A Clean, Well-Lighted Place gallery space, booted from Bleecker, gets a fancy boutique. No kidding. [Racked]
Despite all the cutesy denials, fancy man John DeLucie is taking over Bill's Gay 90s--or what was Bill's, before it was carted away in dumptrucks. [GS]
"New York wants New Yorkers healthier. And, frequently, less fun. Which is funny, even ironic, because New York City was the place people have historically flocked to live with fewer rules, not more. Where we could be unhealthy, the way we wanted to be, without our small town telling us otherwise." --Jen Doll [AW]
Paul Mole barbershop on the UES moves--and celebrates its 100th year. [NYO]
On "Things Have Changed in Williamsburg." [NYO]
What is the mystery behind the pear tree on 120th and Broadway? [GL&F]
Monday, April 30, 2012
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7 comments:
"ironic, because New York City was the place people have historically flocked to live with fewer rules, not more."
I'm sorry Jen, but didn't you also write 10 rules on what New Yorkers shouldn't do anymore?
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/10/10_things_new_yorkers.php
I find that ironic.
On the Williamsburg link, people thought they were getting an extension of the East Village, and they wound up with an extension of Murray Hill.
On the happy hour link, the Department of Health is denying that is targeting happy hour, which would probably take action by the state legislature anyway. So the one point to take away from this story is that people believed this. But the prohibitionists didn't disappear in 1933, they changed their tactics and are trying to bring it back gradually this time. So for example closing times have been moving forward from 4 AM to 2 AM, not due to any law or public debate, but one bar license at a time. Repeat this in countless small ways. Though this is happening across the country, it seems most annoying somehow in New York.
The backlash from people in the comments section of the Observer piece is great! Someone cancelled their paper subscription over it? HA HA!
On the Williamsburg link, people thought they were getting an extension of the East Village, and they wound up with an extension of Murray Hill.
To be fair, the East Village got Murray Hill-ified first...it's a predictable, sad progression.
Murray Hill isn't anywhere near as horrible as Williamsburg is. Murray Hill is just a nondescript part of the East side, whereas Williamsburg is the shining example of everything that is wrong with NYC, or has gone wrong in the last dozen years.
Parts of Murray Hill are harmless, but what people are talking about is this: http://www.observer.com/2005/07/welcome-to-murray-hell-2/ It has only gotten worse since that article has written.
Williamsburg has a few decent music venues going for it, if nothing else.
Brendan, though it doesn't get much attention, I've found that even the frat enclaves in the city have gotten worse these part few years (I live near one; it wasn't even that much of a frat enclave ten years ago). Areas that had a few decent local bars and restaurants, which older locals could (and did) go to, in the mix have been losing them.
This isn't as dramatic as the invasion of the frat, suburban, and boutique cultures into neighborhoods that had been completely free of these things, but the same forces that caused one change have been certainly causing the other.
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