Wednesday, January 6, 2010

*Everyday Chatter

Remember when Equinox was once the Art Greenwich, dating back to the 1940s:


Looking back at the long history of Veselka--"a canteen for anarchists and artists as well as Ukrainians." [NYT]

There's a $25,000-per-month glass box on top of the old Dom. Who knew? [EVG]

BNE backlash goes from slashing stickers to "Big Nut Eater." [NYC]

Kerouac at the Kettle of Fish. [ENY]

Picturing the "luxury flood" of New York in the '00s. [Restless]

Adopt some rogue Greenpoint kittens. [NYS]

5 comments:

cat said...

I lived near the Art Greenwich for a long time (tho' I'd forgotten the name). Isn't that part of town landmarked? How did they get away with demolishing that? Or did LPC approve it (because now that I think about it St. Vincent's is right near there too...)?

Thanks for this information Jeremiah as always!

Cathryn
(Washington Square Park Blog)

Anonymous said...

I was an original member of this Equinox club, joined for $100/mo. in 2000 for the pool and used to love this club and its friendly ambiance. Apart from the Carmine St rec center, it was at the time the only pool big enough to do laps in the neighborhood.

But I disliked the luxe interior renovation that was done 2 years ago. The membership fee also got to be too much, so I quit recently. It was costing me $165 a month, which I just can't afford anymore, though fees haven't gone up in the past few years. I know other members have felt the pinch and left to join the new McBurney Y, which is less pricey.

The Greenwich club is said to be Equinox's busiest, but it is noticeably less busy. The billboards strike me as a desperate attempt to woo new members. Technically I’m still a member until the end of the month, so I have to say I’m embarrassed to admit I’m a member. I will be calling 311 for the GVSHP.

Anonymous said...

I don't think there are tensions between
classes like there used to be. The facts are that
the working
class has been disappearing rapidly from
the 5 boroughs and leaving only the poor
class and the rich class. Yuppies, hipsters and
students are not in the middle class. They
are the ones replacing the working class
neighborhoods. The foreigners are buying up
working class areas like Russians and Chinese as well
as Indians. The traditional working class has shipped out to
the suburbs. The Russians, Chinese and Indians
live in the formely working class areas but have been
gutting and building McMansions in place of the working
class row houses and walk ups, especially in South Brooklyn. So we have a small minority of working class people, large numbers of wealthy and welfare people.

It's important to remember the working class built
this city. The deli's, butchers, etc. The super wealthy do not contribute much to the culture. The poor contribute nothing because they just recieve. This means the city is dying (of uniqueness) because of these facts.

Ed said...

Anonymous 4:49, I've basically come to the same conclusion. The "vanishing New York" we are seeing is really the displacement of the middle class and working class. And its going over all over the country, but things tend to be more extreme here.

Also agree with the new round of gentrification we are talking about the middle class and working class, not the poor, being displaced. The poor still have their housing projects.

Will Divide said...

And across from the Greenwich? La Marionetta, best pizza in town.