Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Imagining the Bowery in 2033

I recently stood on the Bowery watching workers put up a new billboard above the B Bar...




... I came back later to see the final product...ah, the ol' "No. 1 vodka of 2033" campaign...



Then! As I dodged town cars and well-heeled crowds on the Bowery streets and sidewalks (the town cars stayed on the streets) ... I wondered what the Bowery would look like in 2033... Just think how much it has changed in, say, the last 10 years ...what Jeremiah has dubbed "the Bowery tsunami."

I'm not sure what it will be like in less than 23 years... but you figure, given recent activity, several places will no longer be here...

... like 35 Cooper Square...



...the Sunshine Hotel....



... the White House...



...Downtown Tire & Auto Center ...



I get depressed thinking about it... (and I wish I could have gone to the Bowery "Past, Present and Future" lecture at the Tenement Museum last night...)

Perhaps this shot sums it up...a few of the historic buildings will remain alongside the new luxury... and the old buildings will seem more like trophies than part of everyday life...


[Deer photo by AWKWORD]
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 17, 2010 at 1:30 PM

    Given statistical life expectancy, I probably will be spared the 2033 Bowery experience...and that's a very good thing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bowery BoyNovember 17, 2010 at 1:42 PM

    The Tenement Talk last night about the Bowery was packed... I mean packed with people. Clearly, you're far from the only one who cares about what's happening to this City's oldest and most unique boulevard.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Laura Goggin PhotographyNovember 17, 2010 at 2:56 PM

    The Tenement Talk was as packed as I've ever seen it, which I found encouraging. And, although there was a lot of sadness over things that have been lost, I was surprised to also feel happy that so many original buildings have remained on Bowery since the beginning. The entire street should be land-marked as it holds some of the city's oldest and most historic locations - not just physical, but cultural.

    ReplyDelete
  4. EV GrieveNovember 17, 2010 at 3:16 PM

    I'm happy to hear so many people turned out for the Tenement Talk lecture...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bowery BoogieNovember 17, 2010 at 3:35 PM

    indeed, more crowded than when Ed Koch spoke a few weeks ago.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousNovember 18, 2010 at 6:32 AM

    I wish there was a way we EV Grievers could have pointed each other out. I was there too! Next lecture we all decide to go to, we should come up with some kind of 'gang sign'. :)

    ReplyDelete

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