Here are some archival photos I came across showing locals doing their shopping on Avenue C and Sixth Street in April 1950.
Here's a photo I took the other day showing locals doing their shopping on Seventh Street near Avenue B.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
[EVG Flashback] Shopping in the East Village — then and now
On occasion we'll revisit an old EVG blog post ... like this one from Aug. 14, 2008...
Here are some archival photos I came across showing locals doing their shopping on Avenue C and Sixth Street in April 1950.
Here's a photo I took the other day showing locals doing their shopping on Seventh Street near Avenue B.
Here are some archival photos I came across showing locals doing their shopping on Avenue C and Sixth Street in April 1950.
Here's a photo I took the other day showing locals doing their shopping on Seventh Street near Avenue B.
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11 comments:
Wow, my mother used to drag me and me sister to Ave C every Saturday for something or other. We came to this country in 1950. I remember cart after cart and hoards of shoppers, each one gossiping in Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Yiddish, whatever language they spoke. Even as a little kid I'd be exhausted after the trip. Your photos brought back memories I didn't know I had. Thanks ;)
Perfect Grieve!
I see that you're trying to make the old good/new bad juxtaposition but imo Freshdirect represents progress in that it enables busy people to grocery shop at their convenience. Beats having to resort to fast food or Lean-cuisine type dinners. It would be great if we could all walk over to our local marketplace and lovingly handpick groceries from salt of the earth vendors but that's just not how things work these days mister.
dear anon 11.21
go back to where you came from.
Dear anon 12:20
He makes good points. You don't. Continue being a useless member of society.
Great post and photos! I'm one of the lucky ones that can still walk to my grocery store or deli and buy my food. It still works that way for some of us.
I just personally find Fresh Direct provides better quality at better prices than most places in the neighborhood on some particular items (produce mainly). I may have lived in a few places around the country through my life, but I am a new york native and my grandmother grew up in the building above Otto's. So anon 12:20 can bite me.
Old Timey Shopping at it's best. I remember as a child driving with my Dad to shop for white bucks shoes on the LES. Hardly a parking space available then--so my Mom and I would run into the store and try on the shoes and then Dad would swing back and pick us up. Cool memories. Thanks for the photos Grieve.The little girl in the front reminds me of me but I wasn't there.
Great old photos, EV!
I was an early adapter of Fresh Direct in our neighborhood and although their prices on some items can't compete with my local supermarket (shout out Fine Fare on Avenue C!), I do appreciate their broad selection, 'buy big' options and also the convenience. There's room for everybody and I make use of both FD and neighborhood shops.
I prefer to buy produce in person (FD has failed me on that one on occasion) and I like to patronize my neighborhood shops. But I like to save the time of hauling myself around the 'hood if I can knock off an entire grocery order from my desk during lunch.
ALSO -- there is a huge SHOP LOCAL section on FD. Over 60 local suppliers (and by local, they mean less than 300 miles from NYC) are represented so you can buy everything from cheese to seafood to honey, etc. from FD and feel relatively good about it.
Oh, and, isn't Fresh Direct a local company itself?
Meh to anonymous bashers.
Fresh Direct is based out of Long island City, my old neighborhood. So, yes, a local business. My only gripe with Fresh Direct is the number of boxes they use for a delivery.
There were pushcarts and lots of shops -- bakeries, meat markets, neighborhood bars, produce markets, etc., on Avenue C until 1968, when many of them were bombed with Molotov cocktails by angry Puerto Ricans. A friend's legs were badly burned when a Molotov cocktail came through the window of the bar that used to stand at the corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street. Most of the shops closed down or left after that and the avenue was desolate for a very long time.
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