In the VNY "Steal This" tradition (bicycle, stroller, laptop), I submit the following scene of stealable baggage left on the sidewalk outside the Orpheum theater on 2nd Ave, where Stomp has been "hypnotizing" tourists for years. Maybe that explains the unattended luggage:
Writer David Kamp, coiner of "Vongerichtified," found himself here and further adds to the meaning of the word, saying, "A Vongerichten restaurant is like a plasma TV that’s been wired into the wall of a Victorian townhouse: a flashy add-on that’s cool in its way but messes with the overall vibe. And is obsolete within five years." [DK]
What would Jesus do? He apparently would not care to visit the gentrified (Vongerichtified) Lower East Side. [EVG]
June 28: Take a guided tour of the destruction of Washington Square Park. [WSP]
The Domino Sugar sign has been saved--see the brand-new renderings here. [BStoner]
I still don't know why Stomp is still running. As long as they're showing that, that's one building I wouldn't mind being taken over by another bank, pharmacy, Starbuck's, Marc Jacobs, Varvatos, Keith Mcnally (you get the picture). I got free tickets to see that show about two years ago-- and I just had to walk out (didn't even wait for the intermission).
ReplyDeleteAs for the unattended luggage, I'm sure if a person or persons of color , esp. if they look Middle Eastern, left them, someone would have called the cops, and the bomb squad and the FBI and the CIA will be closing down 2nd ave. It's great to be white. And welcome to the new EV.
I guess now that the EV has been gentrified by these yunnie and yuppie sheeps, perhaps Christ would finally come down here; he is after all the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.
Nice.
ReplyDeleteThe blue piece of luggage on the far left kind of matches and goes with my collection of Knicks (away) jerseys.
I will make it a point to frequent that area more often now.
Thanks Jeremiah for listing the Washington Square Park walking tour. Maybe you can drop by. (As long as it doesn't rain!)
ReplyDeleteCathryn
Washington Square Park Blog
You know, in regards to those suitcases, I bet there were all kinds of expensive things in them. Knowing our current elite, besides the thousands of dollars worth of gadgets those suitcases undoubtedly contained, there was probably bizarre valuable stuff like, say...diamond-encrusted flip-flops, gold flakes to garnish food with, and gold-shit pills to garnish poop with. Not to mention the luggage itself, which was probably worth several hundred dollars at the very least. If a person were having trouble paying for rent, food, and healthcare all at once, I’m sure stealing those suitcases and hocking the goods would help alleviate their financial problems a bit (at least this month).
ReplyDelete"What would Jesus do?” is a good question, though I don't think it should be very difficult to answer. Isn’t Jesus the same guy who said, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”?
And the Domino Sugar Sign was saved for the benefit of who, precisely? It is an ADVERTISEMENT, for a union-busting corp. based in London. Is there going to be a corresponding memorial for the former Domino factory workers?
ReplyDeleteTypical Brownstoner idiocy that wasn't mentioned, or wait, wait--
1) was he not in Brooklyn then?
2) did he not personally know any of the workers there, ever, nor the union they were supposedly represented by?
3) did he or his incompetent reporter not read any of the reporting of the story then or in the years following?
So Manhattan gets ANOTHER ad to look at, congratulations! And Brooklyn is raped, again, by real estate scumbags who don't know or, even worse, care about the past they claim to have an interest in.
Thanks for posting this, however, J-- I checked out of the virtual reality, true inanity of the Brownstoner bullshit two years ago and, somehow, my understanding of the city has only INCREASED. "Funny" how that works when you seek out with a wide range of New Yorkers, none of whom, it's true are on the loathsome LPC.
Saving history for rich white assholes, again, thanks!
Joe Hill
Say, Jeremiah, I just had a look at that NIMBY blog, and I think you’re right. I get the impression that it’s some kind of roundabout attack on the anti-gentrification movement, sort of like that short-lived “Above 96th” blog, except facetious instead of sanctimonious. I could be wrong, of course, but then, yunnies rely so heavily on facetious sarcasm that it’s always a bit difficult to figure out whether they’re praising or attacking something. Still, I stick by my interpretation.
ReplyDeleteFrom that perspective, my first thought after reading through it was, “wow, this person must have a great deal of free time to maintain a blog just to mock the concerns of other blogs”, but then it occurred to me that there might be something more personal to this. It has occurred to me that the number of hostile yunnie comments has declined here recently. Not that I miss them, but since the yunnie capacity for reflection and self-criticism is not high, I doubt this is because we’ve actually changed any hearts and minds. Could perhaps this new blog be the brainstorm of one of those bitterly hostile Anons we’ve argued with, who, after finding that writing things like, “boo hoo hoo for you”, didn’t startle us into silence, has instead thought up a more comfortably passive-aggressive way to try to belittle our concerns? I have a hunch that this might be the case. Just a hunch, mind you, but I’m fairly confident about it.
If I’m right, it would be quite an irony that the yunnie in question chose to throw the “NIMBY” acronym at us, considering that it was created to describe his supposedly liberal parents’ attempts to keep their property values up by keeping minorities out of their happy little suburbs. But I suppose this falls within the “reverse criticism” phenomenon.
I think 'bad' is the best way to describe the NIMBY blog. It doesn't make much sense from any perspective.
ReplyDeleteThat NIMBY blogger is proud to be like one of them housewives of NYC from that show. She is -- "Worldly, classy and educated, you may not have been born into high society, but you know you belong there.".
ReplyDeleteNot a yunnie (I don't think), but definitely somewhat of a high brow that exhibits a yunnie-zoid or yunnie-typal personality
That NIMBY blog is just awful. I've read plenty of satire that effectively and humorously lampoons the anti-gentrification movement, sometimes in good nature and sometimes not. And while reading such pieces always makes my blood boil at the arrogance and elitism of those who pen it I can at least always appreciate an intelligently-written satire, even when I and/or my belief system is the butt of the joke. But all personal sentiments aside that NIMBY blog is the least funny thing I've ever read. No tact, no subtlety - nothing that comprises good satire in the least. If yunnies are going to be goofing on us can we at least have one with two brain cells to rub together and a better grasp of the concept of satire do it?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that NIMBY blogger is trying to be funny or satirical. It's just her style of writing; she's just vapid and clueless.
ReplyDeleteNIMBY is perhaps my favorite thing in the world right now, mostly because it makes you all look like tools. Thanks for the laughs.
ReplyDeleteTools of whom, exactly?
ReplyDeletewhatever a yunnie is, I want to be one!
ReplyDeleteThe definition can be found in the list on the right of the screen under "Vanishing Glossary". Though honestly, if reading this blog makes you want to be one, then I'd say you're probably fairly close all ready.
ReplyDelete