It's official: Astor Place has traded books for bods. As speculated, the former Barnes & Noble will be a David Barton gym.
Sure, it was a giant chain bookstore--but it does sum up a shift in values, doesn't it? In this one photo we see how much Astor Place has changed very, very recently: The giant luxury condo tower, the glass-box newsstand smothered in billboards, the Starbucks reflected in the glass, and now David Barton, one of the biggest proponents of the push towards total Yunnification and what Michael Musto called "body fascism" in his write-up of a Barton opening where scantily clad boys wore Barton's advertising slogans written on their bare bodies.
Barton told the Times back in the 20th century: "'My motto is not 'Be healthy'; it's 'Look better naked,'... He practices what he preaches. 'I believe in these lines,' said Mr. Barton, who has become a cog in the image-making apparatus since many editors and designers work out at his gym. 'Being healthy is a nice side benefit. The most potent motivator is vanity. I want people to admire my body.'"
Barton is unabashed. As he more recently said in the Times, "I'm not an intellectual...I'm a sensualist--my whole life is about experience." For the new New York, something like reading is not an "experience." An experience, I guess, makes you sweat. An experience is something like being an image made into image inside another image, as in the ad below.
We are a city of mirrors within mirrors. Surfaces reflecting onto other surfaces. What depth will be left when all is glass?
Friday, May 2, 2008
No Pecs, No Sex
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10 comments:
class war needs buff soldiers. and soldiers fight better when they don't read.
You know what would be awesome in that space? A ?Barton Fink gym.
a barton fink gym! i love just trying to picture such a thing.
I've seen David Barton on the street. Am curious as to what he will look like when older, say 50 or 60. Lived in a building where many tenants were obsessed with jogging. Many now require crutches due to damage done. That's the bitch about vanity; it's a double edge sword. Imagine a city of aging Yunnies, working out, clinging to the generous visions of youth. That, golden children, constitutes a delusional citizenry.
While I am sad to see any bookstore close, there is something just a little delicious in St. Mark's Bookshop surviving the Barnes & Noble that nearly put it out of business.
Hmm. Despite being a big chain, that Kmart seems awfully low-brow and out of place now for that neighborhood. Can't we get some really over-priced store for that spot?
But seriously...
You know, I'm not in good enough shape to join a David Barton Gym. Drat!
Doesn't Eliot Spitzer work out in a David Barton gym?
just in case you haven't noticed yet- the dept. of buildings has closed the hostel on 7th street. the sign says something about imminent danger to life. i saw some people in there this morning who didn't look like they were in a hurry to leave.
Does anyone else think it's odd that a gym known for gay crusing is opening up directly next door to the city's only all gay public high school? Seem like a lawsuit waiting to happen, with the jailbait nearby.
Also, I loved your final three sentences. THey articulated what I have been feeling for some time now.
"Be" trust me, David barton members are interested in muscle, not jail bait. No risk there. Although, there is a slight tone of gay panic to your post. What's up with that?
I am no fan of David Barton or his gyms. However, I'm glad to see that the space is being used by a successful LOCAL business (20+ years) and not some soulless national chain, drugstore or bank.
Would the readers of this blog prefer a Best Buy?
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