*Everyday Chatter

The 18-year-old bodega at 14th and 3rd is moving. The whole low-rise building looks doomed. I predict that we'll see it all go -- the tanning salon, the cell-phone store, even the XXX DVD shop, which happens to have the last peepshows/buddy booths on a corner that only a decade ago was loaded with porn and frequented by hookers:


How do they say Merry Christmas in the McMansions of Rockaway? With giant toy soldiers overshadowing teeny-weeny Jesuses and some good old-fashioned, plush-on-plush dog humping:


Columbia gets closer to bulldozing Harlem (with likely use of state-sponsored eminent domain) and, as usual, many blog commenters applaud the legalized theft. [City Room]

Barbara Corcoran advises her readers to find up-and-coming, gentrifiable areas by looking for old ladies on park benches. I guess the next step is to wrestle those same old ladies off their benches and boot them out of town. [Curbed]

Jahn's ice-cream shop in Richmond Hill, Queens, is closing down after 110 years. Forgotten NY says there's one left open in Jackson Heights. Looks like it's time for a trip. [Ed's MB]

Here's a little East Village wishful thinking: