Earlier this month, I first reported on the impending closure of Rebel Rebel records on Bleecker Street, pushed out by rising rent. According to owner David Shebiro, the landlord opted to let the luxury clothing chain Scotch & Soda expand into the record shop's space.
Now it's gone.
The windows are covered in newspaper. A photograph of David Bowie, the inspiration for Rebel Rebel records, salutes passersby. A #SaveNYC sign hangs in apparent futility -- as City Hall continues to ignore our pleas and do nothing to protect the cultural and locally commercial streetscape of New York.
For his farewell note, Mr. Shebiro quotes from Bowie's "Future Legend":
"And in the death
As the last few corpses lay rotting
on the slimy thoroughfare
The shutters lifted in inches in Temperance Building
High on Poacher's Hill
And red, mutant eyes gaze down on Hunger City
No more big wheels
Fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats
And ten thousand peopleoids split into small tribes
Coveting the highest of the sterile skyscrapers
Like packs of dogs assaulting the glass fronts of Love-Me Avenue
Ripping and rewrapping mink and shiny silver fox, now legwarmers
Family badge of sapphire and cracked emerald
Any day now
The Year of the Diamond Dogs
This ain't Rock 'n' Roll
This is Genocide"
"Love Me Avenue" has been replaced in red by "Bleecker Street." And at the end, a final note: "BEWARE OF CORPORATIONS."
3 comments:
I have known and been friends with David for over 30 years, before he even opened Rebel Rebel
This is a God damn shame really and truly
He said he is going to take a break and most likely be back somewhere which is something to hope for
Good luck Dave!!!!
There are tears aplenty on Bleecker Street. I am also a newer friend of David's, who let this at times over the last few years severely underemployed neighbor (who, for the most part, usually bought nothing) hang out in his tiny shop and talk and listen to music. A lovely man, a NYC institution, a classic NYC business, another part of Bleecker Street IS GONE, and I am beyond livid to despair.
I'm very saddened to read and see this! :( Took my nephew visiting New York from Pittsburgh for the first time to Rebel Rebel a few years ago and we both purchased stuff :D I remember the owner always being a nice and handsome man :) I hope he finds a new suitable location whenever he's ready... My nephew and I will return too! ;) xox
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