Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Death of a Block 6

We've been following the death of one block, 9th Avenue between 17th and 18th Streets, since 2008. One building, filled with several mom-and-pop shops was sold and sold again. Then all the businesses were evicted, their spaces gutted and upscaled.

The empty retail space has been on the market for several months, and now a local tipster reports they've got their first shiny new tenant.

It's a bank. Another bank.



Multinational Wells Fargo is one of the "Big Four" banks in America, with about 25 locations in the city, all in Manhattan.

The two spaces that this branch is taking over once belonged to Tamara Dry Cleaners and the New Barber Shop. Those businesses were an integral part of the community. They didn't only provide important services, they held people together and gave them a place to go, to connect. A bank branch can't do that. Neighborhood people fought for those businesses. They loved them and the people who ran them. A bank branch won't be loved--and it won't give love.

We are losing too much--and for nothing. The sterilization of the city continues.


before


Follow the whole story:
Death of a Block: One
Two
Three
Four
Five

Saving 9th Avenue
Sweet Banana Candy Store
New Barber Shop
Chelsea Liquors
New China

at

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 20, 2014 at 12:53 PM

    How sad. That whole neighborhood, with the projects on one side and multi-million dollar condos scattered in between, desperately requires some regulatory oversight; what are the people in the projects - who make up a large proportion of the population - going to do with a bank? The neighborhood needs some supermarkets, a hardware store, a barber...oh, wait. That's what they ripped down.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 20, 2014 at 1:11 PM

    At what point do people start to leave a neighborhood because there are no necessary stores and services left? I wonder how the UES residents adapted to this during the 80's and 90's when it happened there?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dick H. EadAugust 20, 2014 at 4:01 PM

    Maybe they think it will inspire the people in the projects to save money and eventually move out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousAugust 20, 2014 at 11:49 PM

    Wonderful!Jeremiah, how long do you suppose it will be before you have to shut this blog down due to the fact that everything has been lost and there is nothing left to report?

    ReplyDelete
  5. EdAugust 22, 2014 at 5:17 AM

    New York City closed. Its now a bank.

    ReplyDelete
  6. SunnySeptember 9, 2014 at 2:05 PM

    It's worth noting that there is already a Wells Fargo on the corner of 15th./9th. Sheesh!?! They've got us surrounded. Thanks for following up on my block. It's gotten so terribly lonesome around here.

    ReplyDelete

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