Frank to Fro-Yo

Since the great New York School poet Frank O'Hara's last home was torn down in 2009 and replaced with a luxury condo, the first floor retail space has sat empty, yearning "for a boutique or coffee shop."

It's not getting its exact wish, but pretty close.


2009

A Department of Buildings permit has gone up in the window, along with the familiar brown paper that always comes with a move-in.



The renovation calls for "ten new yoghurt machines." And the march of the fro-yo chains continues.

But which fro-yo chain will it be? Pinkberry? Red Mango? 16 Handles? There are so many to choose from.



The architect on the permit is listed as MK Dream Design. They do plastic surgeon offices, beauty spas, and futuristic dance clubs. In the yogurt world, they designed The Yogurt Shop in Englewood, New Jersey, to look like an intergalactic cafe on a spaceship.



Is this what's coming to what was once a place for amputees to find new limbs? Where the upstairs was a haven for writers and artists? Change happens. But why, in the new New York, does it always have to go in the same mind-numbing direction?



Previously:
Frank's Last Place
791 Broadway

*Everyday Chatter

What time is the Friday the 13th demonstration at Bowery Wine Co? The fun (poetry, performance, pigs) starts at 8:00pm. [NMNL]

Moondance Diner gets Tyvek'd in Wyoming. [Urbanite]

I am happy to announce the new International Bar is open, it's cool inside, it's comfy, and cans of Schaefer can be had for $2.00. Here is my first:


Sometimes, miracles do happen. That block of vanished businesses on 6th Ave between 17th and 18th has just received a trashy lingerie shop, complete with a sign that features two ladies in mid-spanking. The residents of 100 W 18th paid $1400 a square foot to live next to this and that feels good:


Remember in the early 1990s when the porno marquees of 42nd Street were covered in haiku? Here they are, postcards collected in book form.

Times Square in the early 90s was a perfect blend of art and smut. Take a trip back to those bucolic days on the Deuce with Creative Time's Archive. The one I remember most was a big videotaped mouth asking, "Do you wanna buy a piece of the American dream?" I did not know it heralded the sanitized mall that was coming. I was so innocent then.

Paul Berger's got a story about the Chelsea in the Guardian of the UK--he talks about Ed Hamilton of Hotel Chelsea blog and the eviction of Jann Paxton, old-time Chelsea rocker. [ENY]

Remembering the 16 who've died this year so far in the "building of a new New York." [NYMag]

Rolando finds one of the last yellow street signs from the 1970s. [Urbanite] ...he also grabs a shot of this great old clock--did we cross paths there recently?

So what's replacing the long-defunct Cold Stone Creamery on 2nd Ave and 9th? I imagined a Red Mango, but it's yet another fro-yo chain: the DIY 16 Handles. Is this supposed to appeal to all us Gen-X fans of John Hughes movies? (PS: They're paying $170 a sq ft, that's over 20k a month, plus the basement.)