Luckily, the record shop successfully relocated to 188 West 4th Street, along with their big kitties, Skuzzball and Creeper. But still. They lost their last spot after 20 years when the landlord jacked up the rent to $27,000 a month.
Village Voice
At the time, on 1010 WINS, Chris Simunek (of High Times) predicted, “what’s going to go in there is a Starbucks or something, or just something that we already have plenty of.” I thought it would be a frozen yogurt or candy shop, but Mr. Simunek wins the prize.
This is the city's 9,000,000,000th Starbucks location.
At least they sell shitty "Safe Rock" CD's at Starfucks, so you can still buy music there if you want.
ReplyDeleteJeremiah, whatever prize is due me, please tape it to a rock and throw it through the window of that establishment.
ReplyDeleteChris, that is an excellent idea.
ReplyDeleteStarbucks did not push Bleecker Records, or any of the indie shops out; high rents and greedy landlords did. Listen, I am not a fan of Starbucks when they start popping-up and taking over neighborhoods and suburbanizing the city, but when my nephew couldn't find a job after college, it was only Starbucks that hired him. He's still there "movin' on up". He applied at all these "indie" "mom-n'pop shops" such as Warby Parker, Fedora, Prune, etc., but those would only hire their own kind, i.e. the young white attractive hipster from the Midwest. So, yes, go ahead throw that brick at a Starbucks window, and it's the employees that have to clean-it up. But you wouldn't throw a rock at Bloomberg's luxe car, the landlord's windows, real estate developer's buildings.
ReplyDeleteMom and pops only hire their own.and if its a restaurant they are hiring illegals and paying below minimum wage and disregarding labor laws. Its easy to go after Starbucks or Target. I get that. When other people try to make money they are greedy. So are all the nonprofits selling their buildings ee greedy. Everyone cashing in is greedy
ReplyDeleteI like the code word suburbanization. How does a coffee shop take over? Its amusing how many complain about the young whippersnappers and their drinking and wooing. Sounds like you are the ones who want some quaint serene place. If you had a lawn you'd be telling people to stay off it. The times have changed. I know its OK to be mad at the white employed college grads. Most cities would love this invasion every year of new blood. But wave your cane or throw a rock if it makes you feel better. How many of you go to Starbucks? Lot of hypocrisy.
what happend to the dark green front of SB?
ReplyDeleteBleecker Street records took over the space from another record store called Golden Discs. Golden Discs was the first Greenwich Village record store I ever walked into at 11 years old after the Record World in my local Nassau County mall could no longer service my increasingly esoteric music tastes. I'd begged my folks to take me to the Village so I could buy records. Within the 45 minutes or so I spent there I saw a punk rocker walking down the street, a first for me, and I also saw two men kissing, another first. I went there looking for albums, but I found so much more. That was Greenwich Village in 1980 and it was Greenwich Village up until the early '90s. It was a sanctuary that had been in existence for the counterculture from the Emma Goldman days if not before. Bleecker Street was rightfully famous for being a unique thoroughfare, no chain stores, from Hudson Street all the way to CBGB’s on the Bowery. Back in the ‘80’s people used to describe NYC as “the biggest small town in America.” You expected a chain store or two on on 34th Street, but there were boundaries. As it stands there are several old school Italian coffee shops and cafes on Bleecker where you can still get a pastry which wasn’t made in a factory or a non-corporate cappuccino. Unfortunately, the people who visit New York these days bring their preconceptions with them, and would rather order the coffee they know from Starbucks rather than risk three bucks on an espresso from a small business joint. So this Starbucks, like many others, will be putting extra pressure on the places who have been serving New York for decades. Fuck em. They are destroying the neighborhood. And Anonymous 4:47, (I love people who are afraid to attach their names to their words) in my 20’s I was a janitor in a public high school. Young and inexperienced, I made my living in the piss and shit industry and was happy for the work. If your barista nephew is too precious to sweep up the metaphorical glass from a metaphorical rock thrown through the window of a quite real predatory business enterprise sinking roots on Bleecker Street, then I shed a tear for the young fellow—through my dick. Maybe New York is not his town.
ReplyDeleteMaybe its not anyones town. Should we stay in some time warp to keep you happy? I don't get it. Predatory?
ReplyDeleteBleecker St records moved in the same neighborhood. What's the problem? Oh, and Chris, Your New York Days is over. Your lucky to have had that janitor job and have lived and made it in the NYC of then. You can;t say about that today. Ever think about that being a Starbucks barista today is like being a janitor of then. Such self-entitlement. Maybe today's New York is not for you. You must have a teeny dick for your tears to be shed. Hate the game, not the players.
ReplyDeleteThis is their town now, regardless if it is bland, dull, boring, homogenized vanilla. They like vanilla. You can't force them to like or try the other 30 flavors. You have had your time and fun. Let the new generation have theirs. You guys say that when you first arrived in NYC that you had to adapt to your neighborhood. Why can't you do it now?
ReplyDeleteAnd for those who complain that the yesteryear of NYC, had character, soul, and heart, you guys lack those; you are heartless and lack empathy to those struggling to ma a living today. Not all young and urban are rich trust funded narcissists. It is all about you and the "better" past. Time to move on. You are no different than the yunnies you rile against. You know better; they don't but are still learning. You talk the talk, but can you walk the walk? Dare you to throw that rock at that or a Starbucks. Let's see whose glass house shatters.
Anonymous 12:55 - thank you. You so perfectly encapsulate what I want to say to this blog more often than not. Hypocrisy and short-sightedness and a dreadful, ignorant, and often misogynistic stereotyping of the young people in this city.
ReplyDelete