Vanishing New York Backup

Now and then, the Transit Museum sponsors a tour of old City Hall station. That hallowed, buried place. ForgottenNY visited a while back and I just went in December. You wait on the platform at the current City Hall station and a train takes you into the loop, where the #6 turns around before heading back uptown. The loop is where it's all happening. It's the backstage area, behind the curtain, where the wonder lies. You climb out on a wooden bridge and the train roars away, screaming around the curved track, leaving you behind in the semi-dark, in shadows lit by dusty chandeliers and bare bulbs that trace the City Hall arch like lights around an ingenue's dressing-room mirror. You stand in the former waiting area, in the smell of chlorine, like an indoor swimming pool, while the guide gives his schpiel. They hand out earplugs because this may be the noisiest place in the entire subway system. Train on curved track is a nightmare of sound, all twisted metal and skull-rippi

BoBo's watch gentrification dreams vanish: From the LES to LA, those who hoped gastropubs and boutiques would replace "tattered old businesses" are left to wonder "What happens to bourgeois bohemia when the bourgeois part drops out?" [ NYT ] From the same article as above: Christian Lander of Stuff White People Like says, " The economic downturn is good for fringe neighborhoods . It returns the neighborhood to the people who consider themselves to be real residents." Happy birthday Washington Square Park Blog ! No Starbucks for Gowanus. [ GL ] Harlem loses "revitalizing" coffee shop. [ Grub ] Candlelight vigil tonight to remember the closure of Our Lady of Vilnius. [ OLOV ] The Times reveals the DABA girls ( remember them? ) consider themselves to be satire. [ Gothamist ] A cranky New York character emerges--and he's spray-painting dog shit . [ CR ]

Since Wall Street crumbled and the yunnipocalypse began, it seems more and more journalists have come out of the woodwork to say: 1. They never liked investment bankers, hedgefunders, and other masters of the universe 2. They believe such people have half-destroyed New York 3. They miss the old, pre-Gilded Age city and hope the downturn will bring about its return I'm glad they're speaking up, but where were they for the past 10 years, under a cone of silence? I don't remember hearing these sentiments. At least not until right after the initial crash: Judith Warner in the Times discussed "a certain kind of resentment and sense of injustice that a particular class of non-monied professionals in the New York area came to feel sometime in the late 1990s... a sense that the wrong people had inherited the earth . They had taken over everything." In the New Yorker, Nick Paumgarten wrote, " maybe Manhattan will become affordable again, and cool, and dangerous

There have been two more casualties in the rapidly vanishing Antique Row part of town, which I wrote about here in December. Another space is opening on 11th Street where most of the carnage has been focused. I couldn't find the name of this shop, but it's had those wooden chairs for sale outside for as long as I can remember: And the Panorama Galleries on 4th Avenue and 12th Street is closing. A tipster told me they're moving to Brooklyn. This one was always fun to walk by because they had lots of ever-changing furniture outside, most of it affordable and unfancy, much of it interesting. I got a small shelf unit there once:

Anthony Bourdain blogs about the disappearing city and it's good to see someone else singing the praises of "the spaghetts with red sauce and meatballs in the back dining area at Manganaro's ," an under-appreciated treat. [ AB ] And on beloved Sophie's , Bourdain says, “I don’t want no wide screens, high-fiving white guys, no faux hawks or gel heads or hot chicks with douchebags ." Now let's hope the TV show doesn't start attracting them. [ Grub St. ] First look inside the new McNallified Minetta's . Looks like the walls survived, but I'll save my verdict until I get inside. [ Eater ] Peeler Man passes down his craft (and his carrots) to his daughter. [ Gothamist ] First the Holland , then the Holiday , now we hear Lucy's may be the next "dive in danger." Hopefully, as two commenters suggest, she's just visiting Poland. [ Grub ] More bad news for bitter owners . [ Gothamist ] The "rockstar" Ludlow to get a West

