We spotted the Duane Reade coming soon signs last July here in the retail space at the new Adele residential complex on Avenue D and East Houston. (Officially 310 E. Second St.)
Anyway, work continues on the space… which will not be just a Duane Reade but a Duane Reade by Walgreens… (All new Duane Reades will have this co-branding.)
The location will also include a Photo Department…
As previously noted, a Duane Reade might be needed on Avenue D… given that the Rite Aid between East Seventh Street and East Sixth Street will close to make way for the 12-story, mixed-used apartment building going up at the address.
"Excuse me, do you know where the Duane Reade by Walgreens is?"
ReplyDelete"The Duane Reade by the Walgreens? What the hell are you talking about?"
Like Marc by Marc Jacobs? lol So much effort to sell tampons and aspirins.
ReplyDeleteNo one ever NEEDS a Duane Reade, Grieve.
ReplyDeleteThis is just the beginning for Avenue D. I spoke to someone, an official who works for the city. He says iit is likely the projects will be demolished in the next ten years for new high rise condominiums overlooking the East River. They want to make it a destination, for a different sociodemographic much like the renovation of the piers on the West Side Highway beginning at Christopher. That process took a number of years, but it happened. Now, it is exclusive and posh. I don't doubt the credibility of this person. I asked where will the people in the projects go. His response, "somewhere in Staten Island or in the bowels of Brooklyn." This neighborhood is changing fast. With the closures of beloved restaurants and bars and stores, the EV will only be a lower version of the Upper East Side. Sad.
ReplyDeleteYeah, amazing to think that there was a time in this city's history where the waterfront was seen as a dirty, low-rent place to shove the poor and unwanted - out of sight, out of mind, on the fringes of the island - instead of the multi-billion dollar asset it's slowly being turned into.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone been to the UES lately? I was in a taxi heading north on first and to meet the strip between 52nd and 70th looks a lot like the EV did 15 years ago, There are still small restaurants and other family run businesses and the area has a vintage look to it. My guess is rents are cheaper than those on Ave D now. I know for a fact a one bedroom is cheaper to buy. The population is older and nothing fortunately looks "hip" or would attract a foodie. I know this sounds nuts but it may be the only place most of us could afford in Manhattan in the coming years.
ReplyDeleteCVS Presents Duane Reade by Walgreens, featuring Starbucks Coffee.
ReplyDeleteJust get this whole unholy corporate centipede fuckfest overwith. Just merge all your stupid soulless companies together already. What's the goddamn difference. THERE IS NONE.
Anonymous 11:26 -- No, people here have not been to the UES, so when they talk about it, they just make things up. The same for the suburbs.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to see how quickly this neighborhood is changing. However,just across the street from this, you can still feel the roots of the neighborhood at Girls Prep.
ReplyDeleteI don't even understand what people get in all those walgreenses and duane readses? Fine, you need to pick up tampons, shampoo and deodorant from time to time, but how can they sustain their presence on every other corner of this island? It's not like they sell real groceries, i.e. stuff people actually need for sustenance. I should go to one of their stores and watch for an hour or two what people actually buy there so much of.
ReplyDeleteThat's because the UES is def not 'hip' has an older crowd of long time residents and families. Depending on where you are its still a good walk to the train. I know many people who have lived there for decades- raised their kids there. They are not the demographic for the businesses ruining the EV. They actually go to pharmacies and stores where they know the employees. They go to the shops that have been there for decades. People there don't run their lives through a phone or an app. And it is cheaper to rent or buy. They also seem to have a better local board when it comes to running the area and actually having a backbone.
ReplyDeleteSo now some people are touting the UES as the appealing, under the radar, village-y alternative to the EV. If that doesn't convince the last six or seven people who are still holding onto hope that the EV is not over, then nothing will. It is beyond over. "Over" is a tiny speck in our rearview at this point.
ReplyDeleteSeriously when I moved to Ave C and 6th street in 1981, people said "why live there, it's so far from a subway, there is nothing there but trouble....." It was all I could afford as a student and it had a lot of old school places to eat mostly ethnic food which were cheap too. Today in the EV, ethnic "cuisine" is expensive along with everything else. Anything not sanitized is forced out. I'm not saying all of the UES but there are pockets of old NY surviving there.
ReplyDeleteNothing says I live in my midtown office building more than sitting on your couch and "going down to get something from Duane Reade."
ReplyDeleteDuane Reade by Walgreens for Walmart by BJ's side of Cosco's inside Home Depot at the taint of Woolworth's
ReplyDeleteActually FUCK YOU 7:56pm. 99% of people on and around Avenue D were/are good people who shouldn't be displaced by the rich, and I got news for you:
ReplyDeleteNeighborhoods get better when more economic opportunities are brought to them. There was NONE when you grew up and that's a big reason why it was so dangerous. People don't deal drugs 100% by choice. What economic opportunity is Duane Reade #43854 bringing, more minimum wage/barely above minimum wage jobs I bet less than 25% of neighborhood residents will get? Yep. The residents who get them will be mostly if not all highschool and college kids which helps them but not most working people and certainly not working people with families to support.
Actually despite the economic 'recovery' your god Obama talks about there are no jobs. The idea that these jobs will go to high school or college kids just isnt true anymore. They will be held by adults struggling to get by. Thats the sad reality and that why the 18-25 unemployment rate is so high. Wake up.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:03 99.999% of the people that I grew up with were GARBAGE.
ReplyDeleteThanks for trying to distort my memories for me.
I'm glad there's a Duane Reade there. It's much closer than the one on Avenue B.
ReplyDelete