Must-read article from David Kamp on the history of the American Dream and the "consumerist nightmare" it has morphed into. He writes: "In hewing to the misbegotten notion that our standard of living must trend inexorably upward, we entered in the late 90s and early 00s into what might be called the Juiceball Era of the American Dream—a time of steroidally outsize purchasing and artificially inflated numbers." [VF]
Revenge of the "bitter" renters: "Longtime renters who bore the brunt of the bubble market with no long-term asset to show for it are finally having their revenge." [NYO]
Realizing its guilt and obsolescence in the current climate, a Cadillac SUV commits suicide in the East Village. [NMNL]
Two billboards. Next to the Gansevoort Hotel. Nothing on them.
Meet tonight to discuss changes to the Public Theater. [CR]
Check out the LES Purim Masquerade Ball: 3/14, 8pm, Workmen's Circle. Writes the organizers, "This party is all about gentrification on the Lower East Side, and finding solutions to it through brilliant strategy by long-term residents, newcomers, allies, and gentrifiers together."
Minetta to be "fully booked here on out." So much for nothing's changed. [Eater]
Visit the lovely Schnackenberg's of Hoboken. [HunterG]
Missing the solipsistic bling years? Go back in time and spend a day with Babs Corcoran. [EVG]
Orchard St: raped, pillaged, dumped in an alley to die. [BBoogie]
9 comments:
Off topic: I was walking across 48th on the way to the theater last night, and it looked to me like that little pocket of music stores is alive and well - for now.
I don't know how they are doing financially, as foot traffic is a poor indicator for stores like these.
Sometimes, a store closes for reasons other than the Vanishing of New York. Perhaps this is one of those instances?
Things can never be the same--but let the spirit of survival triumph!!
Another off-topic. Saw this article today, about places to recapture 70s New York: http://www.sheckys.com/newyorkcity/nightlife/grit_is_good_return_to_70s_new_york_6980.asp?fc_c=1847466x4295257x295965965
It's nice to dream of New York past, but the past is history and we face an uncertain future. All we can do is have the past to guide us. If we want an Old New York, it could only occur by focused effort. It means welcoming more vibrant, non American immigrants whose culture helped define the pulse of the city (e.g: Hip Hop, salsa, etc), it means bringing back the Italians who escaped to New Jersey. it means a disciplined effort to get people to patronize smaller business and sacrifice the convenience of inventory that sometimes give the bigger stores an advantage. It means tearing down the architecture that attracts the douchebags. It means doing all kinds of shit. Which of course is pretty much impossible.
I live and work in Brooklyn. So I am rarely in the city. I spent some time in downtown Manhattan recently, prepared to see the yunnies diminished and the frozen yogurt spots boarded up. But nada. The FRAT BOYS and VALLEY GIRLS wearing Ugg boots are still here in sizeable number, and while we can all dream that these yunnies will be scared of New York like they used to be (or at least scared of leaving the upper East/West sides), it's unlikely.
They'll still be here because a boring dull New York City still beats the dull boring, lifeless shitty place they likely left behind.
Oh wow, Schnakenbergs is still there! It looks exactly the same as it did in the early 80s when the previous generation of old ladies ran it. As I recall, they sold chocolate bunnies at Easter.
If the rich people are hurting, how do you think the poorer people "that made the neighborhood vibrant" and who got displaced are doing? Seems like stupid logic to think those people will be moving back in any time soon. After all, it's hard to shop for apartments when you're unemployed, barely employable, and living under a bridge or in a shelter. The rich people? For them it's just the difference between vacationing in the Hamptons or down the Jersey Shore.
But if you want to believe that logic, then you go right ahead because I'm sure it will make sense to the rest of the lemmings who visit here.
anon 12:36PM--well said--I agree--
I signed my bloody lease with a $100 dollar increase this year and another $100 increase next year
I moved here two years ago and signed a two-year lease that worked out for me. Furthermore, I got divorced and was laid off (AND SCREWED OUT OF MY BONUS) for half of last year. So I would have a dreadful financial package (no cash, lots of debt).
So now I live paycheck to paycheck on a salary that would make me a rock star back in the Midwestern town where I grew up. It is obscene. One paycheck is rent and utilities/cable. Another grand comes out of the second check for b-school loans (yeah, yunnie-me-bad Mr. Cool Guy).
In any case, I am stuck with credit card debt from unemployment as well as grad school debt assumed when Wall Street jobs were a plenty, and a divorce that broke my soul. Now i am lucky to have work (although that is in question once again), and decidedly unlucky to lose my beloved spouse.
All of my savings are gone and hte credit cards are loaded. I work to pay off debt while getting by. I cannot move because i have no assets and now my credit sucks (late bills paid in my divorce-related mental breakdown).
I am one of those you make fun of. I was a midwestern nerd who was good at math and got a great financial aid package to a ritzy Ivy out East. I worked all over and ended up here to plese my wife. Now she is gone and I am stuck here.
I want to leave. I do not like it here. I hate that I make so much money and live like a slave (yes, I should not have chosen a lower Manhattan apartment).
You talk about kicking out all of those midwestern finance guys, well some of us want to leave, but we cannot. I do not want to drive up your rent or ruin your precious transvestite cop spots. I just want to go home. I want a job with a respectful wage in the midwest. I want to live where I have family and friends. I want to stop thinking about suicide every night. I hate this city. I do not want to live here. I would do anything to go home. Unfortunately, I will probably get laid off again, and with no savings and loaded credit cards, my only option will be to walk off my balcony (23rd floor) or experiment with Tompkns Squre Park glassine envelopes (perhaps two bundles at once).
I often think of what witty remark you will make when I finally give up. How funny will the end of this pathetic yunnies' life be? I am not an artist or musicion. I am decidedly uncool. I do not even have the energy to fit in as a hipster.
New York is the worst. Where I come from, people celebrate success. They do not criticize folks for getting into good colleges or becoming financially secure. I do not know why people here are so mean, so cold, but I only hope that I can survive. Or at least if I die, someone will know and a Mass will be saidin my honor. Right now that would not happen. No one would know, save for blog readers laughing at a pathetic yunnie who took his life because no local would be his friend. You are all too cool.
I wish for one minute I had the respect of some old, dingy diner. I wpuld die to have someone who will actually miss me when I am gone.
This will never happen. We are subhuman because we did not grow up here. We have no style, no history, no friends. We are alone. Such easy targets. Fire away!
The more i read, the more I believe that my neo-liberal bothers will eventually suffer the sme fate as their equivalents in Tienanmin Square in 1989. We are an elite deprived of money and power. Our liberal beliefs are decidedly uncool. We simply do not matter.
if you are in imminent danger of harming yourself, you need to call 911. if you're feeling as hopeless as you say, but not in imminent danger, i suggest you find a therapist to talk to. there are many low-fee clinics in this city that could help you out.
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