Grieve recently reported on the story behind the closure of the original Two Boots on Avenue A, adding that he was "curious what will happen to the illustrations." I was curious, too, so I asked JVNY reader Julie Wilson--the artist who created this signage and the "Two Boots look." I interviewed her and here's what she told me. photo: my flickr In 1985, artist, illustrator, and former East Villager Julie Wilson worked for co-owner Phil Hartman as a dishwasher at the Great Jones Cafe. “He gave me my first sign-painting job there--to paint the menu on the wall .” A few years later, Phil with his wife and co-owner, Doris Kornish, asked Julie to design the signs for their new pizza place. “They knew my style and wanted that! They gave me an overview of what their new restaurant was about-- pizza, Italy, Louisiana, fun, family , there would be a jukebox, etc. So I came up with some sketches and voila!” The original facade included windows painted with a pair of boo

The Rawhide bar is celebrating its 30th Anniversary . Dark, dirty, and cheap, it's "One of the very few businesses along Chelsea's 8th Avenue that has been around since long before the neighborhood gentrified...still feels a bit like a time-warp," says Gay Travel : Cell-phone lovers are saying, “ Frugal is the new chic ... In today’s economy, it’s not cool to pay $120 a month for a phone. It’s a waste of money.” [ NYT ] A look inside Gowanus luxury --complete with "Being John Malkovich"-style ceilings. [ PMFA ] Go up in the old hotel Joseph Mitchell made famous. [ 13 ] They're getting ready to pave over Extra Place and turn it into a "slice of the Left Bank." [ EVG ] Advice to starving artists : Get into the pavement engraving biz. [ Restless ] Looking into the mystery behind the loss of beloved Vesuvio bakery . [ NYT ] Lovely old public-school doorknobs discovered. [ AMNY ] Someone stole a painting of a melancholy cat from the Internatio

In a city overrun by Duane Reades, sterile and bland, walking into Lascoff's Pharmacy on Lexington and 82nd is like being in The Wizard of Oz when everything goes from black-and-white to brilliant Technicolor. The venerable Forgotten New York tackled Lascoff's last year, reporting: "Pharmacist J. Leon Lascoff (1867-1943) emigrated from Russia (he was from today's Poland) in 1892 and opened an apothecary in a brownstone building on the SW corner of Lexington Avenue and East 82nd in 1899." Everywhere you look in Lascoff's there's something fascinating to see. Wooden cabinets hold ancient amber bottles stoppered with corks and labeled in vanished typefaces: Dogwood, Oak Bark, Soda Mint Granules. Drawers are stuffed with herbs and labeled with mystical-sounding names like Verbascum. More cabinets display the pharmacy's history, including photos that go all the way back to the days when medicinal leeches came in stoneware jars. Yes, leeches: You can't

A slice at Two Boots on Avenue A brought the following intel: A "giant restaurant" is moving in to the former video space and Pioneer Theater and the basement . We heard Upright Citizens Brigade was taking over the Pioneer, and they've applied for a beer and wine license. Could they also be a ginormous L-shaped restaurant that will run from Avenue A to Third St? Digging has begun on the sliver coming to 7th Street 's former Miracle Grill garden: More "Brodaway" subway typo intrigue. [ Gothamist ] A visual survey of New York's neon signs. [ NYT ] Parker Brothers to create new game based on getting around the construction debacle that is the Financial District. (Joke). [ EVG ]

Welfare to Wall Street: Out of work? Finding it hard to stretch that six-figure severance check? Did you "forget" to save some of your income over the past decade? Don't worry, Bloomberg has a handout for you! [ NYT ] Bloomberg tells Obama "no thanks," denies out-of-work poor New Yorkers food stamps that might actually help out. I guess we all better pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Except Wall Streeters of course--all they're pulling is a nice handout. [ NYT ] Who knew NYC had an "Antenna King"? We do and he says: Even with a digital TV and an HD antenna, if you have tall buildings around you, you will probably get unwatchable reception after the Abominable Upgrade . Can we really afford cable right now? How about lobbying Time Warner to charge $5 a month for rockbottom basic? [ NYer ] When the downturn goes bad: the fabulous Gino to shutter? [ Eater ] Jill discovers the tragic history of one of my favorite buildings--and one of the last my

