tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post1265818440252121211..comments2024-03-29T01:38:51.887-04:00Comments on EV Grieve: Is it time to leave the East Village?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-64001215818461750972015-06-14T03:11:51.227-04:002015-06-14T03:11:51.227-04:00Been there, lived there, loved it there from 1978-...Been there, lived there, loved it there from 1978-1993. Moved out after my apartment went on fir for the 3rd time to East 27th street. Still miss the EV and these new kids have no culture or sense of history. I am glad I was able to perceive and enjoy the richness if the community.<br />By the way, my Italian immigrant grandparents had their first home on West 28rh street in Manhattan around 1915 and later on lived in Williamsburg. At that time it was a tight immigrant community and now it is Hollywood East.<br />I think these dopey kids should go back where they came from. They have no culture and no sense of history. And they couldn't care less. I don't know what they are doing here, and I don't think they know either. They have no sense of community and are transients with money, nothing more.A New Yorkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05694895404843369504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-51359514350767356262015-05-27T22:22:32.392-04:002015-05-27T22:22:32.392-04:00Perfect analogy.Perfect analogy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-41010765115770918422015-05-27T22:21:55.570-04:002015-05-27T22:21:55.570-04:00Perfect.Perfect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-44332054715889413132014-10-04T03:14:12.965-04:002014-10-04T03:14:12.965-04:00Ha Ha the neighborhood is so boring and sterile an...Ha Ha the neighborhood is so boring and sterile and white except for Ave. D only those who like that kind of lifestyle remain. Like someone once said the neighborhood went from black and brown to white and now its whiter than white. I moved to the LES a long time ago because I grew up in the segregated South and I hated it now the East Village has become somewhat like the segregated South and it gets more and more like it every year. Screw that I left as many know and would never go back even if I could afford it. john penleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06546048103371918505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-40194073579604102482014-10-03T21:02:44.756-04:002014-10-03T21:02:44.756-04:00I was born and raised in the East Village. I prett...I was born and raised in the East Village. I pretty much lived at the Boys Club on Ave A as a kid. I remember getting hot toasted bakery bread for coins on Ave C with my buddies. It's where I had my first kiss. Where I first got beat up. Where I first fell in love. I consider Tompkins Square Park my heart. <br /><br />Whenever I've moved away from NYC, I always come, immediately, to the EV and grab a slice of pizza to settle myself. I've lived in every borough of NYC except Staten Island, love on the west coast, in the south, in Asia and traveled all over Europe, and still I come back to EV to find my center. The fact that this blog even exists warms my heart. <br /><br />Now for the bad. While hanging out one recent Sunday morning with a lady friend, we decided to walk through the EV and it was amazing. I thought, 'why the hell aren't I moving back here?' It felt like a community. It was so colorful. Diverse. INTERESTING. But then, months later, I went to meet a friend in the EV at night and it was like the nastiest, most cliche version of a small, podunk college town bar strip I could imagine. Someone in this thread said it earlier, the good EV exists 9-5, after that, it gets pretty lame. They were right. I honestly want to move back, whether I find a good deal or have to pay through the nose, but the thought of the 'entire EV' being taken over every night by drunk college kids/new to the work force people isn't attractive. I dealt with that experience living in Greenwich Village near NYU and let me tell you, it wasn't worth the awesome location.<br /><br />I've lived in artist friendly parts of Brooklyn, but honestly, if I'm going to live someplace where it takes an hour to get to Manhattan for business, I feel like I might as well live in Philly (1hr train ride away, too) and save thousands of dollars on rent (or buy cheaper). I love Brooklyn, but I sampled the wares plenty and for me, Manhattan is still the main reason to consider dealing with the challenges of living in New York City. (Not even going to talk about Queens. Know it well. Lived there. Hate it. Yes, Astoria has gotten kind of nice, but still, Queens is the desert, no thanks.) <br /><br />I'm just back after several years living outside of the U.S. and I must say that NYC has 'really' changed. It seems safer, cleaner and it's definitely attracting more people because of it. I don't begrudge them the new NYC, and no, I don't wish for the 'glory days' of more crime and danger in the interest of lower rents which lead to more interesting people. I get it. Things change. You must adapt. Still, what made NYC special seems to be attainable in many other cities now as the U.S. has sort of culturally homogenized somehow, so I have one eye on places like