Vanishing New York Backup

In tragic news this weekend, one of my favorite places, the great Manganaro's is selling their building and may soon after shutter. "We've had it," they say, after a century in business. [ WSJ ] More sad news: The Chinatown Fair Arcade has shuttered for good. Gone from Manhattan, it may reopen in Williamsburg. [ BB ] "You just can't reconcile 'If you can make it here you can make it anywhere' with Little Wisconsin ... We eat people from Wisconsin for lunch and use their bones as toothpicks ." [ Crain's ] Birdel's Records in Bed-Stuy to shutter. [ CR ] Orologio says goodbye to Avenue A. [ EVG ] Willets Point businesspeople to Bloomberg: "If you want what I got, act like a man and come face me. Don’t use eminent domain and steal from me." [ NYT ] Artist Jason Hackenwerth's fantastically obscene balloon sculptures have invaded the windows of Bergdorf's. See more on my flickr :

This weekend, Bowery Boogie passed on the sad news that the 60- or 70-year-old Chinatown Fair Arcade has shuttered , a month earlier than rumored. Robert Chin has photos of the goodbye sign and the miserably emptied interior: As an homage, and a post-script to last week's post on the Chinatown Fair and its tic-tac-toe chickens , I offer a complete rundown of the rather substantial scene from the 1984 film Falling in Love , in which Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep visit the arcade and compete against the chicken . All of the scintillating dialogue has been transcribed for your enjoyment. all screenshots from Falling in Love, 1984 De Niro: "I can't beat this guy." Streep: "That's 'cause he cheats. Oh, okay. Bird wins. You lose." De Niro: "I can't believe it." Streep: "Try again." De Niro: "See, it's unfair because he goes ahead." Streep: "You should flip for it. See who goes first. He's saying hurry up.&q

Fran Lebowitz in Public Speaking is playing at Film Forum--see it, it's fantastic. And don't forget Cinekink NYC at Anthology. Letter to Editor: SoHo "used to be a contemplative refuge for artists and intellectuals who live here...commandeered by rank profiteers and their shopping-bag-toting zombies, who eat and drink and cell-phone their way from one watering hole to the next." [ Villager ] SoHo residents say: No more tourists . [ Villager ] More worrying about Mars Bar and when the axe will fall. [ EVG ] Can Jeffrey's Meat Market survive the rent and fee hikes of Essex Market? [ BB ] Complaining about the invasion of film crews on your street. [ CR ] Globe Slicers on the LES luxury mall of the Bowery. [ Restless ] Looking back at Escape from New York . [ COS ] Wish a Happy 3rd Anniversary to Cathryn at Washington Square Park Blog !

New York's Italian-Americans and supporters are not stopping in the fight against Nolita . On March 26, from 1:00 - 4:00, join the Rally to Save the San Gennaro Feast . March from Mulberry and Broome to a demonstration at St. Patrick's Basilica. [ FB ] Vanishing stink? As hyper-gentrification prepares to bulldoze Gowanus, the city works to make it smell nice for the noobs. [ NYT ] Immediately after closing 44-year-old Hickey's Bar , owner Jim Hickey passes away . [ DNA ] Walking Clinton Hill 's Vanderbilt Avenue. [ FNY ] Check out a celebration of 1950s and '60s New York School painters and poets at Tibor de Nagy , until March 5. See Rudy Burckhardt films at Anthology , including 1948's The Climate of New York . A Material Girl fashion shoot at Mars Bar . [ EVG ] Some very fancy water fountains in a city public school. [ SNY ] Miss Heather sends in this shot of W Magazines in Sara D. Roosevelt Park on the LES: "one has to wonder how the people who f

As the New York Times reports that Little Italy is getting littler by the year, as Chinatown and "Nolita" encroach, and the number of Italian-American residents dwindles, take a look back at the way it was with Martin Scorsese's 1974 documentary film Italianamerican --in five parts on Youtube . all images screenshots from the film It's not only a wonderful record of an Italian-American couple (Scorsese's parents), it also provides a glimpse of Little Italy in the 1970s . In shots mostly appearing in part two, Little Italy is a neighborhood where the streets are full of life. Fruit and vegetable peddlers sell their wares on the sidewalks where children play a game of sliding, belly-first, on sheets of cardboard. Barber poles spin and old men sit outside in chairs and on boxes to watch the human parade go by. Catherine and Charles Scorsese tell stories about growing up in the neighborhood--about tough mothers who scrubbed the floors without complaint and fathers

