Vanishing New York Backup

This past summer, we noted the construction of yet another 7-Eleven , plopped right next to Kyung's Korean grocery on 25th and 8th. Now New York Neon chronicler Thomas Rinaldi writes in with a photo and the inevitable news: " 7-11 seems to have put another bodega down, and this time it's MINE. Kyung's at 25th and 8th shuttered at the end of March . Not sure how long they'd been there. A neighbor who has been in Chelsea probably 50 years told me there had been a bodega there as long as he could remember. They closed up almost overnight. The interior is already gutted. When I asked them what happened, they were somewhat elusive about the whole thing--mentioned something about a rent hike, said it was getting harder to do business in Chelsea, that they might open up a shop somewhere in Jersey. Though they did not specifically blame 7-11, I cannot imagine this was a coincidence. I wish I'd asked more, but they really seemed not to want to talk about it...

"Everything Will Be Erased." Talking about the "Hyper-Gentrifizierung" of New York City with journalist Sebastian Moll for the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau . If you don't read German (as I don't), Google Translate offers some choice interpretations: "Bloomberg has really turned on the turbo. Since then dies every day the soul of this city a bit more." The piece is not yet on the newspaper's site, but you can read the whole thing at Sebastian Moll's page .

When the great Lascoff Pharmacy closed last July , and was gutted , many of us worried what would become of its gorgeous antique fixtures. Now, it turns out, they're selling on ebay. An Anonymous commenter sent us to the listings, where you can find three hanging ceiling lanterns for $9,000, a collection of leaded stained-glass globes for $26,500, a set of 15 Gothic window panels for $14,000 ("These are really knockout and can be repurposed very easily as decorative elements in any store or restaurant")... ...two sections of cabinetry for $14,500, an additional 75 feet of wooden fixtures for $80,000, plus the copper canopy , with interior lighting intact, for $39,000. As seller newyorkphotographs writes on the ebay store page: "These are from one of the most prominent 19th century pharmacies in New York City whose proprietor is known as 'the father of modern pharmacy'... Salvatore Dali and many other celebrities patronized his pharmacy o...

INTERVIEWS Vox, 1/24/2021   Conde Nast Traveler, 8/24/20 VRT, Belgian News, 8/5/20   WFMU Radio, 8/26/19 Vox, 11/21/18 "Vanishing City" discussion, Relevant Tones, 9/20/18 The Takeaway, WNYC, 9/12/18 Marketplace, 8/30/18 New York Said podcast, 7/28/18 E.V. Grieve podcast, 7/27/18 Harper's Magazine podcast on The Death of New York, 6/28/18 Hyperallergic, 5/9/18 Fox5 News with Ernie Anastos, 1/25/18 Metrofocus, WNET PBS TV, 1/3/18 WNET PBS Television, 11/16/17 Terrific City podcast, 10/26/17 NY1 News, 9/8/17 New York Times, 8/11/17 WNYC News: 8/10/17 Leonard Lopate Show, WNYC, 8/3/17 Salon Talks, 8/1/17 Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC, 7/27/17 The Village Voice, 7/18/2017 Ways of Hearing podcast, summer 2017 The New Yorker, 6/26/17 Paper Magazine, 10/20/16 New York Business Journal, 9/28/15 VICE, 8/15/15 Enormous Eye, 6/6/15 New York Magazine, 5/1/15 WNYC: Brian Lehrer Show, 3/26/15 The Guardian, 4/8/15 New York Times, Metro, 4/3/15 Huck, 4/2/15 ...

Guest post by David Saphier, co-chair of Lincoln Square Community Association and co-creator of 199demolition.com : The Bloomberg administration is bringing more high rises to the Upper West Side, with threats to demolish Public School 199 on West 70th Street, as well as another local site , and replace them with luxury condo towers. The Lincoln Square community has undergone major upheaval over the past few years, with the building of countless high rises, including the Trump Buildings on Riverside Boulevard, all of which have significantly changed the neighborhood from a close-knit, family-friendly community to something very different, a place unaffordable to many. These real-estate developments have also disrupted long-established school catchments and contributed to major overcrowding in schools. As a result, many children are forced to sit on waiting lists for their local public schools. A while back, the DOE, through the ECF (Education Construction Fund), quietly release...