L.A. (yes, I hate it too, but cheaper living and good if you find your crowd), Vancouver, Portland, Seattle and even Berlin. If I had two kids and a wife maybe I'd feel different, but as it stands, I still like to know I'm around interesting/diverse people, and NYC today isn't leaning so much in that direction. <br /><br />I can't see any good reason to move to EV now, and that breaks my heart, because I still love it so much, despite the changes. I may change my mind. The city may change. So who knows. But I would ask that if you're reading the comments of others lamenting the loss of culture in the EV, please consider their comments and read some history before dismissing them as merely disgruntled old schoolers who hate change. The EV really was an oasis for NYC's cultural heartbeat for a long time, nothing in Williamsburg/Flatbush et al has come close. <br /><br /> -Skelly Master Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-46267776919793716872013-06-13T04:18:07.594-04:002013-06-13T04:18:07.594-04:00I've stayed in NYC but have not lived here man...I've stayed in NYC but have not lived here many times over the past 20 years. Last year, my husband and I decided to take job offers and relocate and give it a go. We're in Brooklyn, in what was sold to us as an old-school "family style" building, but it's actually chock-full of fratty hipster types who scream and yell and slam their doors and blast Journey karaoke. The developers raze the small businesses and replace them with pretentious wine bars (well drinks available for the low price of $15 a glass). <br /><br />Our rent is stabilized but our lease says it is legal to push it up to almost 4K for a mediocre building in a part of Brooklyn where the woo-hoo people fill grocery bags with blood and vomit and drop them on the sidewalk – and we got lucky, since this is market rent at many places just a half-mile to the east of us. It's now cheaper to live in many parts of Manhattan than anywhere in the northern half of Brooklyn. There are proportionally fewer frat "dudes" in this part of town since it's too gritty for them, but still, enough to make it annoying, and things are changing fast. <br /><br />They're marching west with their shitty techno and Dave Matthews Band records and lousy manners and the hygiene you'd expect after having Mommy wipe your ass for 25 years, and the reality is sobering. They will stand in line behind me at the deli and get angry at the deli guy for not kissing their ass and remembering their order and sneer at me getting the sandwich I always get without even having to ask because I say please, thank you, and "how are you today George?" and they won't hesitate to tell me "I guess you couldn't MAKE IT, I GUESS YOU'RE NOT A REAL NEW YORKER. LIKE YAH, LIKE ME!"<br /><br />Since the frat contingent has violated the noise ordinance multiple times (and trashed the building, filthied up the hall, ripped the risers off the stairs, and attempted to burn down the roof with their grills and swimming pools full of Pabst), we are leaving August 1. We won't be back. I see no reason to live in NYC now. It feels like a giant strip mall, and I can do my job anywhere in the country, a nation dotted with cities that have been similarly strip-malled out. If I want to attend a poetry reading, punk show, museum exhibit, etc. I can do that anywhere else in the country while paying a third less rent for three times as much space. <br /><br />It used to be that NYC was something special, something worth sacrificing for. I could feel it everytime I stayed here. Now, living here is all grind, all the time, with no reward. Bless you who see something special and continue to stay. If I could pay less for a place, I would too. But after being trapped in a gross building with woo-hoos for a year, we're going country. It's an easy life with paychecks that go far, tranquility and plenty more than spare chance to fill up those IRAs so we can retire early. I have Ramones and Johnny Thunders recordings to enjoy, and it's much more fun to enjoy them when you have time to enjoy your life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-11257141913995895762012-09-19T05:30:20.373-04:002012-09-19T05:30:20.373-04:00Walked by Mars Bar and saw the "EV is dead&qu...Walked by Mars Bar and saw the "EV is dead" splattered on the wall, googled the ubiquitous phrase, and now here I am, although really late to the party (??will this even be posted??). Seems like a lot of people have a long history in the area, with a wide range of emotions and reactions: nostalgic, resentful, resolute, fatalistic. Didn't really understand why the EV is dead, but maybe understand a bit more now. This is a bit of a story + rant, but a new, outside perspective of someone who lives nearby, but won't spend much time there:<br /><br />I recently had the misfortune of accompanying my girlfriend to her high school friends' double-bday-bash happy hour at a horrible, indistinguishable establishment called Professor Thoms'. I won't tell you where they're all originally from, for fear it will bias you, but it's Connecticut. I only agreed to go because I understood it to be a small, relaxed gathering in a back room. Instead of course it was packed to capacity, music too loud to hear my own screaming. Occasionally I'd glance down and see the bright all-you-can-drink-until-11:30 wristband I purchased. Fine for Vegas or a Carnival cruise I guess, or perhaps for a frat-tastic bar trying to cover it's ass while facilitating underage drinking. Anyways I prevailed upon my girlfriend to leave, called a friend, ducked into Decibel, which was noticeably lacking in its own namesake, and downed 2 sake bottles to settle the nerves. Salvaged the night nicely, all while still in the EV.