Except now, instead of radical bomb-makers, it's filled with stuffed plush bunnies, flowers, plastic eggs, and a Paddington Bear doll that gets a costume change according to the seasons and holidays.
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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
Those plushies have been there for YEARS.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great house! I love the way it asserts its individuality while respecting its neighbors.
ReplyDeleteThere was an article published fairly recently (and I really wish I could remember where - was it you??) about the lady who lives here and her dedication to dressing Paddington. I really wish I could remember the publication, but it was mostly about the interesting architecture inside.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1970s, on West 23rd Street at the location which is now Utrecht Art Supplies... there was a political (left) bookstore. Does anybody recall it and the name?
ReplyDeleteThe plushies have been there since the late 1970s. Links to two articles regarding the townhouse:
ReplyDelete"The Weatherman Townhouse" [www.observer.com]
http://tinyurl.com/ybesm5m
"The House on W. 11th Street" [The NYT]
http://tinyurl.com/ye2yu8f
Marjorie,
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, that bldg on West 23rd Street was and is still owned and operated by the American Communist Party!!
They had a bookstore on the ground floor that they had to shut down a few years after the "fall" of the Soviet Union (1989-1991), which had been subsidizing them for ever.
I'm guessing that the art supply store rent covers their real estate taxes and other overhead, giving them free space on the floors above, where they still do their thing (whatever that is).
Paradoxically, they are in possession of a double-lot wide building in a desirable Chelsea neighborhood, that could easily fetch $20 million in today's inflated real estate market.
What would Lenin think of this?
I know the bookstore you're talking about but can't remember the name. It was there in the 90s.
ReplyDeleteArgosy Book Store, founded in 1925, is now in its third generation of family ... New York: Platt & Munk, 1955. Illustrations in color & in black & white by
ReplyDeleteOld Books at: http://247n.info/oldbok
@wavedeva - That NYT article was good. Thanks for the links.
ReplyDeleteHere's the '71 New York Mag article (and the entire issue) by Mel Gussow with great "before" photos and a young Dustin Hoffman after shot.
ReplyDeletehttp://books.google.com/books?id=6-ICAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=West+11th+Street+Mel+Gussow+NY+Magazine&source=bl&ots=D0QrMGplh5&sig=kD-LCANh289u_v6NbC--hluhJ-c&hl=en&ei=Imu6S-OPN5CSsgOyqr3rBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false