With all the recent bad news about Carmine Street (the coming of IHOP , the closing of Marinella's ), it's about time for some good news. A comic book store has opened there. As Unoppressive, Non-Imperialist Bargain Books continues to fight the good fight to stay alive, they've rented part of their space to Carmine Street Comics . Writes Long and Shortbox : The owner "settled on the name in part because his father's name is Carmine, but also, he says, because 'we're proud to transplant ourselves to a new place with such a rich history of 20th century culture: this is Bob Dylan's old neighborhood and where the beat poetry movement started. This street has class and pop culture history in spades.' Beyond that, it turns out that Carmine Street has a long history with comics retail; in the front of the new shop is a light up sign that simply reads 'Comics.' That sign came from Village Comics, once New York's largest comics shop. At ...

VANISHED We knew it would happen, and now it's happening. Folsom Street East has been cancelled. The organizers put out a message last night via Facebook and their website : "It is with sadness that the Producers and Board of Directors of Folsom Street East have to announce that the 17th annual Folsom Street East Street Festival this June is going to be cancelled. Though we continue to receive support for this community-building and fundraising event from Community Board 4 and our neighbors on the block (including our producing partner The Eagle NYC), the ever-growing construction on the north side of 28th street has made it impossible for us to successfully and safely hold our annual street festival . Thank you for the years of support from our attendees, sponsors, partners, exhibitors, vendors, performers and volunteers; we are sad that we will not be able to celebrate Pride with you at our fetish-friendly event this year." At the end of the message, they writ...

VANISHED Lynn Lieberman from A Fine Lyne has let us know that Marinella Restaurant, on Carmine Street for over 27 years, has shuttered. Lynn shares these photos, including one of the goodbye sign. It states the reason for Marinella's closure as "the high cost increase connected to the renewal of our lease." They refer customers to their other restaurant, Porto Bello on Thompson Street. I never made it in to Marinella's, but I like the way New York Magazine described it: "On a quiet stretch of Carmine Street, Marinella has a longstanding reputation as a satisfying red-sauce joint... The middle-aged crowd that frequent this restaurant knows what they like." Of course, red-sauce joints frequented by middle-aged New Yorkers are no longer permitted in the parts of Manhattan where they once flourished. As for the rents on Carmine Street, the real estate agent who brought us IHOP promised they'd go up when he told the Wall Street Journa...

VANISHING For years, one stretch of 6th Avenue in Greenwich Village has harbored a little piece of old Times Square, hearkening back to a delightfully crummy cacophony of sex shops, tattoo parlors, and hot dog stands. It has been a small beacon of hope--that this can survive in the new city. But now, in one fell swoop, the seedy carnival is vanishing. The Real Deal has reported that the "retail condo" occupied by Papaya Dog, the sex shop Fantasy Parties, and Fantasy Tattoo has been sold . The developer who bought it "expects to replace the tenants with more mainstream retailers." Already, " the well-known sex store Crazy Fantasy closed its doors with the sale and vacated as part of the purchase agreement." The developer "said he expected to boost the rents significantly in the neighborhood ." And how will he do that? With national chains, of course: "He was putting together a list of potential tenants he would like to lure to...