Last time I checked in with Weird Way West , the westernmost margin of Greenwich Village, life on bricky, cobblestoney Charles Lane was still fairly quiet. Today, it's an explosion of undulating glass. 166 Perry Street has fully arrived--totally glazed and complete with a $24 million penthouse . Looking a whole lot like the Chelsea Modern with its wavy, boxy windows and louvers, it promises "sweeping views in the heart of the West Village," according to the giant sales office advertising up the street. Of course, according to recent reports and market predictions, those views will most likely be of transgender sex workers and their clients getting busy at the edge of the West Side Highway. Or maybe right there, down there, in the shadows by that tree... Post Script: On my walk to Charles Lane, I happened to pass a woman flagging down her local garbage men. She had a big, tabletop-sized plate of glass on the sidewalk and asked the men, "Can you take this? I'm

More News from the Yunnipocalypse: -"Nolita" crashes and burns--goodbye to all the little boutiques that killed Elizabeth and environs -Sex & the City sequel creators strain themselves trying to make the movie "recession friendly" The Old Homestead Steak House has officially lost their dining room after the landlord raised the rent . It is up for grabs--and looking for MePa retail in an economy where no one's biting: After Nolita dies , can we get Elizabeth Street back and all the great street art that once graced 11 Spring? [ GVDP ] The replacement for the Playpen and Funny Store has been revealed. It's big and it's made of glass. Because " White glass along Eighth Avenue reflects the movement and shimmer of the street"--which may end up being the shimmer of prostitutes and squeegee men. [ Curbed ] Affluence of past decade a trick of smoke and mirrors: "there has been basically no wealth creation at all since the turn of the mill

This lovely blunt and battered instrument is called a pistone . It's over 200 years old , it's made of brass, and it belongs to Mr. Pino Cinquemani who brought it from Sicily where it's been in his family for I don't know how long. Last time I checked, at Pino's Prime Meats on Sullivan Street he uses the pistone to flatten cutlets. Like Albanese Meats and Poultry , Pino's is one of the last of Little Italy's remaining butcher shops, in an island of a lost neighborhood swallowed up by Soho. Owned by Mr. Cinquemani since the 1990s, it's been a butcher shop since 1904. Hacksaws hang from a rail and the front window is filled with black-and-white photographs of men with Brylcreemed hair. A ghost of New York past, Pino survives in this luxe town in part by catering to its trendy eateries. Said the owner of Prune to journalist Brett Martin : "Pino is a perfect old-world gentleman. At the end of the day, he takes off his apron, washes the blood from his

More News from the Yunnipocalypse: -The fantasy of the editorial dream lifestyle is officially dead -One economist declares NYC depression-bound: Low rents! Long grocery store lines! -Cops getting scared of squeegee men -Real Housewives of NYC worried everyone will hate them now Luxury East Houston Hotel stoops to advertising on St. Marks Place karaoke screens. People singing Blondie songs have to look at this: What do you wanna do tonight? I don't know, whatdya you wanna do? Well, tomorrow night, you can honor Ernest Borgnine at Tortilla Flats . [ NYT ] "Are bed bugs the new black?" The Jane protesters send up fashionistas. [ Racked ] In photos of Hell's Kitchen , Bernd Obermann captures the past in the present. [ NYT ] Simon Houpt says a profound goodbye to Oscar Wilde Bookshop in this "season of abasement in the American empire," after a season of starving the soul. [ G&M ] It has just been brought to my attention: Luc Sante has a blog. [ ekoto

The Lexington Candy Shop Luncheonette is no hidden treasure--on the weekends it's overrun by Bugaboos packed with trust-fund babies, but it's the Upper East Side, so that's okay. Still, it is a treasure-- opened in 1925 and not renovated since 1948 . I remember the first time I stumbled on it, years ago after coming from a day at the Met, in search of good food. Later, when I worked in the neighborhood, I became a regular, sitting in the first window seat eating dinners of French toast and bacon. I love the counter with its hot-pink panel and the green-topped swivel stools. I love the curved soda fountains like swan's necks and the chrome cake platters with their foggy plastic covers. I love the malted container and matching 1940 seafoam-green milkshake shaker. And I really, really love the crazy, utterly anachronistic fact that they serve water in these antique conical cups and stainless steel holders . I don't know anywhere else in the city where you can get that

