Show World

VANISHED: 2004

A recent viewing, thanks to a tipster, of Guns N Roses' video for "The Garden," complete with footage aplenty of Times Square before Giuliani, brought to mind the old Show World, the adult emporium that once occupied the site of the current Laugh Factory next to the Duane Reade on 42nd and 8th.



In a 1995 article for the Times, Dan Barry wrote, "For two decades, Show World has been the brightest of the gaudy lights in the pornographic firmament of Times Square, so much so that one city official calls it the 'flagship of the sex industry in New York.' But Show World is in trouble. Its light now flickers and may be extinguished....the City Council passed a zoning ordinance designed to smash the clusters of peep shows and pornographic theaters that have cropped up throughout the five boroughs."

It was the beginning of the end for adulthood in Times Square. By 2001, the last of 42nd Street's peeps, Peep-O-Rama, would succumb to development after a lifetime on the Deuce going back to 1950. Its site is now buried under the ever-rising Bank of America Tower--you know, the one that keeps showering pedestrians with shattered glass and construction equipment?



But back to Show World. After the 1995 zoning ordinance, Show World managed to soldier on for another 9 years, its naughty bits whittled away, piece by piece. In 1998, the live girls were gone and the theater space was leased to an Off Off Broadway company called Collapsible Giraffe and Nada Show World, who performed Shakespeare and Chekhov plays on the stages where once naked girls performed live sex acts and something called Face Shows--as the sign said, "Let our girls sit on your face."

View an interview with one of those Show World girls here.



The interior of Show World, as seen in these 2003 photos, was decorated in circus style, complete with high-wire, bicycle-riding, acrobat clowns.



Sweet Dreams Come True--but not according to the sign on the wall. The live girls were gone--they used to stand above the stairs, on the second floor, catcalling and beckoning to the patrons as they climbed through the music and lights.



The video peeps kept running on the first floor until 2004, when the Laugh Factory moved in, today advertising "Family Friendly" comedy. A couple doors down is a new Christian bookstore and gift shop. As the Guns N Roses song ends, as if a farewell to old Times Square, "It sure was glad to know ya, bye bye, so long, bye bye."

• 1980s doc: Michael Weldon predicts death of Psychotronic Times Square
• Great film footage of Times Square in 1970
  

*Everyday Chatter

"The Museum of the City of New York will be mounting what is basically an infomercial for a private condo building." This kind of thing I'd expect from the New Museum on Bowery. Come on, MCNY! [Curbed]

Barnes & Noble revokes its liberal exchange policy. As of 3/3, you need a receipt and all returns must be made within 14 days. No exceptions. So much for one benefit of big chains. This is what you call a bait-and-switch folks!

An Upper East Sider grieves the chipping away of her neighborhood. [Times]

Creative people are being pushed further and further to the outer edges of Brooklyn--and many right off the NYC map. [Observer]

East Village bodegas are dropping like flies. [Racked]

God save the Minetta Tavern from whatever is stalking it! [Eater]

Before you jump off the Brooklyn Bridge (and before they convert the bridge into luxury condos), there may be good news:

"The great Manhattan bank branch boom is over. Financial players that paid top dollar to rent hundreds of retail locations, pushing out neighborhood coffee shops, florists and fashion boutiques, are ending their shopping spree, real estate sources say." [Crain's]

The Mayfair is still alive. Got my hair cut here not long ago. One of our last good barbershops. [AMNY]

The Moondance Diner isn't dead after this winter's roof collapse. [AMNY]

A blogger remembers Brooklyn's lost crayon factories. [PMFA]

A few signs with obsolete telephone exchanges live on--and, once in a while, I find one. They're not easy hunting, but Forgotten NY recently put up a bunch. Here are a couple of mine, the first in Forest Hills and the second in the East Village.

Ukrainians Surrender?

Curbed reports today on The Sun's story about the next giant glass box coming to Cooper Square. The Sun says the Ukrainian community "surrendered to it amicably." Surrender does not mean support and I can speculate as to why they surrendered, other than having no choice in the matter.



Let's not forget that a few years ago, Cooper Union was making moves to erase Taras Shevchenko Place from the map. The Ukrainians went wild. [NY Times] [Brama]

Then Cooper Union tried to reduce the transparency of their "communal hive," thereby blocking views of St. George's church. The Ukrainian community was not happy about this. [Villager] [Brama]

There was even talk about demapping Astor Place. [Villager] This was around the time Cooper Union was leasing the Astor Place parking lot to the "green monster." [Voice]



Then, "in a bizarre twist," Cooper backed off the demapping plan and, apparently, returned to their original design for transparency.