Jim Hanley's Universe is closing at the end of April--and a new store is opening. [ JHU ] On Bleecker Bob's possible move to the East Village. [ EVG ] Help Bleecker Bob's relocate with a little donation! [ IGG ] CBGB meets DBGB : Marky Ramone to serve his sauce at Boulud. [ Grub ]  Bloomberg's Gilded New York --lots of stuff to read! [ Nation ] "New Yorkers have been kvetching about the disappearance of old New York since there was a New York. But the real-estate market of this moment suggests that Mayor Bloomberg’s description of the city as a luxury product is becoming more and more true... many of New York’s most expensive apartments sit empty for much of the year, their superrich owners using them as vacation properties and safe investments instead of actual homes." [ NYM ] Financial District gets a Hooters style shoeshine stand --their 70-year-old competitor not amused. [ NYDN ] Go see " If These Knishes Could Talk " on May 16. [...

The sadly shuttered Long Island Restaurant on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn is finally reopening after being closed since 2007. Want ads have popped up on Craigslist seeking a General Manager and a Head Chef. The ads say: " We are restoring the Long Island Bar , an iconic corner spot in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Operated by one family since the 1950s, the Long Island Bar is a neighborhood landmark." For the manager, they want "someone whose energy to deal with broken parts and disappointed humans is unflagging." And they're looking for a chef "who can craft a small, tight menu--uncommonly delicious, but neither showy in nature or size ," someone whose "single-minded goal is simple, great, focused food" and who is "into the idea of reducing the labor and stress involved in oversized and overcomplicated menus." Does that mean the place will still be a comfy diner serving inexpensive dishes like "hamburgers (onions raw or frie...

The fragrance of D'Amico Coffee in Carroll Gardens is intoxicating. They've been roasting beans for 64 years. And yet, with the neighborhood changing, newcomers have complained --I guess they prefer Starbucks. But that was last year, and hopefully they've knocked it off, because D'Amico's is a great place to kick back with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. At the tables in the back, old-timers sit and shoot the breeze. One person leaves, another comes, the conversation keeps going without pause. Occasionally, someone breaks into operatic song, but mostly it's talk: "People are blind and retarded now on the street. They don't see nothing. Me, I can see a cockroach if it's walking on the sidewalk." "Remember Bobby? Bobby Vegas we called him. A Jew. Nice guy. Died of a massive heart attack." "Do you know the difference between baccala and stocco? One's the male and one's the female. No, the baccala's not the fem...

A reader sent in a link to another cache of scanned photos featuring the old city, this one of 1979 . Photographer M. Joedicke's collection includes many shots of empty streets, crumbling industrial riversides, and dusty old trucks. Here and there, a barely recognizable scene appears--the west side piers, a piece of High Line, a parking lot off Times Square. Taken as a whole, it's a portrait of a dreary, desolate city where few humans dare (or bother) to tread. a peek at the once lovely Terminal Diner The images conjure up a town populated by cigarette advertisements and leaky fire hydrants, where the buildings sag and the paint jobs peel. These photographs might just leave the taste of car exhaust and gutter rain in your mouth.

The interior of the Hoffman Auto Showroom at 430 Park Avenue has been demolished. Designed as a showroom for luxury cars, it was one of three works by Frank Lloyd Wright in New York City--the Guggenheim and the Cass House on Staten Island remain. Crain's reported: "The end came suddenly and unexpectedly. On March 22, the Landmarks Preservation Commission called the owners of 430 Park Ave. to tell them the city was considering designating the Wright showroom—until January, the longtime home to Mercedes of Manhattan—as the city's 115th interior landmark. Three days later, the commission followed up with a letter. Both went unanswered. Instead, on March 28, the building's owners, Midwood Investment & Management and Oestreicher Properties, reached out to another city agency, the Department of Buildings, requesting a demolition permit for the Wright showroom. The permit was approved the same day, sealing the showroom's fate. By the following week, worker...

