into a red plastic grocery bag. She was alone. In the past, I've seen them...

To the annals of unsung anti-yunnification heroes, an as-yet unwritten list that includes That Guy Who Urinates on Soho's Delicatessan, we must now add The Guy Who Lives Above Death & Co. [ Eater ] The fires of He l l have been lit for the supermen and women of the Platinum Condo . [ LC ] Domino Sugar Factory opens to public this Sunday. [ Gothamist ] Now that folks are in the fighting spirit, here's the list of bars looking for a liquor license on the LES . Monday October 20: Go get 'em! [ SLES ] Noise complaints send exclusive Eldridge club into further exclusivity. [ Gothamist ] Check out the lovely Subway Inn ...now why doesn't someone open a bar like this down here? [ GVDP ]

I like to check in now and then on the saga of my favorite condo/park couple, Jackson Square. As reported before, it seems like the park has been sort of "adopted" by the condo. Formerly (and still) a park known for its rough-around-the-edges populace, homeless men and women, disaffected queer kids, etc., Jackson Square has been getting cleaned up, wired up, and greened up for its debut as the front yard for condo One Jackson Square. Now, in their latest endeavor to prepare the park for the sensibilities of its new residents, the city Parks Department has placed armed guards at the perimeter. "Armed," in this case, means carrying a nightstick with permission to " use physical and deadly force ," as given to NYC Parks Enforcement Patrol officers. They can also "make warrantless arrests, carry and use handcuffs" ( Wiki ). In wondering about this new security presence, I've been chatting with some of the officers and only later found this inform...