<br /> <br />So I totally commiserate with those who put up with the "whoo hoo'er" antics on a regular basis, but in reality they're everywhere in the country and all ages / generations.. you only see the young yuppy variety here, because the garden variety idiot has-been can't get the swank job that will pay him to live here and bother all residents of reasonable mind and disposition, old and new. Gotta love my CT girlfriend though, she thinks the LES is 'edgy,' and draws near and clutches my arm whenever shady types walk by! We live in Nolita, which I find pretty damn pretentious and overpriced, but the ever-fashionable gf likes it. Happy wife happy life. Maybe she's a spoiled yuppy who indiscriminately "likes things that other people say are good." but that's not much worse than a contrarian 'individual' with a persecution complex liking things that other people say are bad, ie. the blighted NY neighborhoods of forgotten decades. Is that today's 'hipster'? someone striving to be unique, different, special... someone more artistic and spiritual than the rest of us ordinary conformist suits? There's all kinds of egocentrism, and it's not surprising that such a person would desperately cling to some sad, faded memory of the EV, like a grizzled old junkyard dog, jealously guarding its own stale-piss-drenched turf.<br /><br />I respect the history of the neighborhood, even though I'm almost oblivious to it. I'll probably never feel like a 'real new yorker,' if that's even something someone can be or become anymore, despite the fact that a lot of new transplants are annoyingly fond of declaring themselves to be one. I guess I'll just be a gentrifying, corporate slave overpaying for a supertrendy neighborhood in a Ben Shaoul building. That is, at least until I can move back out west and do something significant with my life there. But in the meantime I won't be a collar-popping, self-entitled douchebag riling up the old schoolers, but nor will I be this guy: (poignant clip from Portlandia): http://www.hulu.com/watch/210886Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-5862244278682459732012-06-22T10:29:41.493-04:002012-06-22T10:29:41.493-04:00OMFG, Harley is finally here! Yes! I'm gigglin...OMFG, Harley is finally here! Yes! I'm giggling like a schoolgirl.<br /><br />Harley, Rachel B. and I went to school together, she was my best friend .. do you know if she is OK?LvVnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-40390727859668498212012-06-22T09:42:37.169-04:002012-06-22T09:42:37.169-04:00Remember when the "East village" was cal...Remember when the "East village" was called the L.E.S<br />Back in the day before there were yuppies on Ave A<br />Lol<br />I miss NYC the way it used to be<br />I really do come from a time that has come and gone<br />I'm like the last real Cro-mag walking the earth I don't belong to this place anymore I don't take pride in this city anymore you don't have to have balls or heart to walk these streets anymore you just need money LOL<br />RGA Is the only thing that keeps me here and that is a place I do take pride in being part of<br /><br />And further more<br /><br />I'm not a part of New York Hardcore New York Hardcore is a part of me<br />Im Not a part of your scene your scene is part of my legacy<br />I represent Old New York and NYHC you new jacks are still immitating my past how long is that Bullshit really gonna last Lol<br />I was Hardcore before most of you were swimming around in your daddys nuts I was holding it down and you know that's what's up<br />keep pretending the Cro-mags still exist keep pretending you frauds are legit while you cover my songs your still so on the Dick Lol<br />All the motherfuckers that talk shit about me are people I don't respect anyway and the people i roll with everyday are people I respect like Renzo Gracie so go ahead John Bloodclot get some more hair plugs and new jacks get more tattoos on your neck lol at the end of the day you still Don't Mean Shit<br />Lol<br />yes I am Oldcschool that's right<br />FTW<br />Fight To Win<br />Family first Jiu-Jitsu for Life Hardcore till I Die<br />To whom it may concern next time your mouths open talking shit<br />Put a Dick in it and shut the fuck up<br />LMAO<br />And to all my real true friends<br />Peace Love and Respect<br /><br />HFHarley Flanagannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-79186453990256170182012-06-18T13:50:14.186-04:002012-06-18T13:50:14.186-04:00I entirely loathe the "new" new york. I...I entirely loathe the "new" new york. It's incredible how selfish,rude, ignorant sex and the city wannabees have taken over, the stroller brigade wtih their tank like hummer strollers mowing you down, the self-entitled st. louis transplants, it makes my stomach turn just walking down the street.