tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-55193559095691500662008-05-02T15:57:00.001-04:002008-07-02T19:32:19.858-04:002008-07-02T19:32:19.858-04:00It's official: Astor Place has traded books for bods. As <a href="http://racked.com/archives/2007/09/14/barnes_noble_astor_place_to_be.php">speculated</a>, the former Barnes &amp; Noble will be a David Barton gym.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_dqXIF9MH3lk/SBtyvBgZFwI/AAAAAAAACfc/92X5i7_r8I4/s1600-h/IMG_7618.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_dqXIF9MH3lk/SBtyvBgZFwI/AAAAAAAACfc/92X5i7_r8I4/s320/IMG_7618.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195872747285714690" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Sure, <a href="http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2007/12/barnes-noble-astor-place.html">it was a giant chain bookstore</a>--but it does sum up a shift in values, doesn't it? In this one photo we see how much Astor Place has changed very, very recently: The giant luxury condo tower, the glass-box newsstand smothered in billboards, the Starbucks reflected in the glass, and now David Barton and what <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0439,186478,57299,15.html">Michael Musto called "body fascism"</a> in his write-up of a Barton opening where scantily clad boys wore Barton's advertising slogans written on their bare bodies.<br /><br />We are a city of mirrors within mirrors. Surfaces reflecting onto other surfaces. What depth will be left when all is glass?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_dqXIF9MH3lk/SBtychgZFvI/AAAAAAAACfU/EdHNoKX7h6I/s1600-h/IMG_7622.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_dqXIF9MH3lk/SBtychgZFvI/AAAAAAAACfU/EdHNoKX7h6I/s320/IMG_7622.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195872429458134770" border="0" /></a>Jeremiah Mossnoreply@blogger.com