Vanishing New York Backup

When I reported on the closure of Rebel Rebel Records back in June , I noted that they were given the boot so that their high-end fashion neighbor, Scotch & Soda, could expand into their little space. Well, that's happening right now. The Amsterdam couture chain store has put their brand on Rebel's window, and they've started gutting and redecorating the place. Scotch & Soda has nearly 100 other locations around the world. There was just one Rebel Rebel. #SaveNYC.

Last month I wondered if J. Crew's Madewell store in the Meatpacking District would put back the signage on the old R&L Luncheonette , later and most famously Florent. They did. After removing it and, presumably, scouring it clean for the new clientele. Benjamin Shaykin shared a pic on Twitter and noted: "two kids walked up all excited while I was taking this. 'I think it’s opening tomorrow!' one said to his friend." Of course. On Gay Pride Day in 2008, restaurant Florent closed its doors, forced to shutter after 23 years when the landlord raised the rent from $6,000 to $50,000 per month. On his famous menu board, Morellet spelled out an optimistic thought in white plastic letters, “REAL ESTATE GOES DOWN / NYC SURVIVES.”

If you look around the city, or follow this blog, you know that New York's small businesses are being wiped out by unregulated sky-high rents. The spaces then sit empty for months, sometimes years, warehoused by landlords who let the streetscape die while they wait for big chains to move in. At #SaveNYC , we've been pressuring City Hall to do something about a problem that Tim Wu at The New Yorker dubbed " high-rent blight ." Now Justin Levinson has added ammunition to the fight--an invaluable tool called "Vacant New York." It's an interactive map that shows where the high-rent blight is. In short, it's everywhere. Justin is a 34-year-old computer programmer who has lived in the city for 11 years. He and I chatted over Facebook: JM: What prompted you to do the project? What was your "final straw"? JL: I think the anger and upset that you and I feel about the changes in the city were an undercurrent and a driver, but the last pus...

I regret that I never went into Asti, closed in 1999 after 75 years as "one of New York's most beloved and treasured restaurants." You may remember, it was the place on E. 12th Street where the waitstaff sang opera while they served Italian dishes. Said one baritone at the time of the closure, "In the last decade, our customers either died, retired, or could no longer afford to come regularly." If you missed it as I missed it--or if you just miss it--watch this extensive video report I recently came across:

You may have heard by now that the Lightstone Group with Marriott Hotels, in collaboration with Ikea, is planning to put a Moxy Hotel on E. 11th Street . In order to do that, however, they'll be tearing down five "landmark eligible" buildings containing 75 residential units. The City recently approved the demolition . Moxy Hotels are aimed specifically at millennial tourists . They come with "communal ironing rooms" and "elevators that act like photo booths," along with free booze and pillows on the bed that say, "I woke up like this." Marriott is planning to open 150 Moxies over the next decade. photos from a reader Yesterday, New Yorkers joined The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) to protest the demolition. Speaking to the group (click for Facebook video), Andrew Berman put the responsibility on Mayor Bill de Blasio--citing Lightstone Group as his allies and political contributors. The hotel, he said, ...

I really loved Gotham Book Mart. I loved walking to it past all the diamond shops on 47th, glimpsing their famous sign-- "Wise Men Fish Here" --and feeling that rush, browsing through the shelves, always finding something wonderful and unusual. For years now, every time I venture close to its former location, I get a pang of sadness that I can't go there ever again. So here's something. After the shop closed in 2007, its entire contents--about 200,000 books and other items--were donated to the University of Pennsylvania by Edmondo Schwartz and Leonard Lauder. And now they're gradually appearing on a blog called The Gotham Book Mart Project . Here are a few that seem especially special:

The space that last held Left Bank Books has a replacement. A shop called Hawkins New York is moving in. According to their website, Hawkins was "born out of a palpable void in the lifestyle market for quality, accessible, home goods." Their aim is to "incorporate the concept of artisanal collective production, while maintaining a modern sensibility in design." I deeply miss Left Bank Books. They closed earlier this year after 24 years in business, explaining: "the costs of maintaining a brick-and-mortar used and rare bookshop in Greenwich Village are simply no longer tenable." The other small businesses on this block were pushed out by rising rents and the other inflated costs of doing business. Left Bank had moved to this spot after being forced to leave their old location on West 4th Street.