<br /><br />but what is the Fucking Alternative to this? America lost it's freakin' mind on 9/11. The whole country has lost it's freedoms and its collective mind. <br /><br />America itself is a fucking nightmare. And look at the rest of the World. The entire planet has fucking gone bonkers. It makes me want to live on an island and just sit until I wither away and die.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-45528069203972057392012-06-17T22:46:59.968-04:002012-06-17T22:46:59.968-04:00@ crazy eddie.. i didn't read your specific co...@ crazy eddie.. i didn't read your specific comment on Westville, just there is a lot of anger against Westville in general among people over 40, even among old people I know in the neighborhood who do not read ev grieve and do not have computers. 2nd... How would there be a plan for the neighborhood? It's not even worth discussing.. people are just going to move here.. it's less planned out than controlled by prices in relation to other neighborhoods, convenience, and supply and demand.. this stuff all changes.... for millennials, the 1960s, punk, and counterculture is completely all just a look and has no real meaning.. maybe it still does in Berlin, Portland or these places I've heard about, but this is long gone from the EV/LES and america in general and isn't coming back..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-35097250090074167572012-06-17T21:07:46.043-04:002012-06-17T21:07:46.043-04:00Anon 7:59, since you had a LES grandmother, I assu...Anon 7:59, since you had a LES grandmother, I assume you know the the difference between stabilized and controlled. I'm stabilized, my apt is about 200 sq feet, and I don't even have a tub (grumble), yet I pay a good chunk o'change more than you do in rent. I'm grateful, but my point is that $1500 a month is fab -- thank your lucky stars. <br /><br />Please don't deign to people what you think is legitimate to bitch about.LvVnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-43854456703590561522012-06-17T19:59:09.567-04:002012-06-17T19:59:09.567-04:00If I were rent controlled, I wouldn't be bitch...If I were rent controlled, I wouldn't be bitching about people who can afford the rent choosing to move into the EV. It's their money. They can do with it whatever the fuck they want to. Sure, I hate to see older residents forced out because of rising housing prices, but that's contemporary economics for you. The neighborhood has seen prices shoot up but it's still affordable for young professionals not making a mint. Accordingly and not so surprisingly they're moving in. <br /><br />So yes as a younger resident it annoys me to hear the constant bemoaning of the EV around here, especially from residents who pay $400 for the apartment I pay $1500 for. Areas change. They have thousands of year. My grandmother grew up on the lower east side. She doesn't come back, expect it to be unchanged, and bitch about gentrification though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-12003068798631732652012-06-17T01:15:20.600-04:002012-06-17T01:15:20.600-04:00late to the party...
the thing is, having been liv...late to the party...<br />the thing is, having been living here, having lived many loves, lost lovely lives, and raised up one beautiful child <br />every spring I re-meet 5 or 6 people (who been months or years since) and my heart grows, my heart knows, this is, if not the center of the universe at least<br />the center of mine<br />and I give<br />thanks to goddess goddess Allah-desia<br />for this<br />good fortune<br />yes<br />I'm definitely leaving this place someday, definitely someday<br />but until<br />then home<br />is home is<br />home.KairosKimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05361184790738217113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-74406469970268592122012-06-14T16:36:53.893-04:002012-06-14T16:36:53.893-04:00@Anony 3.20 PM-let me get you, are you saying that...@Anony 3.20 PM-let me get you, are you saying that a now transformed Murray Hill should be the template for the EV and the rest of Manhattan as well? Also, my comment on Westville was self-deprecating by the way but I guess your narcissistic little brain couldn’t figure that out.Crazy Eddienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-81055864143166231572012-06-14T15:20:17.298-04:002012-06-14T15:20:17.298-04:00I've lived here 6 years.. you people aren'...I've lived here 6 years.. you people aren't on the edge of anything if you keep posting comments about how you're deathly afraid of Westville.. come on! Westville! or you post sarcastic things about how a real business can still open up. Maybe the problem is that you old people on stabilization aren't getting laid or don't know how to hustle.. the 70s are over get over it.. people like Penny Arcade these days expect people to give them money for shitty burlesque shows 40 years after they were irrelevant..