Vanishing New York Backup

Reader Mitch writes in: "News is that the Gotham Deli -- Columbus Ave between 72nd & 73rd Street (East Side of Street) -- will be closing due to a rent hike. The Starbucks located next door will be expanding into the deli's space." Gotham is just a little deli, a place for sandwiches, but it's been there a long time and people in the neighborhood like the place. Do we really need more of Starbucks?

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

Back in January, DNA reported that Hudson Street's Cowgirl, nee Cowgirl Hall of Fame , "saw its rent increase to nearly $40,000 per month, including real estate taxes, at the same time as business slowed." The manager said there were no plans to close: "Cowgirl is gearing up to celebrate its 25th anniversary this year and isn't hanging up its spurs anytime soon." More recently, I got the following note from a regular reader: " There is VERY quiet talk of a possible Cowgirl Hall of Fame closing! I don't know how true the rumor is--but it did come from an informed reliable source! I'm unsure of any date. But I fear sooner than later. I know they have an anniversary coming up. I have a feeling they are going to celebrate and then try to sneak away or announce it and go shortly there after? I'm scared." So, more rumor? As with all of these uncertain situations, the best plan of action is to go before it's gone. You never know w...

Photographer Tim Schreier sent in a collection of depressing photographs showing what's become of the Iron Triangle at Willets Point. What had been a bustling community of small business people and their customers is now a dead zone, waiting to be flattened by bulldozers set in motion by Bloomberg. Tim writes: "I had not been to Willets in a few months and was curious to see how the community of businesses (primarily auto repair and supply businesses) was faring since receiving eviction notices from the city. What I saw was a few businesses hanging on but, for the most part, it was like a ghost town. Willets Point was a thriving, multicultural business community. One could detect not only various languages being spoken but dialects as well. It was a very busy community, businesses thriving individually and collectively. To the small business owner, it was a place of active trade. A place where they could earn and work. To Citi Field, the city, and other gentrificatio...

After approximately 20 years in the East Village, on Third and 10th, the Biomed pharmacy is closing. The rent is too high, according to the cashier (who has a large family to support and is seeking work, if you know of something). Pretty much everything is 50% off until it's gone. Biomed was one of a dying breed of surgical supply shops, the place to go if you needed a bedpan or a sling or some rubber catheter tubing, a knee brace, a sitz bath, crutches, or a wheelchair. They still have an impressive selection of podiatry products, including bunion regulators and hammer toe cushions.  I always enjoyed walking past their "Ben & Jerry's" "Bed Bug Spray" signs in the window, a coupling that never failed to amuse. Sometimes I'd go in to buy regular stuff--Tums, Advil, a bottle of soda--and marvel at the vast and somewhat horrifying array of wounds and woes one could treat from their copious shelves. I also liked to think about what use...

Outside of the Millinery Center Synagogue , on 6th Avenue between 38th and 39th Streets, Cantor Tuvia Yamnik stands by a table from which he sells sets of bedsheets, occasionally calling out, "100% Egyptian cotton!" This unusual practice has been going on since 1998 . Just walking by, I stopped to talk to the cantor, a warm and friendly man. He explained that the synagogue was recently damaged by a flood--not a Biblical flood, but a busted plumbing pipe--and that they're trying to raise money for the repairs . I made a donation and went inside to look. The floor boards were buckled, the holy books covered in mold and stacked in piles. The place needs help. The synagogue dates back to 1934 when it was founded by hat makers in what had been a thriving Garment District. The congregration began by gathering in a loft building, then moved to the synagogue when it was completed in 1948 . Daytonian in Manhattan recalls, "Here such groups as the Millinery Bo...

Recently, I engaged in an email conversation about gentrification with John Joe Schlichtman, formerly of Brooklyn, currently professor in Chicago's DePaul University Department of Sociology, and co-author with Jason Patch of “ Gentrifier? Who, Me? Interrogating the Gentrifier in the Mirror ." In the article, which prompted me to reach out to Schlichtman, the authors exhort critics of gentrification to examine their own relationship to the process. They are working on a book, tackling this topic, to be published with University of Toronto Press. JM: Let's start with your paper. What do you see as hypocritical about urbanists critiquing gentrification? Or is hypocritical the right word? JJS: I see nothing hypocritical about urbanists critiquing gentrification. This was a misreading of my article with Jason Patch, “ Gentrifier? Who, Me? Interrogating the Gentrifier in the Mirror ,” that gained momentum through the Atlantic Cities piece about our article. Emily Badger...