Preserving Classic New York Award

Thank you to the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts for their Preserving Classic New York Award.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy 20th Die Yuppie Scum

Image
You might say that Friday night's protest of super-gentrification in the East Village was also a celebration of Die Yuppie Scum's 20th birthday . In trying to trace the roots of this rallying cry of rage, I found its earliest recorded use goes back to the 1988 riots in Tompkins Square Park , when it was hurled at the new residents of the Christodora House (along with bricks), painted on the walls of their controversial building, and propelled into the mainstream lexicon. By 1989, the phrase had made it onto T-shirts and was being spray-painted everywhere. It is currently enjoying a resurgence . How appropriate then, that this weekend's angry group of East Villagers, chanting "Die Yuppie Scum" as they marched through the neighborhood's streets, should end up on the doorstep of Christodora, face to face with the enemy, where they found their fiercest opposition of the long march. But first let me rewind, back to the beginning of the night. It started...
Read more

Varvatos: Birthplace of Punk

Image
Last night I stood outside the grand opening of the John Varvatos store on Bowery , watching and listening to the battle for New York's soul rage on. When I arrived, Varvatos was on the sidewalk being interviewed for a film about CBGB's by rock documentarian Ernie Fritz . Varvatos talked about all the good he believes he's doing for rock 'n' roll and the neighborhood . Varvatos and Sid Vicious Soon, the fashionistas and old punks started rolling through the labyrinth of ropes guarded by big, burly bouncers and girls with clipboards dressed in "Varvatos 315 Bowery: Birthplace of Punk" t-shirts . I was not on their list and could not get inside . I waited for Rebecca Moore and her protesters to arrive. Reverend Billy was in the group. I asked him why he came out for the protest. He told me, "I'm dismayed by the blasphemy of CBGB's being overtaken by what looks like Soho. Are we going to get Soho'd all the way to Alphabet City? ...
Read more

How the Cupcake Crumbled

Image
Made giddy by the recent deluge of SATC-spanking media coverage (see end of story for links), let's trace it back--not as far back this time as Bushnell and Star's fateful meeting at Bowery Bar, we've already covered that . No, let's go back to a seemingly more harmless moment in the year 2000 , to a few seconds frosted in pin The Villager points the way, reflecting, "After Sarah Jessica Parker ate a creamy retro cupcake on Sex and the City at a beloved local landmark, The Magnolia Bakery, the tour buses began circling. The lines outside the tiny bakery swelled into queues stretching around the corner. Soon, upscale clothing retailer Marc Jacobs, salivating over the youthful crowds, rented a shop right across the street." don't do it! stop! And here's our smoking gun: “Our goal was to take advantage of the huge concentration of young people who flooded into the area, especially with the ‘Sex and the City’ show,” said Debbie Lee, a Marc Jacobs...
Read more