In June, I reported on the eviction of Reverend Jen and her Troll Museum . Now she will be resurrecting the museum, for only a short time, in a community art space called Chinatown Soup . photo by Mr. E She writes on the Facebook invite : "For years the LES Troll Museum made many people happy, made them feel like, maybe, the LES hadn't turned into a real-estate shitshow bedroom community for the rich." The event will run for one week, opening tonight, August 16 at 7:00pm, at 16 Orchard Street. "Expect a killer opening, weird performances, drawings, paintings, plays, a troll hair-dressing station, a troll-coloring book station, shit that's for sale, a 'Troll Parade' and informative monologues about the importance of Troll Commerce."

Jonny Aspen , Associate Professor at the Institute of Urbanism and Landscape in Oslo, Norway, coined the term " Zombie Urbanism " in 2013 to describe the way many urban environments are being designed today. I like the term, so I got in touch with Aspen and asked him about it--and how it applies to the redesigning of New York City, including the High Line, Hudson Yards, Times Square, and the new Astor Place. Astor Place Q: Can you give a definition of what you call "zombie urbanism"? A: I’ve coined the concept in order to encircle what seems to be an increasingly more prevalent, and increasingly more worrying, phenomenon in contemporary urban development, namely the cliché-like way that many developers and designers talk about and deal with urban environments in general and public areas and places more specifically. On the one hand I use it as a reference to what seems to have developed into an increasingly more homogeneous discourse, globally speaking, on...

The A.J. Muste building, at 339 Lafayette at Bleecker Street, has been completely covered from head to foot in green plywood. This weekend, the plywood was plastered with the apparently anti-Trump slogan Ted Cruz uttered at the Republican National Convention: "Vote Your Conscience!" This is courtesy of luxury real-estate developer RFR . Until recently, this building was known as "The Peace Pentagon." It was home to several activist and social justice groups, including The War Resisters League, Granny Peace Brigade, Global Revolution, Paper Tiger TV, and The Socialist Party. The Muste Institute originally bought the building in 1978, providing affordable space for these and many other groups. Unable to afford expensive repairs, they sold it in 2015 for over $20 million , and moved to Canal Street, bringing their tenants with them. A documentary is in the works about the move. August 2015 I always liked this low brick building, seeing its windows full ...

VANISHED Reader Christine writes in to let us know that Rocco's Calamari of Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn has closed abruptly after 35 years in business. photo via Eating in Translation "This was my husband's childhood hangout every Saturday afternoon," writes Christine. "The Fried Calamari was to die for, fried zucchini was one of my favorites. Great home-cooked style meals at a great price. Freshly made everyday... Just a tremendous loss for everyone." The closure was sudden and unannounced, leaving customers reeling. After celebrating their 35th anniversary on July 9, on their Facebook page they wrote, "Rocco's will be closed for vacation from July 31st to August 8th. We will reopen Tuesday, August 9th!" But they did not reopen. A second Facebook notice reads: "After 35 years of serving the community, we are 'hanging up our hats!' We would like to thank our wonderful staff and loyal customers for their patronag...

As first reported here , after 29 years in business, Tekserve is closing for good. Their last day will be August 15 and they'll be holding an auction in the store on August 23. Jan Albert, wife of Tekserve co-founder Dick Demenus, writes in: "We'll be auctioning off Dick’s antique technology collection which decorated the walls of the store, along with such iconic items as the 5-cent Coke machine that served 3 generations of customers and school kids, the vintage phone booth where we let customers make free local calls, the wall of radios that greeted customers, a larger-than-life blue robot that accompanied Tekserve to trade shows, the “ Mac Museum ” Tekserve assembled which displays and describes Apple Macintosh computers from 1984-2004 (with t he first Mac signed by Steve Wozniak !), and even the TEKSERVE neon sign from the front of the store. Entry is free and it should be a fun day and a great final performance--simultaneously an audiophile’s and dumpst...