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-65578463912842058542012-06-14T13:58:36.905-04:002012-06-14T13:58:36.905-04:00What drivel. And yay everybody who was here and kn...What drivel. And yay everybody who was here and knows better. I moved in in 1968 and have loved the EV ever since. Rent-controlled apartment, 3 railroad rooms for $54.01. I am still in those rooms, much better decorated now, with antiques and many books and paintings, paying $149.92. If I ever win the lottery, I will buy an unrenovated brownstone, preferably on East 10th between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. If not, I am staying right where I am, and any jumped-up johnny-come-lately twerp who wants to bitch at me (out of envy or whatever) can blow me. I intend to be carried out of the East Village feet first.RockChicknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-63889832219972475152012-06-14T10:12:46.068-04:002012-06-14T10:12:46.068-04:00Like, get over yourself. Like, the East Village k...Like, get over yourself. Like, the East Village keeps, like, getting more AWESOME and AMAZING! You haters must all be, like, really friggin' old or something to not appreciate how AWESOME and AMAZING it is here!!! Like, talk about a sense of entitlement that you old folks are too lazy to walk around us so we can, like, continue down the sidewalk while texting. It's hard for most of us to string simple sentences together and we need to concentrate! Like, we won't walk into you if you move your lazy asses out of the way! Duh?Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03020787621759727601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-3934761784616905422012-06-14T09:19:53.035-04:002012-06-14T09:19:53.035-04:00Wow. AMAZING.Wow. AMAZING.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-42160301379791620132012-06-14T08:42:37.423-04:002012-06-14T08:42:37.423-04:00@Glenn - Thats a cool piece of trivia/history. Lee...@Glenn - Thats a cool piece of trivia/history. Lee Morgan was awesome.Hey19noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-7618778453835722772012-06-14T03:15:53.699-04:002012-06-14T03:15:53.699-04:00People have been saying that "East Village is...People have been saying that "East Village is dead", for what, 3 decades now?<br /><br />But the truth is, East Village just keeps getting better. Embrace change. The change we are seeing/experiencing right now could maybe contribute to the long list of what makes East Village the most interesting and vibrant hood in New York.Waxhttp://www.popbopandsnap.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-31867953749869266892012-06-14T02:46:44.221-04:002012-06-14T02:46:44.221-04:00Having lived here a very long time to enjoy a rela...Having lived here a very long time to enjoy a relatively affordable rent, the only way I'm leaving is in a box.Uncle Waltiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07611991976897184311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-66965046361752409832012-06-14T01:04:33.874-04:002012-06-14T01:04:33.874-04:00Notorious - thank you for your comments. As a nat...Notorious - thank you for your comments. As a native ny'er - I'm effin old too- I have see things changed drastically in last 10 years. I really can't do everyday errands without getting pissed off with these resident tourists around. New York and east village are over but where<br /> can we move to?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-12786897903603049672012-06-14T00:57:20.707-04:002012-06-14T00:57:20.707-04:00Hanging out in EV since late 80s, moved here early...Hanging out in EV since late 80s, moved here early 90s. Bought my place on 6th/B in 2005. Like all of us "old"? timers, lamenting what the 'hood has morphed into. I call it "permanent spring break" or "infinite mardi-gras." Every week one of my favorite places closes. <br /><br />I realize things change/evolve, but this change has been inorganic. There are other places around the country that still have 'hoods like the "old" EV -- Portland, West Philly, The Mission -- but none of them are near my job (hey! That's in the Meatpacking District! I'm 2-for-2!)<br /><br />Anyway, I've been doing the "I should move to Brooklyn" dance in my head for at least a few years now (exactly *all* of my friends that used to live here have moved to Brooklyn or Queens). But I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger... yet. In fact, just over the last three days I had an e-mail exchange with a realtor witha place in Greenpoint, and when it came down to it.... no. I'm not ready to sublet my place and leave my neighborhood. But as it stands, my neighborhood has pretty much already left me. <br /><br />BTW: my screen name since I started using the interwebs, EvilSugar, had it's genesis in "E Vil = East Village"... that's how married to this neighborhood I have been. So. That's where I'm at. I think about it every day. But not sure where to go. Yet.~evilsugar25noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-17701805108051075032012-06-14T00:29:30.163-04:002012-06-14T00:29:30.163-04:00Boo effing hoo. In 10 years there'll be a NEW...Boo effing hoo. In 10 years there'll be a NEW group decrying how bad the EV has been since 2015!<br /><br />Get over yourselves. You're not cool, you're not hip, and you're not better than anyone else, including white guys sporting a sweater wrap-around.<br /><br />You're just another shmoe with a sense of entitlement. When you move to whatever place you end up next you'll probably bitch about that too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com