Thursday, October 29, 2015

The Post discovers Alphabet City again



Having cleaned up Tompkins Square Park, the Post now turns its attention to the new luxury developments in the neighborhood.

The real-estate section today has a cover feature titled "Record-setting real estate gentrifies once-gritty Alphabet City."

Let's get to the best parts!

In talking about East Second Street between Avenue C and Avenue D:

Sure, this gritty East Village enclave saw its fair share of shenanigans related to drug use and violent crime not terribly long ago, and perhaps that’s one reason why new housing construction here has remained relatively dormant — until now.

Violent crime = shenanigans!

And!

Yes, at last, Alphabet City is getting a healthy dose of nice housing, and experts agree the activity there comes hand-in-hand with downtown’s development boom. But it also marks developers’ discovery of the area’s cheaper land and convertible buildings. Combined with buyers’ strong demand for downtown living, this previously overlooked zone is filling up quickly with more upscale new options. (They’re a far cry from the rundown artists’ shacks immortalized in the ’90s hit musical “Rent.”)

At last!

And!

Beyond the friendly atmosphere and better prices, sources say Alphabet City’s creative spirit — thanks to a long-standing community of artists — is another lure for house hunters.

And!

“What’s nice about the East Village is that it’s finally becoming residentially amenable to everybody,” says Nest Seekers’ Ryan Serhant — who’s gearing up to launch sales at Magnum Real Estate Group’s 33-unit 100 Ave. A. Meanwhile, Magnum’s president, Ben Shaoul, says the area’s “very cool modern bohemian lifestyle vibe” is a winning factor for buyers.

Can we please have some video of Ben Shaoul actually saying the words "very cool modern bohemian lifestyle vibe" about the East Village?

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Post reports Tompkins Square Park 'has become a homeless haven' (105 comments)

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

UGHHH GO AWAY

Anonymous said...

I am still shaking my head at that Post cover from the summer, the one that gleefully told Subway Jared to "ENJOY A FOOTLONG IN JAIL".

Anonymous said...

Who is "everybody"? I've been losing amenities for years. More restaurants aren't amenities to me. Despite having a salary that should put me securely into the middle class, I cannot afford to eat out in the current typical restaurant in my neighborhood more than once a month.

Anonymous said...

OMG, where to start?

"They’re a far cry from the rundown artists’ shacks" Guess what artists usually don't have a million or two for a condo so "shacks" is how we can stay here.

"friendly atmosphere and better prices, sources say Alphabet City’s creative spirit — thanks to a long-standing community of artists" Kiss those friendly artists goodbye forever as the trust funders take over our "shacks". Say farewell to anything friendly too. Not easy to make friend's when nobody looks you in the face. Most new residents are to busy texting and yapping on their iPhones to ever get to know their neighbors names.

This article is a parody of how lame ass realtors and the Post writers really are.

Anonymous said...

I love how the Post writers just take what these real estate people say at face value and don't interview people who live in the neighborhood. The quote about the neighborhood becoming residentially amenable to everybody is a joke. The real estate investors are buying up buildings and pushing out the tenants to reel in new tenants who are suckered into paying more for apartments that have been "renovated" or they are building luxury apartments that people who have lived here for years can't afford to move into. And the people who are buying those luxury apartments way over on D aren't anywhere near the subway. Do these realize that? Maybe they Uber everywhere and don't care.

Gojira said...

I don't know which paragraph to throw up at first. Such a plethora of nausea-inducing riches, which make it sound as if we've all been living in caves and rubbing two sticks together for fire, but now that the benevolent real estate developers and the New York Post have 'discovered' us and bestowed their approval, we will finally attain some measure of civilization. O thank you, bwanas, however did we exist before you turned your magnanimous gaze towards us?

Eden Bee said...

I can't believe there are no puns in the article.

Anonymous said...

I don't usually describe it with so many words, but the very cool modern bohemian lifestyle is the reason I moved here. I used to live in Tribeca until 2001 (remember 9/11?) and when my apartment became unlivable, I moved here.

Laura Goggin Photography said...

Could someone rewrite this piece using the exact opposite words? Then it might be accurate.

Makeout said...

"Better?" Better for who? Oh never mind- just answered my own question

Anonymous said...

These people sound like Marie Antoinette playing milkmaid. The East Village is now an "edgy" theme park for fauxhemians. Someone should open a kiosk in TSP selling Ramones tshirts, pre-ripped designer jeans and temporary "anarchy" tattoos. Soon the Las Vegas casino version of New York City is going to be more "edgy" than the real thing.

Anonymous said...

It's like when stuffy boring parents decide what the kids like is cool and then the cool kids flee for the hills (like FB) On the bright side this article is good to keep around if you ever need to induce vomiting.