The opposition has been very quiet here since the crash. But we just got a juicy comment. Anyone want to answer Anon's challenge (click here) ? " Call me crazy but I prefer DR [Duane Reade] to a Mom and Pop --they are cheaper, cleaner, they have more variety and there's always one open. I just think some people here need to get over themselves and grow up a little, you're not a 19 yr old 'atriste' [sic] anymore." More News from the Yunnipocalypse: Marc Jacobs and John Varvatos cancel their annual parties. The former CBGB will not be rocking this season . News Shrink explains why the recession is good for narcissists --all those yunnies who "believe they are special and unique and that there shouldn’t be any limits on what they can have." Yunnies delight in blaming their bad behavior on the recession. The glam and glassy Way West Village is overrun by hookers and drug dealers . Thanks to the commenter who recalled that Day-O used to be

Jefferson Market, long closed and almost reopened rather mysteriously after agonizing weeks of slowly emptying shelves and sorrowful signage, announced its Grand Opening for today, Friday the 13th, at 8:00 AM . Last night, the place was decked out for the pre-opening private party . Lots of well-heeled, white-haired men in dark suits gathered inside to sip champagne and munch hors d'oeuvres served from silver trays. As a tipster first tipped here last month, Jefferson Market has been taken over by the Gristede's supermarket chain. A follow-up conversation with an employee confirmed that Gristede's bought the place and The Villager assures the Montuori family will still be co-owners. So it's sort of the same, but also very different.

Day-O, the retro restaurant on Greenwich Ave , has long been empty and we've wondered when it would reopen. Now it's officially declared Abandoned and the landlord is taking "peaceful possession": It's almost all signs of the Yunnipocalypse at this point... Blogger and Madoff victim who writes about "her comedown from a life of pedicures, high-thread-count sheets and Hermes purses" just landed a book deal. Will the new rich-chick lit trend be all about losing it ? [ NYT ] Buh-bye Dubai! Do you hear that hissing sound? Is that--I think--yes, it's the sound of air going out a big, fat balloon. [ NYT ] "'There's a sense of there being a gaucheness in spending in excess and coming home with a Louis Vuitton or Chanel bag,' says Lucyann Barry, a personal shopper and stylist for New York's ultra-rich." [ yahoo ]

One of the phenomena disappearing from the streets of New York is the "New York character." We still have a handful--like the Birdman , the omnipresent He-Man , and that guy who dresses all in white, and this guy --but they are an endangered species (whatever happened to the Cross Man and Warhol Van Gogh?). As we become evermore Pupkinless , it's always exciting to find another character, or the traces thereof. In the increasingly flavorless Park Slope, there is still Trapper John --as OTBKB calls him, describing him as "the man who is singlehandedly saving Park Slope from squirrel and racoons." The Daily News got the story of a Park Slope trapper named Jim back in 1997 and I'm assuming it's the same guy. They described how the "licensed private critterbuster" does his thing. I've never seen him, but I've seen his "Pestmobile," a mid-century ambulance decked out with painted pawprints, anti-skunk and raccoon signage, and not

As Brooks Brothers ' Black Fleece debuts on Bleecker, let's not forget what used to be there-- Mr. Nusraty's Afghan Imports , pushed out after 30 years by a rent hike to the tune of $45,000. Stylistas have become Recessionistas --anyway, they're paper-bagging it at Vanity Fair . Roy wraps up the recession's brighter side for NYC... [ RS ] ...including this must-read article in the Atlantic by Richard Florida, who says, " the financial crisis may ultimately help New York by reenergizing its creative economy . The extraordinary income gains of investment bankers, traders, and hedge-fund managers over the past two decades skewed the city’s economy in some unhealthy ways." Anthony Bourdain visits our "Disappearing Manhattan." [ EVG ] And our cuddliest Slacktivist, John Penley , disappears from Manhattan. [ EVG ] Is a real-estate grab behind the possible demise of Central Park's carriage horses? [ MGross ]