Thanks to reader Douglas for letting us know all about the 1977 Canadian movie Outrageous! Starring female impersonator Craig Russell , the film tells the story of Robin, a gay hairdresser who leaves the Great White North for New York City to make it as a drag star. Robin arrives in New York and takes a cab through Times Square to 10th Avenue, "the real street of broken dreams" as the gay leatherman cabbie describes it. Off the Meatpacking District, they pass The Anvil and The Ramrod--with a view of the newly risen Twin Towers. Heading along the High Line (when trucks still parked beneath it), Robin and the cab driver end up at a place called The Jack Rabbit Club, a leather-and-Levi's drag bar with a ceiling dripping with tinsel and inflatable bunnies. Douglas asks us, "Was this a real bar? The movie was made on a really small budget, so I doubt they would just create a bar. Cheaper to use a real one." Does anyone recognize the place? The entire...

New York City's Fur District consists of a few blocks in the western upper 20s and lower 30s, just south of Penn Station. It began vanishing 30-some years ago. In 1979, there were 800 manufacturers here, by 1989 there were 300, and today there are certainly much fewer. Recalled furrier Nat Berkowitz to the Times in 1995, "It used to be that when you drove up the New York State Thruway to the Catskill resorts, there would be a mink stole hanging in every car window ." Times changed. Fur lost much of its luster. Protesters protested . There are still fur dealers here, but not as many as there used to be. I remember walking through in the evening when I worked near the area, looking into the fur traders' shops--not showrooms, but wholesale rooms--bare little spaces painted hospital green, filled with racks of pelts on hooks, where men in yarmulkes and shirtsleeves plied their trade. Are they still here? What does remain, and what will remain long after the fu...

The Rawhide is gone. After 34 years of holding down its corner of Chelsea , the bar closed for good on March 30. And before the sweat has dried, already the space has come onto the market , with the realtor's sign hammered on top of its black awning, calling for "corner restaurant/retail" beneath the rainbow flag still flying. The real estate listing for 212 Eighth Avenue includes a marketing brochure on the property. It highlights "neighbors" like The Gap, Starbucks, American Apparel, and many other national chains. However, it fails to mention the big Salvation Army right next door and the block's gay sex shops, The Blue Store and Rainbow Station (two businesses targeted by Chelsea's anti-sex brigade ). In addition, the brochure offers a delirious map of Chelsea pocked with countless chain-store logos. We know more is coming. We won't be surprised when we see a sickening 7-Eleven slithering into this spot, or a frozen-yogurt banality, a...

Don't forget--this Sunday at 6pm: Mob The Hat . Tell them "Jeremiah sent me" and get a free margarita! Give this long-time local business a shot in the arm. They will gratefully appreciate it. As with Bill's Gay 90s , the trendy new owner of Lenox Lounge thought he was getting the interior fixtures--but the true owner took his decor with him. Said the new guy, "It’s like buying a car, and you come back and the seats are gone, the tires are gone." Oh fucking well. [ NYT ] Great article on the travelers, aka " crusties ," of the East Village. [ Villager ] What do you miss most about Soho in the 1970s ? [ SMP ] 1980s NYC on Super-8. [ FP ] Enjoy Grieve's round-up of Out and About interviews . [ EVG ] A last-remaining low-rise strip of Delancey has sold. [ BB ] What's happening to our libraries ? [ OMFS ] Check out the Downtown Literary Festival . [ MJ ] Zamperla actually believes: "We are saving Coney Island . An...

The Al Pacino movie Author! Author! came out in 1982. It's about a struggling playwright who lives in a sprawling middle-class townhouse in Greenwich Village with a crowd of stepchildren. (Was that really possible in 1982?) It was filmed in New York and there are a few shots of Times Square, including a scene in Sardi's, but I was most taken by the following. In the screenshots above you can see the great Julius' bar on the right, with a much smaller window than what it has today. And in the background, there's a deli/liquor store where Three Lives & Co. bookstore is today. One of my favorite bookstores in town, it looks like it's been there forever...but there used to be Angelo's. same corner today In another scene around the corner, a bookstore appears at Grove and W. 4th, next to El Avram, a "Kosher Israeli-Mediterranean restaurant/nightclub, featuring a revue with Israeli singers and bellydancers." The bookstore and El Avram ar...