VANISHING The City Quilter , on West 25th Street since 1997, will be closing in October. photo via Diary of a Quilter Reader Peter Lappin, of Male Pattern Boldness , passed along the news with the email the shop sent to their customer mailing list. Co-owner Cathy Izzo writes: "After almost 20 years and more than 20,000 students passing through our classrooms, we’re sad to announce the closing of The City Quilter in October. We have enjoyed getting to know many wonderful people and have had an exhilarating time building up our business from scratch. But Dale and I feel it is time for a change." In addition to selling fabric and other sewing necessities, as well as offering many classes, The City Quilter maintained the ArtQuilt Gallery next door. That has already closed: "the expense of running the gallery could not be justified." City Quilter will continue to sell their fabrics online, expanding their City Collection . And before they close, they will ...

The Astor Place Cube has returned! Fully renovated for the new East Village, it features a pinwheel of high-heeled shoes, a cheeky nod to the stylish gals of Sex & the City , all supported by a Citibank-branded base. Give it a spin! Just kidding. That's not the Cube. The Cube is rumored to return with lights and a mechanical base that makes it spin on its own. This is just a massive advertisement for Citibank, taking up the entire new semi-privatized Astor Place, rumored to be managed by a secret committee inside the "Sculpture for Living" luxury condo tower that looks down upon it. People used to fight for Astor Place to remain itself. But most of our fighters have been kicked out of the neighborhood. Who has come to replace them? This is neoliberalized New York, where everything's for the corporations, but you can have an "interactive fun zone" good time, too. Spin those heels! And forget about the devastation of hyper-gentrification and...

Intel continues to come in that the Astor Place Cube will be lit up and spinning when it returns to the East Village. New Astor Place: Now with patio umbrellas Last month I reported on the semi-privatized neoliberal farce that Astor Place has become and is yet becoming . Through a regular reader, I shared the shocking and disturbing news that the Alamo sculpture, otherwise known as the Cube, would be returning under electric power--lit up and mechanically spinning. Soon after, William Kelley, executive director of the BID Village Alliance, wrote to EV Grieve to deny the rumor about the Cube. He said, "The Alamo sculpture should return in August, and it is exactly the same as it was before. There are no lights and the spinning mechanism is human powered , just like before." Since then, I've continued to hear the exact opposite. Another reader spoke to a worker on the scene, who told him the Cube would indeed be lit up and mechanized. I spoke to a worker who t...

Back in May we took a look at an uncovered old neon sign: A. Blank at the corner of Broad and Stone downtown. It had been there a long time. Now, reader Goggla sends in a photo of the sign's replacement. No neon. Just plastic. An urban artifact uncovered and then re-covered, to be discovered again one day.

Back in 2007 and then again in 2008, the southeast corner of 10th Street and 4th Avenue was falling to make room for a new boutique hotel . And then it wasn't. Now it looks like it's falling again. It's recently been wrapped in demolition scaffolding and a worker confirmed, "It's coming down." Over the years, the little low-rise building became a kind of public message board. What will the 10th Street Scribbler do when his canvas is gone?

When Times Square's Cafe Edison closed in December 2014, after a long and mighty fight to save its life , we lost something unique that can never be recreated. A beloved mom-and-pop, a warm and comfortable place decorated like a wedding cake, the filigreed walls and ceiling painted powder pink and baby blue. The new restaurant moving in, we learned last year, will be Friedman's Lunch. What will Friedman's do to the space? Reader Shade took a recent peek through the window and sent in this shot. As you can see, the place has been white-washed. No more pink and blue. And, from a distance, those columns look suspiciously smooth--has all the antique filigree been scraped away? Here's what the columns used to look like-- they date back a long time : As for Friedman's Lunch, I've said it here before , but it's worth repeating. In case you think some Friedman family runs the place, think again. There are no Friedmans here. According to the restaurant’...