Scenes from last night's vigil for 35 Cooper Square . Pete Hamill was there and said, "It’s an example of failure. There are people not yet born who won’t get to see what New York was . This is our inheritance. We have to keep this place alive." [ EVG ] & [ BB ] Lovely Coney Island cats enjoy the off-season. [ ATZ ] The men of the Bowery speak at the LES Heritage Film Series March 1. [ TLD ] When fancy Freeman Alley was filled with breadline men. [ ENY ] The furry fetish becomes mainstream fashion on W. 8th Street--but are these cats yiffable ? The dirty love graffiti of Mars Bar. [ SG ] Pics of the city , the way things used to look. [ FP ] Commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire on March 1. [ HFBA ] " Things can disappear so gradually that one doesn’t take notice that people aren’t givin’ each other agita the way they once were, or making sure they have carfare. You just forget about it until some old guy decides to say, '

Recently, rumors have come out about the closure of the Chinatown Fair Arcade on Mott Street. Bowery Boogie shares a video of the manager who says he can't make money here and "runs the arcade for the community." Boogie reports: "store manager Henry Cen lost his lease on the Mott Street space, and will be moving out March 23 ." New York Daily Photo It's not the first time closure has been threatened here. In 2007, a For Rent sign showed up on the arcade, but the Fair survived. In 2008, a reader named Ben told us the For Rent sign was back: "Now you can't even see the old ghost lettering for the Tic-Tac-Toe chicken. Worst of all, it might close!" But it didn't. This past weekend, an employee of the arcade responded to the current rumors , saying, " the truth is, that cf maybe relocating to williamsburg, brooklyn if disputes with the landlord r not settled. CF IS NOT CLOSING ." photo: Ben The Chinatown Fair has been around since a

Little Italy gets littler and littler. [ NYT ] Protesters are holding a candlelight vigil for 35 Cooper Square tonight at 6:00--and the Times covered the story this weekend. [ NYT ] Another double-dormered little house on Grand St., in 1932 and today. [ MU ] Upscale vintage shop Life Emporium coming to "eco" condo 515 5th in the South Slope--where a Salvation Army used to be. [ OMFS ] First they lost the Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken, now the Chinatown Fair Arcade may be shutting down. [ BB ] The Post catches up with the San Gennaro battle , and we hear more about "greasy" Italians . [ NYP ] "Hot Chicks Room" installed on Ave A, where Two Boots Video & Pioneer Theater used to be. [ EVG ] A Q&A about Harlem's jazz history with David Freeland. [ AMNY ] 100 years later, Triangle Shirtwaist victims are identified. [ NYT ] Most recent EV noise complaint bubbles from 311 :

VANISHED Niko's Mediterranean Grill on the Upper West Side has closed after 50 years . They added this note to their Yelp listing: " Sun 2/13 was our last day. Forced to sell lease . Will miss you all. Please support Big Nick's on Broadway." New York Magazine Thanks to blogger and JVNY reader Marty Wombacher for sending in these shots of the restaurant's goodbye sign, where Big Nick says the decision to sell the lease was "difficult and painful," but "it is time to cut back": See what a final meal at Niko's looked like from the blog Stuff I Ate . And the owners' other Upper West Side restaurant, Big Nick's pizza and burger joint, remains open-- go there . As for what might come next to this corner, Marty offered a theory: "When I was looking through the windows an old woman came up and asked if I lived on the block. I told her I did years ago and was surprised that this place was closed. She said she was too. Then I jokingly s

