In fact, Tower looks like it's brokering half of the East Village and Lower East Side -- maybe you, too, have noticed the big yellow signs screwed to every other storefront around here? Lotus Lounge is listed for sale/rent, as well as the mysterious corners of 12th and A, and 14th Street's La Isla restaurant:
There are also a number of unnamed Avenue A restaurants on Tompkins Square Park. Let's pray they don't mean the old Odessa -- their picture shows only the view from a child's tire swing.
I passed by Tower's small, Chico-painted, neighborhood storefront (since 1988) and thought about the ways in which real estate changes hands, how it's grabbed up and then trickled down, like water dripping through the tight fists of giants.
I don't think Tower is one of those giants. Not the source of the EV/LES real estate drainage, it's more like a delta, where the alluvial silt of the neighborhood gathers before washing out to sea. So where's the source? Where are those giants grabbing us up in their fists?
They are here in this Observer article (see also Curbed's take on it) which reports that the Boysroom building, and 16 others, were bought by big, bad Extell and sold to big, bad Westbrook last year. It was called the "East Village Portfolio." What we are seeing now, I think, is the trickle. Except it feels more like a quietly gathering flood--of shuttered storefronts and silent evictions.
Maybe your building was part of the portfolio. Have you been squeezed through the fist of a giant and washed out to sea?
10 comments:
Yeah, I've been noticing more and more "for rent" signs as well. Ninth Street between A and First Ave., for instance. And the whole 12th and A corners mystery has me concerned. Meanwhile, how did I miss the Tompkins Square Bakery closing up? Haven't seen it open of late, and now that fancy "for rent" sign is there. Christ.
It is about time someone commented on this. I have lived here 12th and A for 9 years. I am a professional but also somewhat of a pioneer. First, off please stop with the gay businesses on this block. Sorry being a straight guy and all but for the love of god enough. Second, I live on one of the few only remaining blocks downtown or for that matter below 96th street where all 4 corners are vacant. This is a very rare encounter for Manhattan. Now the 13th Corner is following. The Mexican restaurant has not been open for sometime. Boys room is out and they are soon to be partnering up with Rapture Cafe so I hear. A buddy of mine came by the other night and oddly said, the corner had been returned to the days when we hung out here in the early 90's. A complete mess. The city is kicking out the tenants of 204 Ave A soon, and they are renovating the building across the street. It is easy to say that I live on one of the most defunct blocks in the village. Funny, because the people at the A building think they got such good deals. Suckers. I will probably have more to add later regarding this.
indeed i was recently squeezed to brooklyn from this giant's fist. i had the bad fortune of being in the extell e.v. portfolio - an unwitting prop in this hocus pocus act. one observer commenter seems to think that westbrook (whom i know as p.v.e. associates - since you can't just be one entity these days) is actually one and the same as magnum management (ie: ben shaoul). i'm just happy i got out before the goons showed up with crowbars.
hey anonymous who's lived at 12th and A for 9 years: you're a total homophobe! "please stop with all the gay businesses on this block"??? fucking homophobe closet case. take a look atall the so-called hetero bars and clubs, you'll be happy to know they so still far far far outnumber gay businesses.
these silent evictions really go under the radar around here. i hope more readers will keep this conversation going. thanks for the comments and info.
Maybe someone should start a political party in New York based around fighting for tenant's rights. Something like the Pirate Party in Sweden that exists to fight bad copyright laws. The law is the strongest tool you all have in the fight against greedy developers, so you might as well try to get it on your side.
I'm a small business owner on East 3rd Street and Avenue B, renting in an independent, family-owned building. They just sold to some big suit and tie organization and I have been informed that not only will my lease not be renewed, I will be asked to leave so that they can knock down the wall between my store and the adjacent one, connect the basement, and rent it out to a big restaurant or bar. I guess it's just business, but it breaks my heart. Looking at the realty listings all I see is numbers that can't possibly be serious. Some of the more honest brokers have confided that their corporate bosses don't mind sitting on these properties - vacant - for a couple of years until the market supports their lunacy. So what we have is a neighborhood where 1/3 of the stores are empty or being shuttered... and what do we get back? Liquor, overpriced food, ATMs, and hookah bars. Welcome, NYU class of 2012.
hey jonny, if you want to talk more about it, email me: jeremoss@yahoo.com
211 Ave A is in the portfolio of buildings recently purchased by Westbrook Partners/PVE Associates/Shaoul family or whatever you want to call it. They own a ton of buildings and are actively tenants. Tower is only the broker, not the problem for the gigantic turnover in the east village.
One more thing to the guy who commented earlier about The A Building, that one is also owned by Shaoul and the million dollar tenants are suing his ass because they bought a piece of shit that is falling apart in only 2 months.
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