Vanishing New York Backup

Beth Salvini is co-owner of Greenwich Letterpress , on Christopher Street since 2005. While the shop is not a classic New York spot, it is an example of a small local business working hard to stay alive in a climate that has become increasingly hostile to the small and the local . Recently, the shop moved a few blocks away. Business has dropped. This often happens when a mom and pop relocates. While relocation is publicly celebrated as a victory--against a greedy rent hike, for example--or a sign of resilience, it can actually be a death sentence. In my many years writing this blog, I've talked with several small business owners who relocate--even nearby--and then are forced to shutter in just a few years. I asked Beth a few questions about life as a small business owner in the Village. in the former location, photo via PrintMag A: How long have you run a small business in Greenwich Village? A: My sister Amy and I opened Greenwich Letterpress in 2005 at 39 Christopher St...

I chatted with Mike Owen Benediktsson, an urban and cultural sociologist and professor at Hunter College, about Storefront Survivors , a vital research project and online resource about small, independently owned storefront businesses trying to stay alive in a city that has become increasingly hostile to their presence. all photos courtesy of Mike Owen Benediktsson Q: What is the "Storefront Survivors" project? A: The project is a collaboration between three CUNY urban sociologists – Sharon Zukin of Brooklyn College, Rich Ocejo of John Jay, and me. All of us were teaching this really interesting seminar about the city’s neighborhoods at Macaulay Honors College this spring. Our students talked to more than 140 business owners in dozens of neighborhoods across all five boroughs, gathering a variety of material – transcripts, audio recordings, images, etc. – a portion of which is gathered at the Storefront Survivors website. The motive for this was partly pedagogica...

Madewell, a clothing chain store owned by J. Crew, is moving into 69 Gansevoort in the Meatpacking District--the former address of Florent and, prior to that, the R & L Restaurant. At the moment, Madewell/J. Crew is gutting the space. In the process, the antique chrome R & L signage has been removed from the facade . Will it be back? (See updates below.) today florent It also appears the "R&L" has been ripped from the floor by the entrance, and they've stripped off all the vintage chrome from the facade. today before This space opened as the R&L luncheonette in 1938. In 1955, it became the R&L Restaurant, with the lovely chrome sign. Owned by Ari Lucas, the R&L was a place where longshoremen and meatpackers would dine at night--they called it "Eatem and Beatem," according to the Chicago Sun , "because they would zip in and out around 3 in the morning." Sol Libsohn, MCNY In 1985, Lucas' daughter took...

Author Richard Price spoke at the New York Times' " Cities for Tomorrow " conference earlier this week. He talked a bit about gentrification in Harlem and "that eternal argument: Is this good for Harlem or bad for Harlem?" NY Times photo He said: "The big picture is: Everything that's happening now in Harlem, everything that's being built in Harlem is with someone like me in mind , preferably 30 years younger than me. The born-heres? They're looking around and seeing new restaurants, and high rises going up, and new trees planted, and they know it's not for them. It's like: You're in the way..." "It's like white people discovered Harlem like Europeans discovered America, and the Indians are going, 'Really? What are we standing on, cream cheese?' ... So whatever's exciting and new is a little bit of a death knell." He talked about the recent closure of Pathmark and the opening of Whole Foods o...

VANISHING Da'Vinci Shoes has been on West 8th Street since 1980, opened by Israeli immigrant Evette Mansoor. Now we hear they will be vanishing. A regular reader and long-time Villager writes in: "My girlfriend was in there the other day and was chatting with owner. Rent going from $6K to nearly $40K. So they are looking for new digs. Or just may abandon ship altogether." Da'Vinci's inventory clearance sale sign hangs below a "for lease" notice from Winick, where the listing --as they all do--celebrates the nearness of chain stores. Our reader adds: "Same folks--Rudin family--who built the condos on St. Vincent's are raising the rent here." I can't confirm the ownership, but I can make a prediction. The address 37 West 8th is shared by both Da'Vinci shoes and Uncle Sam's Army Navy , in business since 1969. If the owner is kicking out Da'Vinci, we should expect they will also be kicking out Uncle Sam's. ...

As I've written about here before , the redesigned Astor Place is shaping up to be a neoliberalized theme park disguised as an open public space. We've watched the process develop over the past few years, and now it's about to reach its hideous completion. design rendering Here's the latest scuttlebutt on the project from long-time reader Liberation: "I was told by someone who works for Village Alliance that, when eventually complete, the new Astor Place will have a variety of food vendors, outdoor tables and chairs, and some type of lighting scheme. There's a large electrical box on the north east corner of Chase that will power all of this. The Village Alliance and some type of committee at the Sculpture for Living building decide who these food vendors are and, in general, decide what takes place in the area. One bit of news I found shocking is that they have allegedly altered The Alamo sculpture so it will now include some type of lighting. Accord...

Earlier this week I reported that the Stage Restaurant has been gutted by building owner Icon Realty , who evicted the beloved, long-time East Village business last year. Here's a heartbreaking look inside. Photo by Kirsten Theodos, Twitter The real estate developers will not rest until they take this entire city. It is not natural. It is not inevitable. It is not "New York is always changing." It is the outcome of city and state policies. And it can be changed. But New Yorkers will have to wake up and do something--or it's going to be same shit, different day, day after day after day after day. #SaveNYC -- before it's all gutted.

Richard writes in: "I just came from the bodega at 7th Avenue and 17th Street, which is almost empty. The nephew of the owner was behind the counter. He explained that the building was recently purchased and they were being evicted, along with Merchants bar/restaurant and Muscle Maker Grill, so that a large apartment building can be erected in their stead ." "I asked where the owner was. 'He died. Heart attack. Two weeks ago. He was 56.' The owner's son was outside, sitting on top of the empty fruit-and-flower stand, staring into space. I had talked with him over the last few months about his plans for the store. He recently installed a new sign --- Pop's Place, it reads; his dad had been there for 30 years --- and wanted to install a juice bar, and do other things. Sweet kid. All for naught. I offered condolences. He doesn't know what he's going to do now. Friday is their last day, in case you'd like to stop by."...

The new 53rd Street Library opened recently, replacing the beloved Donnell library. Sleek, stark, and only one-third the size of the old Donnell, the new space is true to the architect’s original fantasy rendering, a bizarre scenario in which people sit on designer bleacher seats, staring blankly into space, not reading books. Library entrance beyond the Baccarat and its guard The entire library is bizarre. There are not many books, though there is plenty of vast empty space that could hold them (Justin Davidson calls it a " perfect haven for checking stock prices and Twitter "), and the glossy wood floor is conspicuously loud underfoot, booming with every step. But the ampitheater that ushers guests inside has got to be the strangest part. As it leads you down into the subterranean space, it blatantly recalls the High Line's "10th Avenue Square," where people sit on wooden steps and look out at traffic. On the right-hand wall is a metal mesh screen th...

Last week I posted about the East Village's guerrilla response to Icon Realty 's habit of pushing out our beloved small businesses. Locals have vandalized Icon's signs around the neighborhood with graffiti and stickers telling the real estate developer where to get off. Most recently, someone spray-painted the sidewalk outside the evicted and empty Stage Restaurant , telling the East Village to boycott the incoming business--which, at this writing, will be another outpost of Kati Roll . Immediately, the day after I published the post, a team of workers were on the scene. They furiously power-washed the sidewalk in front of the Stage and completely gutted the interior, ripping out the counter, the swivel stools, everything. Now the spot has been wrapped in plywood, the sign ripped down and vanished. The Stage was here since 1980. It was locally owned and operated, and it was always busy. Every day, the counter was full of working-class joes, cops and constructio...

VANISHING Last year I shared the news that New York Central , one of the oldest art supply stores in the country, was in trouble. Today they announce that the shop will be going out of business by end of summer . Doug Steinberg wrote in with a press release, explaining that the closure is "due to poor business conditions and its building being sold." From the press release: "The store, which has been in continuous operation at 62 Third Avenue since 1905, is losing its month to month lease at the end of September. Founded in 1905 by Benjamin Steinberg, the store has been run by the Steinberg family for more than 3 generations. Benjamin’s son Harold (whose brother Gilbert went on to open Lee’s Art Shop which also recently closed) took over in the 1940s. The store’s most recent President, Steven Steinberg, started working at the store in the 1950s and took over in the early 1970s. He built the store into a mainstay of modern artists, and added a world-renowned...