An Italian-American New Yorker asks that the San Gennaro Feast return to its roots. [ Villager ] Live-tweeting Andy Warhol's 8-hour film Empire --you can follow Bryan Waterman and others. [ WNYC ] March 29: Brian Rose is giving a slide talk on his excellent before-and-after Lower East Side photos. [ BR ] Ancient advertising artifacts discovered in Bed-Stuy. [ NYS ] A letter of "utter disgust" to the Landmarks chairman for not saving 35 Cooper Square. [ EVG ] Check out Stephanie Gray's super 8 films tomorrow at Microscope Gallery, including many scenes of the vanishing city, including Jon Vie Pastries. In Soho, a chair in the shape of an ass . An ass chair. [ NYCPB ]

Chelsea resident Stacy Torres brings us the sad news that 14th Street restaurant La Nueva Rampa has been shuttered for weeks now and is most likely closed . Litherland's flickr It was one of the last (maybe the last?) of Chelsea's once abundant Cuban-Chinese restaurants. These establishments began opening in the 1960s, when many of Cuba's Chinese population fled from Castro. Diners' favorites included La Chinita Linda and Sam's Chinita ( replaced by Niso's). Both are gone. At La Nueva Rampa, the decor was simple and blunt. Chinese and Spanish foods were served and both languages were spoken. The food was plentiful, messy, and tasty. It was also very cheap. So we've lost another affordable Chelsea eatery. What in the city is left of the Chino-Latino? eating in translation's flickr Post Script: The neighboring Memory Keeper 1-hour photo lab is still there, but that name, that service...how long can it possibly last? In the front window a Russian man wil

Where are the noisiest neighborhoods in New York City? You know it's the EV/LES. Also noisy: Greenwich Village and Inwood. Play with the city's 311 fun map to find out more--it's real-time--let's see what happens at 11:00 on Friday night: Check out LES History Project founder Eric Ferrara's new book On The Bowery . Jonathan Lethem responds to (still) heartbroken Brooklynites and scores one for ambivalence: "every time I write about [New York], I’m likely to end up with something as fiercely ambivalent as the earlier results--ambivalent, of course, in the sense not of muddled-in-the-middle, but of strong contradictory responses. Love-hate is rich as Brooklyn is itself vast and disjointed." [ BP ] Celebrate McSorley's today at your own risk. [ EVG ] 40-year-old Donut Shoppe survives in Sheepshead Bay. [ LC ] Greenwich Avenue businesses are in crisis. [ FP ] Kramer was raving about gentrification back in 1994, against the day when all we'd have ar

Recently, Lost City shared the sad news that Main Street Ephemera will be closing soon . The last time I visited the store, I worried this would happen. It's too good a place to last in this city. Their big closing sale starts today and goes until Sunday, with 25 - 50%. The shop is packed with ephemera--things made of paper that come and then go. They have fantastic movie posters, magazines, strange catalogs (for products like antique anal stimulators), and tons of photographs. They've even got a collection of Jewish wine labels , including several from the Lower East Side's own Schapiro's--the wine “ so thick you can almost cut it with a knife." Browsing here, time goes by without notice. I ended up getting lost in a book of very old receipts from New York City businesses , and bought a few of them, which I have scanned here. Each receipt is beautifully decorated. They come with handwritten details and notes. Eggebrecht & Bernhardt, importers of kid gloves, &

Alphabets shutters on Greenwich Avenue after 16 years. Some says it's the closure of St. Vincent's that's killing small businesses here: Quantifying "Sidewalk Rage" in the city. [ RS ] Pissing all over Eldridge Street. [ BB ] Good news: The Coney Island 8 may be getting leases for the boardwalk--a one-year reprieve from destruction. [ ATZ ] Check out this documentary about New York City in 1977 . [ Stupefaction ] An obituary for 35 Cooper Square as the city approves demolition. [ EVG ] The New School's Noir Fest is coming in April. [ NS ] Remembering Times Square's Hawaii Kai with Jerry Rio. [ COS ] Visit 365 Bars guy Marty Mombacher at his new blog: Marty After Dark .

