Wednesday, October 1, 2008

*Everyday Chatter

The real estate boom is over. Not only that, according to the Times, gentrification is slowing on the LES. Is that daylight I see, peeking through the clearing smoke? via [Curbed]

Still, the Bowery is so "on," it now has an off-off version. [EVG]

A few good suggestions for the (rather odd) Bowery Suggestion Box from BoweryBoogie.

Speaking of Bowery, there has been some debate about whether or not it's officially a street. So which is it, street or not a street?

photo: specmotor's flickr

Andy Schwartz reflects on the Lost Music Venues of Manhattan and notes a change in today's crowds: "sending/receiving text messages, snapping photos with cell-phone cameras, ordering more drinks, discussing jobs or relationships or vacations--anything, it seems, other than actually listening to the music." [PSF]

Enjoy hipster fashions you love to hate. [HuffPo]

Bloomberg on the mayoral extension of term limits: "I think it would be an absolute disgrace to go around the public will." Uh-huh. [Newsday]

Supporters of Bloomberg's power grab are "blind to a fundamental problem with Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor: The excessive accumulation of power in the hands of someone who is both the city’s chief executive and one of the nation’s wealthiest citizens." [Commonweal]

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bowery Street....the Bowery....Doesn't matter. Neither is very faboo...We need something catchy! Fun! Now! Happening!

BoWe.

The Bo.

The Bow.

The Ree. (As in "we're going to the Bowery-eee tonight for drinks -- delish!")

Bowery 2.0.

Or, perhaps we name it after a Bowery trailblazer:

The Street that Varvatos Made.

Or name it for what it is:

Luxury Way

Glass Box Way

Of course, we should probably at least acknowledge the past in a new name.

The Bouwerij by Cristal.

JPMorgan Chase Bum's Row.

Anonymous said...

There is no debate as to whether the Bowery is a street or not; it has always been the Bowery. When I lived there in the earlier 1990s, an increasing number of Chinese shop owners would write "Bowery Street" on their business cards, letterhead, shopping bags etc. as they had no idea (and still don't, frankly) that the Bowery is simply The Bowery. Jennifer Lee of the New York Times also got it wrong on a recent blog post of hers. Cemusa has been contacted for months about their error, but as an irresponsible Spanish megalith hell-bent on destroying classic street furniture, they could not care less.

esquared™ said...

in addition to EV Grieve's recommendations:

--The Bowerynnie

--Douchebag Row

--FratBoy Lane

--Scary Shadshaws Catwalk

--Gentrified Way

--NYU Drive


...
but whatever they do, DON'T call it a street

Jill said...

The Bowery is Third Ave so if anything it is an Avenue, not a Street.

Sorry, these things matter to those of us from Queens where we have 67th Drive, 67th Avenue and 67th Road one after the other.

Anonymous said...

You guys didn't get the text message? It's been officially renamed "Bowery Street® brought to you by Cemusa and Chocolate by the Bald Man."