Sad shutter signage from Rocky's in Little Italy, as the 30-year-old small business has been booted to make room for newcomer Balaboosta:
A helpful guide for zombie texters. [NYT]
The Bed Bug Club (pic) has vanished. [LC]
On New Yorkers' passion for mega-supermarkets. [NYer]
Village Farms, formerly the Loews Hollywood, is being demolished on Avenue A. [EVG]
Eerie photos of Bloomfield, Staten Island. [NK]
A neon relic in the Bronx. [NYN]
Listen to photographer Frank Jump talk about Fading Ads of NYC on Leonard Lopate. [WNYC]
Frank also has a book of the city's ghost signs--order it from St. Mark's or find it today at the Strand.
TG170 closes for good after two decades on Ludlow. [BB]
On nostalgia and other things--blogger Joe Bonomo interviews me for No Such Thing As Was.
Nice interview, Jeremiah. I feel that 'homesickness' on a daily basis, but it makes me feel better to come here and know I'm not alone. It's also helpful to hear from commenters who take a different view of things and bring balance. I hate to think of the day when JM hangs up his hat, but maybe that will be the day the city ceases to vanish.
ReplyDeleteWhat are these texters texting?
ReplyDeletethanks Goggla. i think, even when i do stop, i'll still be blogging in some way. maybe the Grumbler will have his day.
ReplyDeleteHere is an interactive map of intra-U.S. migration:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.forbes.com/special-report/2011/migration.html
As you can see, the current migration to Manhattan and Brooklyn is mostly not from middle America. It is primarily from the northeast, followed by the west coast states, with the south and midwest trailing far behind.
I wonder why it is so important for so many New Yorkers to believe, incorrectly, that these people are coming from "middle America."
Brendan, I think you'll find that people who complain about "Middle America" believe that "Middle America" begins somewhere around 34th St.
ReplyDeletehence: http://bigthink.com/ideas/21121
ReplyDeleteI cant access the map on this computer,but Im willing to bet that since the data is collected on a county basis, migration to Manhattan from New Jersey or even from other boroughs in New York City is counted as migration "from the Northeast". On a county to county basis, most migration into Manhattan should be from the Northeast, since you are counting somewhere moving there from Queens in that total.
ReplyDeleteTracking metro area to metro area migration would have been somewhat more useful, and would have meant an extra day of work for some intern at Forbes. You wouldnt get rural area to metro area migration, but a majority of Americans live in metro areas, and I suspect that most rural folks moving to the big city wind up moving to whichever one is closest.
Ed,
ReplyDeleteThe map gives you a pretty good idea of metro to metro migration, too. I'm not sure what you're visualizing, but it very clearly shows that the overwhelming majority of migration into NY is from places in the northeast, of which inter-borough migration is only a small part (actually you can't really see inter-borough migration because you can't zoom in, which is unfortunate). It's also very clear that there is relatively little migration from middle America.
Really: why do some New Yorkers have this emotional need to hold the false belief that they are being flooded by middle Americans? Theories?
remember that "Middle America" is not synonymous with "The Midwest."
ReplyDeleteOK, but I think we can agree that the tri-state area, Philly and Boston metro areas and California are not "middle America," and they seem to account for the bulk of the migration.
ReplyDeleteExcellent interview, Mr. Moss.
ReplyDelete"Those of us who do want to exist here, and really be conscious and present, have to cope with what is the transient mind of many new New Yorkers."
I feel those transient types are like diners in restaurants, scoffing themselves, and the rest of us are the kitchen staff. When they leave, we'll be the ones cleaning their plates so they can be reused.
thanks--and nice analogy.
ReplyDeleteJeremiah Moss said...
ReplyDeleteremember that "Middle America" is not synonymous with "The Midwest."
___
This is spot on. The "East Coast" that exists in the collective imagination applies to an extremely thin strip of urban geography. You don't have to drive far from Midtown (or downtown, whatever) to find Middle America. In a half an hour you're in the hills of New Jersey or Upstate, and everyone working at the Taco Bell is white. (If you're willing to brave a Taco Bell, you are in Middle America.)
I was at the Patti Smith concert tonight in the ballroom . It was for "press" but it seemed more like friends of the owner . Fist let me say that patti smith thinks she is doing the right thing by just being a positive presence. She is genuine in her attempt to help with a "artist in residence" program as and by having input into the hotel . Tomorrow night residence will ahve a chance to face her and ask all the questions they want. But, I must say that although she seems to really not want to "get in the middle of the problems and just be a positve force" she is not weighing the benifits (she thinks she is getting) with the negative harm that the tenants and the hotel itself are suffering on a daily basis. To say that 'I just want to do good" and turn a blind eye to the means to the end result is unacceptable. I guess she sees it as a win win situation ...she gets to perform and have a permanent place to work and "help future writers & poets" have a place. And she will allow her fame to bring cache and attention to the hotel.
ReplyDeleteI leave Ms. Smith with these words... " Indifference to injustice is the gate to hell"