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a photo of the Yves condo building in Chelsea, where Core Realty had on display a quote from Fran Lebowitz : "When you leave New York, you are astonished at how clean the rest of the world is. Clean is not enough." Before (photo by mingum7) We wondered if Fran would approve of having her words so appropriated--and in such an inappropriate fashion--for selling clean, sterile real estate. Signs point to: No, she didn't. I left a message on Fran's answering machine (you just know she still has one of those) to tell her about the quote and now--it's gone . (I would love to know exactly how it all transpired.) After Still, several other quotes remain on the walls, mostly from bohemians talking about how New York is an exceptional place, not for typical Americans, where unusual things are happening. The sort of quotes that don't belong on a luxury condo, helping to sell other luxury condos, and in the ever less exceptional...

In "Sexy Stories from New York City’s Torrid Underground," the legendary Lydia Lunch will be hosting a series of events at The Roxy Hotel. She'll be performing stories from her book Paradoxia: A Predator’s Diary and presenting readings from the unpublished memoirs of Warhol Superstar Bibbe Hansen and Lower East Side raconteur Zoe Hansen. There will also be musical interludes. Monday July 11, Tuesday July 26, and every other Tuesday in August The Django The Roxy Hotel Tribeca 2 Avenue of the Americas Doors 8:00 Show at 9:00

Looking around the East Village, it seems that Icon Realty is the most hated realty company in the neighborhood. Maybe it's because they've been pushing out our favorite small businesses  -- and leaving the empty spaces sitting empty, plastered with their corporate logo. The neighborhood is filling up with Icon Realty signs -- more high-rent blight -- in many cases, stretched across the entire length of buildings as they've emptied whole ground floors. And wherever the signs appear, locals are expressing their outrage. People recently protested on E. 9th Street . Many are leaving angry messages. "FUCK ICON," they say in graffiti. They're slapping stickers to the signs that read: "VACANT: DUE TO SELFISH LANDLORD." But the biggest protest message so far just appeared spray-painted in big capital letters across the sidewalk in front of the dearly departed Stage Restaurant on Second Avenue. "DO NOT RENT HERE," it says, ...

Casimir Nozkowski has made a lovely short film about life at 70 Hester Street, a building that was once a synagogue, a whiskey still, and a raincoat factory before it became a home and a studio for Nozkowski's artist parents in the 1960s. It was recently sold and re-sold for millions and the Nozkowskis were forced to leave. You can watch the entire film here and on Vimeo . I chatted with Casimir about old buildings in the city. 70 Hester Street from Casimir Nozkowski on Vimeo . Q: What is the value of old buildings to the city and its people? A: In my opinion, having grown up in a 130-year-old (plus) building, there is an enormous value to maintaining spaces constructed in long-ago eras or event recent eras. The personalities of cities are going to change over time, of course, and lots of new buildings and new spaces will be built. But being able to see and feel a connection to the past is a reminder that we occupy land that many souls have lived and breathed on. I ...

VANISHED Earlier this month, I first reported on the impending closure of Rebel Rebel records on Bleecker Street, pushed out by rising rent. According to owner David Shebiro, the landlord opted to let the luxury clothing chain Scotch & Soda expand into the record shop's space. Now it's gone. The windows are covered in newspaper. A photograph of David Bowie, the inspiration for Rebel Rebel records, salutes passersby. A #SaveNYC sign hangs in apparent futility -- as City Hall continues to ignore our pleas and do nothing to protect the cultural and locally commercial streetscape of New York. For his farewell note, Mr. Shebiro quotes from Bowie's "Future Legend": "And in the death As the last few corpses lay rotting on the slimy thoroughfare The shutters lifted in inches in Temperance Building High on Poacher's Hill And red, mutant eyes gaze down on Hunger City No more big wheels Fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats ...