Strand Annex to close: “We were doing very well with that store, and then they started the construction, which really hurt our sales.” Call it "death by construction," another way in which condos kill. [Urbanite]
Drunkorexia: young women starve themselves all day so they can save up their caloric intake for binge drinking.
Are we losing the fabulous Biography Bookshop to yet more Bleecker high fashion? This will be a horrible blow to the Village. And, yes, Carrie Bradshaw, I'll blame you. [Racked] *Update: I checked in with Biography and they are not leaving anytime soon. However, their days are numbered. About a year from now they'll be gone. They're looking for a new spot, so if you know of an affordable place for a bookshop, drop them a line.
Get the lowdown on last night's lively meeting to save Coney from turning into yet another outdoor shopping mall. [AMNY]
And here's more, more, more on that Coney scoping meeting. [GL]
I love the veggie-slicing man--and here he is in all his orange glory. [GVDP]
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a.k.a. The Book of Lamentations:
a bitterly nostalgic look at a city in the process of going extinct
- Jeremiah Moss
- THE BOOK:
"We should all buy Jeremiah Moss’s book, Vanishing New York." --Sarah Jessica Parker
“Essential reading for fans of Jane Jacobs, Joseph Mitchell, Patti Smith, Luc Sante, and cheap pierogi.” --Vanity Fair
"a vigorous, righteously indignant book that would do Jane Jacobs proud." --Kirkus Reviews
THE BLOG:
"the go-to hub for those who lament New York's loss of character." --Crain's
"No one takes stock of New York's changes with the same mixture of snark, sorrow, poeticism, and lyric wit as Jeremiah Moss." --Village Voice, Best of NY
“Jeremiah Moss…is the defender of all the undistinguished hunks of masonry that lend the streets their rhythm.” --Justin Davidson, New York Magazine
"One of the most thorough and pugnacious chroniclers of New York’s blandification." --The Atlantic, Citylab
"Hyperbolic and combative, tireless and passionate." --Salon
Men At Forty
ReplyDeleteMen at forty
Learn to close softly
The doors to rooms they will not be
Coming back to.
~Donald Justice
Your blogging of the vanishing of NY is like closing the doors softly to somewhere we will not be coming back to.
how did you know this is one of my favorite poems?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know this was your favorite poem. I read this in the subway, last week -- part of that Poetry in Motion series, and it just gave me chills when I read it and this is how I feel about NYC today, and I thought that you probably feel the same and would share it with you.
ReplyDeleteCarrie Bradshaw--ugh...I saw the movie and was quite disappointed--carrie bradshaw no more--vanish p[lease--
ReplyDeleteCan't wait til they figure out a way to charge admission, or even better, block off the High Line from the general riff-raff, and make it "exclusive" to the properties adjoining it. Soft openings? You mean, like if you're a guest of the hotel you can enjoy it?
ReplyDeletehi--I just "googled"Donald Justice and read a few of his poems--one In Katmandu is wonderful too-
ReplyDeleteHere's an idea: instead of "googling," go to Biography Bookhop and BUY a volume of Justice's poetry! This loss will be the final nail in the West Village coffin. I have always blamed Marc Jacobs for what has happened. That idiot supposedly opened his first rat's nest to be near his favorite restaurant, Paris Commune. But his insidious overthrow of the area subsequently priced them out of the area rental market.
ReplyDeleteMoved a bus stop because of a restaurant? That's as unlikely a story as shutting down Randall's Island for three weeks to prep for Bloomberg's summer party...oh, never mind. Every day, we lose a little more to the self-styled elite.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the vegetable peelers from that guy are fantastic. I have two, and given them to tons of people, all of whom swear by them.
That Diner effected the bus stop? Where does it stop now, in front of the Apple store? (I no longer live in NY, thank goodness.) Did anyone ask Steve Jobs? Why do I get the feeling that another condo/hotel/whatever will be on the Diner's site thereby offering many more the excitement of being near the High Line and MePa!
ReplyDeleteyes, the bus stops in front of the apple store now. i thought that was the reason for the change, that maybe the apple store wanted the direct customer access and used its clout. i didn't imagine a restaurant could just, whatever, call the mta and say move the stop. weird.
ReplyDeleteto anon--googeling is the poor person's way of accessing things--are you a yunnie?
ReplyDeleteI certainly caught that dumbass "drunkorexia" thing last night. I suppose our best&brightest have finally found a way to reconcile they're obsession over body image with their raging alcoholism--eliminate food altogether! To think that these idiots are supposed to be educated professionals is really very frightening, though it'll be interesting to see if this latest trend thins their numbers out a little. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, regarding bookshops, I have a sad heads-up to relate: The Strand Book Annex dowtown lost it's lease, at least it says so on their chalkboard sign out on the sidewalk.
i saw that sad news about strand annex--neglected to post it. just did. thanks!
ReplyDeleteOn tha drunkorexia thing, this is somewhat similar to the New York Times article Young New Yorkers Make a Brand New Start of It, on the Cheap Here's an excerpt: They are "Eating cheap lunches and skipping dinners — not just to save money, but so that drinks pack more of a punch and fewer need be consumed.
ReplyDeleteI really don't mind this self-destruction, just as long as they're not destroying those around them. Oh wait, too late for that--they're doing it to NYC as well.
The so-called "Drunkorexics" don't come off as Bradshawesque yunnies to me. More like bewildered humans trying to manage their lives in a stressful environment while battling one or more addictions.
ReplyDeleteCountless times I have deliberately eaten less to justify drinking more, but since I'm an old-school punk rock girl no one has ever questioned it or doubted my actions.
I truly sympathize with anyone who is struggling with addiction, even if he or she is a yunnie.
BUYING A BOOK makes me a yunnie?! Perhaps if you purchased a book you, too, could spell "googling." LOL! As a native NY'er it's comforting to know that someone is at least keeping track of this city's changes.
ReplyDeleteto anon--insensitive narcissism makes you a yunnie--you don't care about poor people only your way to buy buy --bye
ReplyDeleteyes je parle francais aussi-google that et va te faire futre
now--google this--the poems on David Justice's google site are quite good--the quality excellent and sensitive.. unlike YUNNIES
ReplyDeletenot sure how a donald justice poem launched us into an argument about yunnism.
ReplyDeletei don't think buying books, or taking books out of the library, or googling books makes anyone a yunnie. shopping doesn't make you a yunnie either. yunnism is a whole characterological constellation of personality traits and pathologies.
so, you know, feel free to read lots of mr. justice, however you find him. he's good.
p.s. i cannot speak, however, for the quality of former yankee DAVID justice's poetry...
ReplyDeleteI meant Donald Justice--
ReplyDeletehope you have a great weekend
"Drunkorexia"? There goes the media just now stumbling across something everyone knows and has known for a good while already like it's some sort of brand-new societal ill. Pish posh. The rich and beautiful have been staying fashionably thin on the booze-and-coke diet for decades now. I suppose the Times is only picking up on the party girls now because they've become so god damn ubiquitous in this city.
ReplyDeletei was waiting for a david justice joke!
ReplyDeleteI think it would also be helpful to remember that most yunnies avoid unassigned reading like the plague (except maybe an occasional graphic novel or PEOPLE magazine), and they certainly don’t bother trying to understand poetry. It’s just not in their culture. In the wonderful and timely new book, “The Dumbest Generation”, there is whole chapter (called “The New Bibliophobes”) about the dramatic aversion to reading that helps to characterize our current young gentry. Remember the yunnie couple mentioned on this site a while back, whose huge McMansion contained eleven TV sets but no bookshelves? Naturally, poetry, to such people, is a half-remembered high-school annoyance, not something to be enjoyed or (unlikeliest of all) created. In a culture whose best outputs are the VH1 reality shows, you can understand that intellectual activities don’t have much of a place. So, it’s very unlikely that someone arguing with you about anything relating to poets and poetry would qualify as a yunnie.
ReplyDelete