some months ago
Reader Lynne Lieberman checked in with the workers, who told her, "It will be a sales office and model apartment for the new St. Vincent's Hospital condominiums & that nothing else will go in there for at least 2 years." After that, it could become a Gap--though the worker who said that might've been yanking our chain.
Completed, the sales office has now opened for business.
There is no sign to mark its presence, just opaque white curtains covering the windows, the number 450 in elegant gold leaf on the doors, and a man in a suit and tie who opens the gates, one supposes, for those who look like they can afford a $29 million penthouse.
Very exclusive.
Jefferson Market, opened in 1929 and long beloved by Villagers, closed in 2008 for "restructuring." It reopened in 2009 as a Gristede's in mom-and-pop disguise. That closed in 2011 and Catsimatidis said he was considering reopening it again, this time as a full-on Gristede's, but that didn't happen. It was used briefly to house a temporary Halloween costume shop.
And now the shell of a once vital business is being used to sell uber-luxury homes built into the shell of a once vital hospital.
"Live exactly where you want," with "a staggering array of private amenities," say the big, splashy ads. (Check out the website if you want to have a conniption.) At the construction site this week, Yetta Kurland snapped this bit of graffiti--before it promptly disappeared:
11 comments:
Jeremiah,
Love your site...first one I check daily and your tireless work is invaluable.
Every time I think I might want to stay in NYC...I read your blog and see articles like today, and remind myself it's time to leave NOW.
I did check out the site on these units. $14 million dollar apartments in the W Village...who pays this much money? They're...nice. But...what? You can get more space anywhere else and actually live somewhere NICE. Near a hospital. Without homeless beggars on your doorstep, literally.
I'm done with this city. It's done with us.
Why is everything the modern rich do so freaking ugly?
BTW--I remember when the Jefferson Market was a French Restaurant. Not a slightly phony, fancy one---but an authentic one--with French waiters serving frog's legs and snails in a big dark room. It's a beautiful space, full of character--hope it survives.
i would rather see a luxury condo than a public hospital extenstion. a market would be best, i was a customer @ jefferson. are there really beggers in front of the place? if yes, douteful the units will sell. dont complain, they are keeping the original beautiful building. they could have knocked it down for some skyscraper. count your blessings, maybe zoning is alive & well?
Jefferson Market, Famous Rays, The "9-11" fence, St, Vincent's Hospital buildings, what's left?????
I use to live in the SVH Staff House, now converted to "luxury" places. There were so many roaches and mice in the original, I hope those tenants were forced out.
This is so horrible. No historic (and much-needed) community hospital, no grocery stores, no pizza, no mom & pops.... there is no real life left in Greenwich Village. I loved The Village but yes it is time for me too, to get out while I can.
I agree with Anonymous 9:36. If I had the sort of money where I could spend $14 million on an apartment, I wouldn't be living in New York. But I suspect that is also the case of the people buying these apartments, they are simply places to park money.
Nearly all the changes this blog has been complaining about are by-effects of the incredible concentration of wealth that has been happening in the last fifteen years. Since Manhattan and part of Brooklyn has in effect become a giant bank, the city has gradually been stripped first of any other cultural and now any other economic activity.
The whole "turn New York into the city where rich people want to live" was flawed from the beginning. The scale is all wrong. You can turn a small town, a suburb, or an isolated neighborhood into a sort of luxury report. You can't do that with a city of 8 million people, its just too crowded to be a pleasant place to live for people who have alternatives.
Just cause you have money doesnt' mean you have any intelligence, sense, or good taste.
Yetta Kurland. My former apt dweller. She sure had a lot of phone jacks.
this is not only NYC, but a world wide trend. if i had 14mil for an apt i may live in NY. proberly upper 60s or 70s bet pk & lex. i would spend time in the chinese museum & go to diners on lex. i would walk around, & enjoy upper madison on a wkday evening, go to a nice cafe. maybe go to carylye for breakfast, & forgive them for making Tshirts. (is nothing scared)? that area is still a neighborhood, carnegie hill is still a neighoorhood. yorkville is a nightmare, looks like the village may be a losing battle. i still dont get this 14mil business, its so close to w/8th st.
The video with the interior designer on the apartments' web site is nauseating. Do they really think they are respecting history? Clearly this is a building for foreigners. They have to actually explain the character of the neighborhood and its location.
I have to say if I had that kind of money I would not want to live there. The West Village is not a neighborhood for residents anymore. It's place for other people to party and shop.
I agree with laura r. that if you had $14 million and had to live in New York, one of the old money enclaves are the place to do it. But honestly these places are even overpriced compared to their equivalents in other cities. I'd prefer to live in the Gold Coast in Chicago than in the equivalent on the UES. But I agree these changes are worldwide and cities in general are becoming less vital.
Plus once you leave the enclave you have to deal with the rest of the city. Instead of drug gangs its middle American hyper-commercialism. You can argue which is worse.
Laura is loco
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