Tuesday, December 7, 2010

*Everyday Chatter

Mars Bar to close--for next two years!--while tenements become a tower, and it won't ever be the same. [Curbed]

Take a walk along 9th Avenue from the lost Cheyenne Diner to the lost Meat Market. [FNY]

Scenes from the sweaty and sparkly Mr. LES pageant. [SG]

Motorino approved to take over Bowery's Sunshine flophouse with upscale steakhouse. [Eater]

The rumor about the Cooper Square Hotel sale is true. Soho Grand, watch out for dirty underpants. [Gothamist]

Glad I forgot to set my VCR for Franzen on Oprah: "The writer did not appear until 4:40 (following a segment about a family who kept Michael Jackson in their basement for decades), and in total was on screen for nine minutes." [NYer]

A remnant of lost Upper East Side Peppermint Park ice-cream shop at the doorstep of a Dunkin Donuts:

9 comments:

Newburgh Restoration said...

That Peppermint Park is on the corner of 66th and 1st. I work right around the corner from there. I have always loved that tile.

Laura Goggin Photography said...

I just learned of the Mars Bar news and my heart sunk...this is sad, sad news.

Jeremiah Moss said...

it's criminal. it's endless, this shit.

Alex in NYC said...

I'll bet you when the Mars Bars' doors shut, it's gone for good. The very same thing happened to the Cedar Tavern. We were told it was coming back. It, of course, never did. Years later, an empty, ugly condo stands in its footprint.

Marty Wombacher said...

Really bad news about the Mars Bar. One of the few really original places left that welcomed all kinds of people and artists. Even if it does come back, it'll be bigger, shinier and NOT better.

Anonymous said...

Oh New York, just get it over with.

Caleo said...

Exactly. Just get the whole thing over with. Mars bar and Max Fish. At this point there isn't that much left to gentrify. The last flophouse on the Bowery being turned into an upscale steakhouse.
I thought it might take 5 to 7 years to eradicate all traces of originality and uniqueness, but now I think it might only be 2 or few before it's truly all gone.
That screenshot of the meatpacking district. Like another world that is so far removed from present day reality that it might as well be from a hundred years ago.
Alot of me doesn't even care anymore. It's over.

Claribel said...

I agree. This is like someone you love saying she needs to update her look. You love her just the way she is and she's not completely sharing her reasons why, but she goes ahead and starts with highlights. Next thing you know it's botox injections and bigger silicone boobs. She's telling you she's still the same person you know and love, but all I see are people who love fake lips and boobs slobbering over the city I love that is slipping away from me. My problem is I still care.

Elena said...

I am a native New Yorker, but no longer live here, since mid 1970s. Still have lots of family who live here though. It is so hard for me to put into words how much I loved this city back in the sixties and seventies. I grew up on Long Island, but I would come into the city for concerts, bookstore visits, etc. And the fantastic unique creative energy that was everywhere! The Village was the coolest, most colorful place on earth! I was here last year for a visit, and how expensive everything is and really you have to have a gazillion dollars to buy a little something. It's gotten so bad really. Oh I want to vomit with the endless chain stores. You know, if people moved on another planet the first thing that would go up would be an ugly glass condo, a Walmart, a Starbucks, a Duane Reade, etc.