Vanishing New York Backup

Rent parties are back in vogue, and on the LES, it's "Slam the Landlord." Tomorrow night, help a couple of East Villagers save their home. [ Blah ] Nothing inspires my own real-estate envy like a townhouse in the Village. And townhouse owners who can "flirt" with renting out their 4-bathroom triplex to go "see the world" really kick that envy up a notch. Or ten. These folks on 11th Street are advertising with a sign in their front yard. Any takers? One man tells his tale of Tribeca Film Festival terror . [ EVG ] Save the date: Manhattanville holdout Nick Sprayragen stands up against eminent domain and Columbia University. Join him on May 21 at 2PM, NY State Appellate Division, Madison Ave at 25th St. Family Portrait Day invades East Village--what is this, Park Slope? [ BB ]

I got an email from a reader named Chris who wanted to share his photos of the vanished city. They illustrate how quickly and thoroughly New York has been replaced. It's as if we're looking into the deep past--the 1940s instead of the 1990s. Check them out on flickr. photo by Chris Regan How one "disturbingly handsome" family helped to gut and renovate parts of the city--so is a TV show and book about them "like a distasteful relic from another time and place"? [ NYT ] ... Runnin' Scared weighs in. It's the time of year when our sidewalks shrink, getting more crowded, as outdoor cafes swell . Here comes another. Unless you fight it. [ BB ] Mona Molarsky examines the "expansion" and vanishing of the Upper West Side . [ Examiner ] Nothing goes together better like beer, bikinis, and high colonics . [ EVG ] Finding beauty in an eyesore's ancient door. [ GVDP ]

Anti-overdevelopment street art about " architectural disaster " a new trend? [ Curbed ] Nothing says "Mother's Day" like swine-flu hysteria : Get a colorful inside look at life on the Bowery from 1969-1989. [ EVG ] Another writer visits the cherry blossoms with their many attendant cameras and is "unbothered by the crowds," feeling like Georges Seurat on La Grande Jatte --a modern-day version of this painting would include a plethora of technology. [ NYT ] Reverend Billy for mayor: "it was everyone's dislike for banks and frozen yogurt which caused the applause." [ SG ] In a crashing economy, the Real Housewives of Jersey pay cash for their extravagance. [ NYT ] In a time when more and more New Yorkers can't make the rent , rents are going up . [ Curbed ]

Like many fans of the former city, I enjoy vintage signage. Kingston Avenue in Brooklyn's Crown Heights offers a plethora, much of it with a Jewish flavor, untouched by the passage of time. Crown Cosmetics, above a jewel-tipped crown, sports a subtle Hebraic styling in its typeface. I like Weinstein's for its letters-in-circles design and its giant key. My favorite is Crown Bagel. It's not the best looking sign, but it gets points for its use of "AIN'T."

Forgotten NY goes back to the Meatpacking District , where yet another meatpacker has packed it in. [ FNY ] Check out the vintage Meatpacking photos of long-time resident Coco McPherson at Goodbye New York . It's getting harder and harder to pay the rent --even for the affluent. [ NYT ] Alex is going to this WNYC event about preserving the city's neighborhoods --and he wants you to go, too. [ FP ] Filming of Angelina Jolie 's new movie nowhere near as action-packed as the filming of Nic Cage's new movie. [ EVG ]

Sometimes, too often, I'm walking along the streets to be struck by the shock of something vanished or replaced. "When did that happen?" I find myself asking. It's a question I asked recently when walking by the Washington Square United Methodist Church on West 4th Street to find a chain across its steps and the sign: NOVARE Private Residences No Loitering Please "Novare" is the new name for this building. It's a luxury condo development. You might not notice if it weren't for that sign. Sold and shuttered to its congregation in 2005, the 145-year-old church had a long history of social action and justice, dating back to the Vietnam War when it got the moniker "Peace Church." It was the first home to the Harvey Milk School for gay and lesbian youth, and gave shelter and space to the Black Panthers, the Gay Men's Health Crisis, Dykes Against Racism Everywhere, many art and performance groups, and community housing services. It undoub...

The Times visits the virtual Chelsea Hotel , too--maybe we should have a virtual party. Meet you there? [ NYT ] At decadent yunnie brunches , what can you do with $90,000 worth of Dom Perignon? Spray it on "the biggest show offs in NYC." [ GofG via Curbed ] Avenue B "NIMBYs" win battle against a crowded, noisy bar. [ Eater ] Beloved, quirky New York Doll Hospital to close after death of owner, Irving Chais. [ NYT ] Irving Chais, by NY_Doll, flickr pool Landmarking a little street in Williamsburg that Henry Miller called: “The ideal street for a boy, a lover, a maniac, a drunkard, a crook, a lecher, a thug, an astronomer, a musician, a poet, a tailor, a shoemaker, a politician.” Or, you know, a condo. [ NYT ] Celebs complain about having to live near meatpacking plants--in the Meatpacking District. [ EVG ] " On the Bowery we’ll be a little French," says Boulud of his ill-named DBGB. [ TONY ] When calamity separates people from their shoes at the co...