The travesty continues while City Hall watches. After 30 years at Coney Island, souvenir shop owner gets 7-day notice from Thor to get out. [ATZ]
New York subway photos from the 70s and 80s. [EVG]
Has Williamsburg become "New York's answer to San Diego"? [Restless]
Shadow puppets on the Houston Wall. [BB]
City gets ready to remove the Ghost Bikes. [LM]
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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
absolutely not. i'm just saying, he's got two other corners, why not go for the triple?
ReplyDeleteFar as I know, Left Bank and Lee weren't booted, at least not in the usual greedy landlord sense. La Focaccia had a truly disastrous leak last year--more of a Biblical flood than a leak--the repairs to which were so extensive that they needed to basically demolish part of the building to get at them. Left Bank relocated right around the corner to 8th Avenue, and La Focaccia never recovered.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if Lee went elsewhere or just decided to pack it in.
Don, thanks for the info on La Focaccia.
ReplyDeletethe Villager reported awhile back that a new landlord inherited the neighboring building and made sure that Left Bank and Lee's Laundry left. he denied the Lees a new lease and hiked the rents on both properties, driving the bookshop out. luckily, as you say, Left Bank reopened on 8th. as for Lee, i haven't heard anything.
http://thevillager.com/villager_344/rarebooksshop.html
watched Johnny Suede last night. Old images of Williamsburg or not, that movie stinks. Though Kathryn Keener is delectable, as always...
ReplyDeleteyeah, Ken, it's really not so hot. i think you have to be 20 to appreciate it. or to be 20 two decades ago. or something.
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks for info on La Focaccia.I've been wondering for many months what was up. As for Mr Lee,he told me he was not offered a lease by the landlord. I happened to be walking by the day the closing notice was posted in the window. It mentions the Lees had been in the bldg 26 years and 30 years in business.
ReplyDeletehttp://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2009/07/lees-laundry.html
I consider that being booted out in the same way that the 30 year tenants of Thor's Henderson Bldg are being booted out right now. Not a traditional eviction, but wrong wrong wrong. What's worse is the MSM does not even consider it news because it's so common in NYC
just bought Celluloid Skyline New York in the Movies... should be rich
ReplyDeleteI ate at la Focaccia a lot - and loved it. Sad to see it go. So many places I've loved are gone.
ReplyDeletethat used to be a beautiful street. ok i admit i did shop @ james perse. but it was below zero outside w/sleet& ice- feb.2nd 09. heaven, since no one was there. (forgive me, but that store had a 70% off sale, the economy had just crashed)! n.y.c. was ok because the weather is so bad. i had dinner @'ye old waverly inn". the back "conservatory" was nice w/locals. the bar in front was a jersey scene. it was weird waiting for my table. tacka rama. alot of idiots outside even in the cold. i want to visit new york like one more time. i depend upon all of you to tell me where to go & where NOT to go. i did like park slope. maybe i was lucky as the area looked the same as years ago. again its luck of the draw, my friends house was not near the bars or stores. ok, back to the links & posts! whats happening to my heritage???
ReplyDeleteboth left bank books and lees will be missed.
ReplyDeletefor those of us active in community issues, la facoccia, not so much. for one neighborhood event. we asked the owner for a food contribution. she refused saying she had nothing to do with the neighborhood. what? your location has nothing to do with your business? not a generous establishment.
we hope for a friendlier replacement.
My store Old Japan Inc. was on Bleecker Street (off the corner of Perry) for 16 years when we decided we'd had enough of high rents, and decided to leave. Marc Jacobs took the lease, paying 7 times what we used to pay in rent. We have now re-opened our store in Boston, where rents are lower and the whole city doesn't conspire against small businesses. People ask me if I miss New York, and I tell them, "I miss the Old New York, the one that existed 30 years ago. I don't miss this new, greedy New York at all."
ReplyDeleteAmie Belobrow, owner of Old Japan Inc.