Just as the lease has been finalized on the sad, burned-out Village Paper , and before it gets turned into Bobo , it's been plastered with a colorful 20' x 8' mural by Jay Shells --the dog poop and subway etiquette guy--and fellow artist Benjamin Hollingsworth. my flickr I got in touch with Shells over email and asked him about the piece. He told me that the mural was painted in South Carolina, where he and Hollingsworth collaborated for a show called " The Stock " at Gallery Bar on Orchard Street. Wrote Shells, " the main theme is helping others and an overall sense of community . it was really interesting to just attack a monster piece like this with someone you've only briefly spoken with over the phone. very challenging and very rewarding." The piece did not sell, so the artists decided that the mural "should be donated to the public in a place where it would be appreciated." They picked Village Paper. my flickr As Shells explained:

This month, Fusion Arts on Stanton Street has mounted a show of photographs by Harvey Wang documenting the life and death of Adam Purple's earthwork The Garden of Eden . The show runs until February 20 . I asked Harvey some questions about the work. photo by Harvey Wang How did you get into photographing The Garden of Eden ? I first met Adam Purple in 1978, when journalist Norman Green and I did a story about him for New York Magazine . I found him to be one of the most intelligent and interesting people I had ever met, and though I didn't understand half the things he was talking about, I continued to visit him over the years. He had been doing his own documentation of The Garden of Eden with a small box camera. As The Garden of Eden grew, he needed to shoot more and more pictures, which had to be arranged into larger composite images to show the whole site. I showed up one year with a 15 mm Nikon rectilinear lens, and from then on, Adam would ask me to come document The Ga

UPDATE: A full demolition permit has been submitted for 35 Cooper Square .... As the watch continues ( see EVG for more), Sally Young sent in this shot from 8:30 this morning. The axe falls: Support the San Gennaro Feast : Attend the CB2 meeting on Thursday 2/17 at 6:00. Click here for more info. A tour of the boutiques of Nolita during Fashion Week, with no feast on, and with very little business. [ youtube ] 2/19: Party down to Save Coney Island . [ SCI ] " Brooklyn is repulsive with novelists , it's cancerous with novelists," says Jonathan Lethem. "I do love New York, but it's also unbearable to me in some ways, and I compulsively leave it behind. It's not the best place to write. The mental traffic level is very high there." [ LAT ] Goodbye Gowanus --the real estate boom begins. [ Curbed ] Chelsea Hotel gets Doughnut Planted--artisanal sweets where Chelsea Guitars used to be . [ Gothamist ] Who was Rear Window 's " Miss Torso "? [

The Italian Food Center opened on Grand and Mulberry in 1954. It more recently lost its lease and shuttered without much of a peep. A restaurant will soon be moving in. In the meantime, some of the metal siding has been removed along Mulberry, revealing brick underneath. On those bricks is a bounty of graffiti from an older Little Italy. How old, I don't know--from the days before those turquoise metal sheets went up on the Food Center, whenever that was. Other signs of its age? The paint here was mostly put on with a brush, not with a spray can. And the language is old, from a more innocent time. There isn't a single "fuck" in the bunch. There are "The Best Girls," aka, "The Great & Best," E.D. and C.D., their initials put on with some kind of faded mustard color. Were they sisters? In blocky, black, brushed-on paint, there's The Mulberry...perhaps a missing word like Crew or Gang? Again, there's C.D. at the top, followed by

Hell's Angels , The Grateful Dead, and the Anderson Theater in the old East Village. [ EVG ] Don't forget to check out Harvey Wang's photos of Adam Purple's Garden of Eden --now open until 2/20 at Fusion Arts. Main Street Ephemera to close. [ LC ] Spending time among the painfully hip of Brooklyn. [ NYT ] On the Cedar and the "ugly, empty shell of a yanwsomely utilitarian workspace" that replaced it. [ FP ]

There is a split in the city. A schism. It's often expressed architecturally--the war between old and new, the radical shift, the loss of bricks to glass and sheen. They get rammed together, cheek by jowl. A sleek high-rise hotel abuts a tenement. One half of a synagogue is smashed and sheathed in glass for a new boutique that only sells things in white. A condo's cock-eyed balconies cast their shadows on rusted fire escapes. More are coming. Every day. Lines are being drawn. Down the middle. In the end, which side will survive?