So much for our motel theory! Anyway, whatever comes here promises to drive up the rents for nearby businesses who are already struggling... soon, this whole stretch will be one big Momofuku...
And EV Grieve reader Blue Glass sent along a photo with another angle...
Previously on EV Grieve:
Ninth Street and First Avenue shocker: Motel ... Hello?
Blockbuster: 147 First Ave. set for demolition
10 comments:
yikes. this is not good.
Not good at ALL. Some noisy hellhole for out of control beery kids Not From Around Here, or yet another smelly Indian restaurant, bringing the reek of curry up First Avenue. Even a pod motel would have been better...
It's so disheartening to see all these neighborhood businesses replaced with things that are of minimal benefit or barely affordable to the neighborhood's residents. We've lost most all of our ethnic specialty shops, bakeries, butchers, fish stores and greenmarkets. People are forced to shop out of their area, or to patronize businesses that are grossly overpriced.
I'm glad I got to grow up here, but sad that the experience won't be there for people in the future, and I speak not just of the EV, but of most all of the downtown neighborhoods and even the old Times Square.
i went by that corner this am and saw the big "prime restaurant" spot and thought "what happened to the motel?"
my second thought was: i used to look forward to new restaurants, excited like, to see what new places we'd have to eat at. now i feel like, "let's see what new places they are building for THEM."
that pretty much sums it up. stuff that used to open around here used to excite me because i felt like they were for those of us that live here. and now i feel like they are for those who don't.
Well said, Daria...
"It's so disheartening to see all these neighborhood businesses replaced with things that are of minimal benefit or barely affordable to the neighborhood's residents."
Welcome to the Upper East Side.
I see you failed to publish my comment on this article about living in the past the the negative vibe on this blog about the US vs THEM.
The truth hurts, hey?
I see you failed to publish my comment on this article about living in the past the the negative vibe on this blog about the US vs THEM.
it's probably useless to respond to anonymous's comment above - so how old are you? and do you even have a past?
sadness over the loss of a business that has been in the family for generations, one with a standard of service and honesty, that provides more than a basic service to a community - one in which there is also a friendship because of the relationship one has with a long-term neighborhood establishment - that is not us vs. them. the hostility comes from the replacement of everything that made this a neighborhood/community by chain stores that have rotating employees that couldn't give a shit about the neighborhood they work in - and today mostly just want to clock in, get their check and do nothing else. a restaurant and a bar can also provide that community if the owner desires more than the mighty dollar they see in $25 trenty drinks and who don't realize that all they will have is 15 minutes of in the limelight. they come and go and bring with them the shallow consumers that they serve. obnoxious, loud, you know who they are. you're probably one of them.
I'm on your side blue grass. But because my initial post was not published, what I said reads totally out of context.
My past goes back over 40 years, my present is to be a part of a vibrant community of people that live happily side by side, is run by small businesses that know their customers by name and is not over-run by chain stores and blandness.
My comment about us vs them prompts you to think I'm one of 'them'. This attitude is wrong (as is your assumption). No one is entitled to ownership of a neighbourhood or a city. What I said about the negativity of the attitudes of this blog is that everyone is happy to dwell negatively in the past instead of attempting to make a positive out of the now and of the future. You're all so busy being cynical that it seems to me, an outsider, that you've stopped enjoying life full stop. This is sad. Us VS Them is not going to get anyone anywhere.
I am an outsider, I don't even live in NY. We have these same issues in the city where I live, you're not the only ones competing with developers creating ugly monstrosities and drunken idiots on your streets every night. I started reading this blog several months ago as I am about to embark on my first ever trip to NYC (in my 40's!) and I will be staying in your neighbourhood. I wanted to get a feel for the place. I will be one of 'them', you know, those 'tourists' you don't want staying next door. But you know what, you won't be able to pick me out as a tourists. You won't see me catching a double decker bus to Times Square or a ferry to climb your statue. You won't find me staggering around groovy bars in stilettos or reliving re-runs from Sex and the City. You'll just find us seeking out long term ethnic eateries, checking out some of the art and architecture of your great city that we've read about and seen in movies our whole lives. We just want to get a feel for what it's like to live in a great city such as New York for a little while.
Daily I read this blog, and the comments. I am SOOOO excited by my trip, but I'm starting to find this part of my day is clouding my excitement. You people who love your neighbourhood are the people I hope to run into in small diners and corner coffee shops, to extend the great reputation New Yorkers have worldwide as a friendly city. But sometimes I wonder if everyone's going to be either a young drunk and obnoxious frat kid, or a cynical old timer who yearns for the old days and hates tourists and everyone else around them. I hope not. See you next month.
btw, I don't have an account but I'm not anon, my name is Cassandra.
PS, I would LOVE to see the Keith Haring mural back where the Shepard Fairy graffiti magnet was recently. There is a movement here in Melbourne to save the one and only big Haring mural we have during his time in Melbourne, all his other street art has disappeared over the years.
You can read more about it here... http://www.everfreshstudio.com/blog/?p=3315
The entire wall is crumbling and the artwork needs to be restored for it to survive, it hasn't been touched in almost 30 years.
Cassandra
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