Opinions are like, well, you know. And everybody has them. Today, mine's on the Opinion page of the Daily News. Here's an excerpt: Please visit the Daily News to read the rest. Thanks to the commenter who tipped me to NY1's mention of this piece: For more reading: About This Blog The Bloomberg Way On Thrift Gated New York For more daily news from the Lower East Side: EV Grieve Bowery Boogie Neither More Nor Less Flaming Pablum

More Signs of the Yunnipocalypse: -Fashion Week mavens opt for McDonald's coffee -Hipster heiress may be fleeing Williamsburg for London -Obama says so: " The party is now over " -Ivana Trump now only comes quarterly -No new products from Paris Hilton this year West Village Alliance psyched to triumph over 73 8th Ave nightclub, which has withdrawn its liquor license application: ...And at that address, the Manor club has replaced its Seized by the Landlord signage with FOR RENT. The Manor was described thus: "Over-the-top perks befitting the wealthy bachelor theme--phone lines connected to charter jet companies, Escalades to swiftly deliver VIPs home... bottle service (starting at $1,600) ." Also say goodbye to their " 24-karat gold-gilded DJ booth ": The Peeler Man memorial: "Rest in Peels." [ FP ] Plywood coming off "McNetta Tavern," formerly the Minetta . [ Grub ] The Times follows up on the Interstate Foods story --says

The phrase "a flutter of paper in a mad house" is a line from Kenneth Patchen's poem " The Origin of Baseball ," which has nothing to do with what I'm about to say, except that the line came to mind as I stood on the corner of 42nd and 10th Avenue, watching a flurry of book pages fall from the sky. From, I assumed, the rooftop of the highrise overhead. It reminded me of 9/11, how the papers fell like fat snowflakes, singed at the edges. Watching the book pages flutter down, I smelled smoke and thought of fire, but the odor was only of pretzels burning on a nearby vendor's cart. I picked up a page and read: It was a page from a story, I later discovered, entitled "Say Goodbye to Middletown." It was written by a man named Mann, appeared in an anthology of gay short fiction, and was described by an Amazon reviewer as "a story of lost love, sex between men and boys, and eventual redemption." What was it doing fluttering down over Hell&#

More Signs of the Yunnipocalypse: -"...bankers who are living on the Upper East Side making $2 or $3 million a year have set up a life for themselves in which they are also at zero at the end of the year " -Babs Corcoran on the demise of condos: "They're being dumped into the market in droves " -Condos wobbling like Jenga -The rich will have to play by new rules In December I announced the Kim's collection was moving to Sicily , of all places. Now the Times catches up with an in-depth report on the backstory , including that wacky "never-ending festival." [ NYT ] There's a big demolition "X" painted on the side of Gregory & Paul's at Coney. [ GL ] Alex and Grieve both give their goodbyes to the P&G. “ Everyone wants a little piece of Coney Island for their backyard,” except, apparently, much of New York City. [ NYT ] The Moondance Diner reopens in Wyoming. [ NYDN ] Joe "The Peeler Man" Ades memorialized

What's going on at the grand old Elk Hotel flophouse on 42nd and 9th Ave? Grieve virtually visited the place last summer and discovered, via the Times , that "The Elk's miraculous -- some would say unfortunate -- survival stems from a real estate fluke (the building's owner doesn't want to sell)." The Elk is still standing, but its first-floor businesses have departed. Namely, "Chicken Ribs" and a Dunkin' Donuts. Both have lost their awnings and the windows are covered or gated. The "For Rent" signs are a good sign for the Elk, but I'm not sure this is the best time for anyone, especially a flophouse, to be looking for retail and restaurants to rent. * UPDATE: February 13, 2012--the Elk has closed .