Super-gentrification is trauma. When someone is in the midst of trauma, they often dissociate. They go limp. Such a defensive strategy can look like surrender.



Cooper Union began the bulldozing of Astor Place at the turn of this century. [NY Press] There will be more to come. [Curbed] What else is there to do except surrender?

Grace & Hope Mission

Saw this coming when the Toll Brothers put their tower up on Third Avenue. After 77 years in the city, tiny neighbor Grace & Hope Mission is now defunct. They opened in New York City in 1930, first in Times Square, and then the building at 114-116 Third Avenue was built in 1964.


under Toll scaffolding October 2007

According to their website, "If you were to walk into 114 Third Avenue any evening (except Monday) you would find the chapel nearly filled to capacity and the singing enthusiastic. Those in attendance are mostly homeless, some living in shelters or hotels in the immediate area. Many are drawn to GHM by the necessity of food, which is freely, and compassionately, served, from these premises."



The women of the mission provided daily lunches and blankets. They visited the sick and dying. Now their building looks like the perfect spot for a Pinkberry.

So much for grace and hope.


today: scaffolding and mission gone

33rd and Madison

Last night I happened upon the corner of 33rd and Madison, where several businesses are shuttered, spray-painted, absestos-abated, and rat poison baited. Behind the gates, the doors were wide open, expelling a noxious stink of decay that smelled dismayingly like 9/11. Something wicked this way comes...

Indeed, it's a 33-story, condo-hotel combo tower. And it looks like the developers are already dreaming of luxury with that fantasy Fendi placement in the rendering:


image and more info from curbed

Several small businesses have crumbled for this development and, strangely, not just on the northwest corner of 33rd and Madison where the tower will rise. On the south side of 33rd another cluster of businesses (including World of Pickles) are also shuttered and rodent-baited. So what's the plan there? Maybe making room for this 37-story tower: Wired NY. It's all a bit unclear to me. And somewhere in this mishigoss is one of Warhol's Factory buildings, soon to be converted.



In a sort of spooky coincidence, today's read of AMNY's Urbanite blog brought pictures of the same corner, highlighting the great revealed signage at Jeanette's Cards and Gifts, featuring Barton's Bonbonniere. I'll let Mr. Pujol fill you in about that place--and his pics are much better than my shady night shots.



Hurry if you want to see the old signage--the presence of rat poison and asbestos abatement can only mean that these buildings are about to fall.

Irving Place Lit Life

A big, fat condo is coming to 57-59 Irving. Down comes the old 2-story brick building:



And up come 8 more stories of glass:


Kushner

It's going up next to the house where O. Henry lived and reportedly wrote "The Gift of the Magi," with a view down onto Pete's Tavern. A quick look (see Songlines) reveals that these short blocks of Irving Place are loaded with history and creativity: Oscar Wilde stayed here, as did Charles Dickens. The Nation and the Rosicrucians have their offices here. Screenwriter George Axelrod (The Manchurian Candidate) lived here. Contributors to The Dial gathered here--folks like e.e. cummings, Hart Crane, and Marianne Moore.



What will today's generation of Irving Placers leave to history? Well, in a restaurant on the corner of 17th Street, Sex & The City's Carrie and Charlotte used to sit and "trawl for men," writes ivillage, they would "play the one in a hundred game for urban singles. You watch the men coming your direction and see how many men in 100 you would sleep with."

Buon Viaggio Fontana Shoes

Friday was the last official day for Fontana Shoes, but Angelo was in the shop on Saturday, greeting the many well-wishers who came to say goodbye. His door never stopped. Some brought flowers, others hugs and kisses. He'll be there today, too.

Not ready for retirement, Angelo wishes the shop could go on for a few more years. Though he lives in Staten Island, he says, "This is where I live. With these people, this place. I only sleep in Staten Island."



In a spark of hope, there's a chance the landlord may be negotiating. But who knows? Today at 3:00, the Block Association is throwing a farewell party in the shop. Go if you can. Angelo is bringing the cannoli.

• A. Fontana Shoe Repair
  
• Pick Up Your Shoes
• Billy & Angelo