Bleecker's Bust
For years, we've been watching the jet-fueled luxurification of western Bleecker Street, a blitz that started with the biting of a pink-frosted cupcake, pushed out dozens of small businesses--from Nusraty Afghan Imports to the great Manatus diner--and has now collapsed into high-rent blight.
Last week, State Senator Brad Hoylman published a report on Bleecker's blight and offered solutions, including getting rid of tax deductions for landlords who maintain persistent vacancies--often in the hopes of attracting a national or international chain.
Now, in today's Times, Steven Kurutz thoroughly tells the tale of "How Bleecker went from quintessential Greenwich Village street, with shops like Condomania and Rebel Rebel Records, to a destination for Black Card-wielding 1-percenters, to its current iteration as a luxury blightscape."
The story starts with that cupcake, spikes on Marc Jacobs, and descends into luxury waste. Kurutz notes: "While quirky independent stores couldn’t afford the new Bleecker, it became apparent over time that neither could the corporate brands that had remade the street. An open secret among retailers had it that Bleecker Street was a fancy Potemkin village, empty of customers."
Bleecker went from quaint to high-end suburban mall in just five years. It took another five to die. A similar process is happening in neighborhoods all over Manhattan--and has moved on to Brooklyn, where Smith Street has gone from authentic to trendy to empty. As I say in the Times article, this is an expected symptom of late-stage hyper-gentrification. Unless something is done by City Hall and Albany, it's not going to get any better. (Here are some ideas.)
For more on Bleecker's transformation, pre-order my book, Vanishing New York. There's a whole chapter on it.
Further reading:
Luxe Blitz
How the Cupcake Crumbled
Bleak City
Last week, State Senator Brad Hoylman published a report on Bleecker's blight and offered solutions, including getting rid of tax deductions for landlords who maintain persistent vacancies--often in the hopes of attracting a national or international chain.
Now, in today's Times, Steven Kurutz thoroughly tells the tale of "How Bleecker went from quintessential Greenwich Village street, with shops like Condomania and Rebel Rebel Records, to a destination for Black Card-wielding 1-percenters, to its current iteration as a luxury blightscape."
The story starts with that cupcake, spikes on Marc Jacobs, and descends into luxury waste. Kurutz notes: "While quirky independent stores couldn’t afford the new Bleecker, it became apparent over time that neither could the corporate brands that had remade the street. An open secret among retailers had it that Bleecker Street was a fancy Potemkin village, empty of customers."
Bleecker went from quaint to high-end suburban mall in just five years. It took another five to die. A similar process is happening in neighborhoods all over Manhattan--and has moved on to Brooklyn, where Smith Street has gone from authentic to trendy to empty. As I say in the Times article, this is an expected symptom of late-stage hyper-gentrification. Unless something is done by City Hall and Albany, it's not going to get any better. (Here are some ideas.)
For more on Bleecker's transformation, pre-order my book, Vanishing New York. There's a whole chapter on it.
Further reading:
Luxe Blitz
How the Cupcake Crumbled
Bleak City
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