Nobody .. said...

@olympiasepiriot: everybody means everybody who matters to the continuously lucrative real estate industry.

You know there's only so much space in a newspaper column so sometimes it's necessary to abbreviate phrases in the interest of saving space. But everybody knows what they mean.

Shawn said...

Guys guys, this was written by a "real estate" reporter, Zach Kussin, with a single agenda: drive prices up.

It's clickbait.

P.S. I've noticed a significant uptick in people referring to the East Village as "Alphabet City" since Google changed their name to Alphabet. Hmmmmm.

Anonymous said...

Yup and the The Halloween Dog Parade is marketing us too.

editrrix said...

You know how to get even with the faux-bohos? HOLD ON TO YOUR APARTMENT. Hang on, man. (We should have support groups...) This blog is gentrification in real time...the EV slo-mo shit show...an everyday onslaught...did anyone catch the "MUG-A-YUPPIE" stickers that recently appeared on Ave. A? The Policing Real Estate signs? The War for Living Space graffiti? It's happening all around. We need to push back. EV GRIEVE: Want a photo essay? Anyone want to talk about this threat, share their struggle?

Anonymous said...

The "mug a yuppie" stickers are the real-0world equivalent of trolling. They were probably put there by yuppies.

Concerned Parent said...

People need to get some perspective re Halloween Dog Parade. Everyone who goes has a great time, and it's very kid-friendly. If you want to organize a Halloween Drug-Abuser Parade, nothing is stopping you.

Giovanni said...

@Goggla Here you go, rewritten with the opposite words. You were right, now it's much more accurate:

Oh no, not this, the East Village is getting an unhealthy overdose of overpriced housing, and so-called experts agree the hyper-gentrification there goes hand-in-hand with the ethnic cleansing of Midtown South. And it also marks vulture capitalist's discovery of the area's formerly affordable housing stock full of tenants who can be easily pushed out. Combined with greedy investors' desire to be close to as many Bro bars as possible, this area, which actually used to belong to cool people, is quickly becoming completely unaffordable to all but the 1%. These overpriced, whitewashed playpens, filled to the rafters with overprivileged trust fund entitlement babies, are a far cry from when the East Village was the home to real poets, artists and musicians immortalized in the 90s hit musical “Rent."

Anonymous said...

Bravo, Giovanni!!

Anonymous said...

Jesus F Christ. What is with the negativity on here? Alphabet City is neighborhood I am proud to live in. Been here five years and love it. Be positive!

Edmund Dunn said...

Shawn hit the nail on the head. BTW, I never give the NY Post ANY traffic. And as Giovanni has stated, I wonder if there are any under 30 artists, poets, musicians, etc., living here any more.

genevieve said...

Problem is that poor artists were creative. Upscale tends to stale and copied.

Anonymous said...

@4:37
To tell you the truth a Haloween Drug Abuser Parade would have an anti-gentrification effect on the neighborhood. The Halloween Dog Parade is one of the most detrimental world media marketing stunts I have ever seen. What because YOU-YOUR KID likes it? The attendees are the same people who started out going to the Highline and Chelsea Market and then decided that they wanted to take over Chelsea. It's a mall and it's kid friendly.

I also think that there might be room for an Anti-Halloween Dog Abuser Parade because really some of those costumes are very heavy and constricting. What because the parent of the dog likes it and the dog wags their tail-NO they want a treat.

blue glass said...

anon 6:48 "Alphabet City is neighborhood I am proud to live in. Been here five years and love it. Be positive!"
we could be positive if folks like you would just move the f==k out.
it is because you are part of the problem that you cannot see what has happened to our neighborhood and the part you played.
it is hard to be positive when our neighbors are being pushed out and the stores that have been here for generations have been forced to close. the neighborhood that people cry for is gone, replaced by bloodless, unfeeling, greedy trust-fund kids and mindless students. loud drunk fashion plates and tourists come here to see the hip old "east village" that exists only in books and movies, is no longer here, and they don't even know it.

Anonymous said...

I agree about the dog parade - I was surrounded by brunch suburban yuppies as I walked by, all probably saying "hey, it's nice over here! I just LOVE this 'nabe'!"

Scuba Diva said...

At 7:15 PM Anonymous said:

I also think that there might be room for an Anti-Halloween Dog Abuser Parade because really some of those costumes are very heavy and constricting. What because the parent of the dog likes it and the dog wags their tail-NO they want a treat.

Thanks for that; I was at Whiskers on the day of the parade, and one of the women there asked me if I'd taken my dog to it, and I just rolled my eyes. She laughed.

