Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Books to Wax

In December 2009, we first heard the terrible news about the closure of Skyline Books on 18th Street. It was a hard one to take. The space has been empty since it shuttered in January 2010, but it recently reopened with a new tenant.

UniKwax, a body waxing chain from Florida, is now bringing hairlessness where once were books of art and poetry.



Books--out! Celebrity eyebrows--in!

Yes, UniKwax can give you the brows of celebs like "Eva Longoria Parker, Vanessa Williams, Halle Berry, Salma Hayek, Tyra Banks and Christie Turlington."



Meanwhile, 10 blocks north, Skyline's new incarnation ekes out an existence in the front of a flower merchant's workshop. But for how long? How much longer will any of what matters still be permitted to endure in this town without pity?


Skyline, 2008
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12 comments:

  1. EVGayBearApril 20, 2011 at 8:21 AM

    Do they provide anal bleaching services? A friend wants to know!!

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  2. Ken MacApril 20, 2011 at 9:11 AM

    Thank God Academy is still across the street

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  3. Carol GardensApril 20, 2011 at 9:28 AM

    When I saw this headline, for a moment I thought it was a good thing, as in bookstore become vintage vinyl record shop.

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  4. onemorefoldedsunsetApril 20, 2011 at 9:41 AM

    What a wretched state of affairs.

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  5. FilmatixApril 20, 2011 at 10:35 AM

    Hairless and plastic, those who aspire to be uber-rich are slowly becoming the Eloi from H.G. Well's Time Machine. Meanwhile, the artisanal beardos of Brooklyn become Eloi of another kind, entirely.

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  6. Jeremiah MossApril 20, 2011 at 10:39 AM

    EVGayBear, i hope you're not planning on waxing your fur.

    bookstores becoming record shops seems like a reasonable shift (though i much prefer books). i often wonder what happens to the city's equilibrium when the change is more jarring, as this one. what if every bookshop, record store, cobbler shop, and the like suddenly turned into body waxing and nail salons? would the city implode? would some cosmic rift open up? it's happening anyway, piece by piece. the implications are dizzying if you think about it much.

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  7. JeffApril 20, 2011 at 11:25 AM

    Was in NYC last week and on a whim, decided to go to Skyline. Went down the block where I thought it was, stood in front of the building where I thought it was, but it went from a was to a wasn't and replaced by some type of body salon.

    At least B&N is still operating although one of the two stores on 5th Avenue is gone but a superstore - actually quite a fantastic superstore - is open and bustling on 16th Street opposite Union Square Park.

    Can still find Skyline type stores upstate - but sadly they're disappearing from New York city...

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  8. AnonymousApril 20, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    When will the various houses of worship be turned into temples of Narcissus?

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  9. BrooksNYCApril 20, 2011 at 11:51 AM

    So is the name of the store pronounced "Eunuch-wax"?

    So depressing.

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  10. Marty WombacherApril 20, 2011 at 12:17 PM

    "A body waxing chain from Florida."

    They have chains of waxing stores now? There's this much demand for waxing? Scary.

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  11. Laura Goggin PhotographyApril 20, 2011 at 1:25 PM

    I will start crying once I stop laughing.

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  12. fifilaruApril 21, 2011 at 5:31 PM

    Maybe because I am not a gay guy or a bear, but I find those shiny, hairless torsos creepy. But I am of the hairy vulva sisterhood.

    ReplyDelete

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