Monday, January 19, 2009

*Everyday Chatter

Is NYC losing its obnoxious swagger? Says one gal: "When I’m out in bars and restaurants, there is a sheen that is missing...it feels a little grittier; there is a sense that the thrill of paying $20 for a cocktail is over. I find that my friends are still going out and want to have fun but their tolerance for the ‘price of exclusivity’ has waned." [NYT]

On de-gentrification, I am not the only one enjoying "schadenfreudic pleasure that the first to fall have been the coffee shops, kids' boutiques, vegan markets and stores dedicated solely to the sale of a single model of all-clad butter warmer." [Curbed]

Not only is the Holiday Cocktail Lounge alive again, so is the Pizza Box! (Boogie's excited too):


Is beloved Ray's Candy on Avenue A in danger of vanishing? [NMNL]

Is the 58-year-old Frozen Cup of Bellerose enjoying its last days before it's demolished for a hotel? [QC]

An interview with underground photographer Nathan Kensinger. [Gothamist]

A much better thing to do with snow--take gorgeous photomicroscopic pictures of it. [panopticist]

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

the thrill of paying $20 for a cocktail is over.

^ Very disturbing!

Not because the thrill is over but because it was viewed as acceptable in the first place.

JamesChanceOfficial said...

What could POSSIBLY be the thrill in paying $20 for a drink? Can someone explain this to me?

DBCHongkong said...

I do hope the thrill of paying twenty ducats for a cocktail is over. I like gritty and seedy and i like the sense of being a vagabond, perambulating through the discourse and the whispers of New York, satisfying my penchant for disarming intercourse with strangers.

Jeremiah Moss said...

right, why IS it a thrill to spend $20 on a drink? does it make one feel more powerful and therefore more likely to stave off the inevitability of death?

thoughts?

JamesChanceOfficial said...

I just don't get it...never have.

Anonymous said...

YUNNIE TRANSPLANT SCUM!!

YUNNIE TRANSPLANT SCUM!!!

YUNNIE TRANSPLANT SCUM!!!!!

Anonymous said...

So Beatrice Inn rejects are heading around to the Corner Bistro -- that says it all about NYC and its trendies. Steve Rubell, wherever he is, must be laughing away. Cafe society continues its decline. As for the twenty dollar drinks, they're being put on plastic ..... do you hear rumblings of bailout? You sure do.

boweryboogie said...

The thrill of paying that much comes with the territory of class warfare. Paying that much is a statement claiming superiority over another.

uptown bike said...

man, i can hardly wait 'til the thrill is having the love and guts to stay put in the city despite all the shite it spews forth! ah, those were the days!

now, i do not want a comeback for all the problems that many low income communities had back in the day, but, sheesh, i don't want some selfish, carpet bagging transplant to be have more rights to enjoy the city than someone who has lived here all his/her life and, intentionally or not, practically given their soul to the city.

let's do away with monetary payment and bring forth giving one's blood and soul to the city. i know mine are forever wandering the city streets no matter how far or long i am gone.