Several years ago, I had a golden retriever named Tipper, and I dressed her up as Linda Tripp-er—with a blond wig and a microphone—so you get an idea of how long ago that was. Never again.

Anonymous said...

I agree with 6:48. What is with the negativity? This is directed to Blue Glass. This just isn't your neighborhood. This is our neighborhood. Some seem incredulous because they are unwilling to admit change is happening around us, whether we want to admit it or not. I feel many who comment on this site either point fingers, assign blame, use profanity to illustrate their points, which are often concealed with angry, hostile threats, but don't seem to offer probable solutions. Nothing is what is was five years ago. If we live in the past, we become stagnant. Alphabet City is still charming and unique, in spite of some of its bro ness and youthful complacency. Yes, it is changing. But so is the rest of NYC, much less the US, and the world. Don't issue ultimatums on telling others to "get the fuck out." Man up. If you don't like it, then you move out. Thankfully, those of us who live here can feel safer, knowing there are certain amenities and places to visit and eat and patronize. Offer something purposeful and proactive to suggest. Otherwise, you are part of the problem that is perpetuated. Good night.

Anonymous said...

I think the some of the comments are xtreme here, but I do agree that the magic is leaving the EV.Or maybe it's already left.

Anonymous said...

Well said Anonymous 11:59. I never understand the "old time" residents that just bitch bitch bitch with no hint of any positive solution to maintain their neighborhood. This is also my neighborhood. Maybe 10 years doesn't give me enough EV Grieve street cred but I see some positive changes happening around me. There are some things/places I miss but it doesn't define my Alphabet City existence.

Anonymous said...

Rather have a smoke in at least it was green and people were happy

Concerned Parent said...

Anonymous 7:15, If real drug addicts couldn't stop gentrification, what makes you think people dressed up as them will? Also, it wasn't just my kid who loved the Dog Parade, there were many kids there who loved it. And many non-kids. Name one other event that's as popular as the Dog Parade. If you brought together the attendees of every other event in the park, there still wouldn't be as many people as come to the Dog Parade.

Anonymous said...

"I never understand the "old time" residents that just bitch bitch bitch with no hint of any positive solution to maintain their neighborhood. This is also my neighborhood. Maybe 10 years doesn't give me enough EV Grieve street cred but I see some positive changes happening around me."

I am not sure if being here 26 years qualifies me as an old time resident or not, but let me tell you what old time residents do in addition to posting on the grieve:
- attend countless community board meetings to slow the proliferation of nightlife establishments whose customers wreak havoc every weekend and whose willingness to pay super inflated rents drive out small businesses;
- build and maintain affordable housing;
- found and then maintain community gardens;
- patronize small local businesses in the hopes they survive;
- investigate out of scale and illegal developments;
- pick up the garbage in front of our homes that weekend revelers leave behind;
- form and run tenant associations to try and protect long-time residents;
- run a blog that keeps us all informed
- etc.

So now what do you do except insult us when we talk about the things we believe are bad happening in the hood.

Anonymous said...

@7:14 am " I never understand the "old time" residents that just bitch bitch bitch with no hint of any positive solution to maintain their neighborhood. "

Ten years ago, myself and the other tenants in the building were fighting the landlord's relentless effort to get rid of us. Our story isn't unusual, it's happening all around you.But I guess "old time" residents trying to stay in the neighborhood where they have raised families, owned businesses, contributed to the arts, gardens and many other neighborhood organizations isn't positive enough for you. A lot of us are no longer able to live in the east village and are in other neighborhoods and boroughs, until, of course, they're declared the next hot place.

Enjoy "your" neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

@7:14am: I guess you are referring to the residents who are still here, not yet having been displaced (despite the best efforts of scummy landlords)? You will never know nor appreciate what those residents HAVE done (and continue to do) - but I hope you live here long enough to become an "old time" resident yourself (and it takes more than 10 years!) - and then when you see someone tearing your environment to shreds, you'll know it's just time for YOU to move on. Keep that in mind.

I wonder what you've done in the 10 years you've lived here to actively make your neighborhood a better place.

Anonymous said...

By non-kids, did you mean the dogs? My dogs hate it when I try to put the rubbers on their paws to keep them from getting salt sores or a shock, so I don't think the dogs liked it. Would you put a cardboard piano with a hole in it for your kid's head to stick on your kid's back and drag him/her around the hood while everyone sticks a camera in his/her face? This parade is terrible for the animals and terrible for the neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Grieve.. Don't have to waste time reading the friggn Post article!

Anonymous said...

"By non-kids, did you mean the dogs? My dogs hate it when I try to put the rubbers on their paws to keep them from getting salt sores or a shock, so I don't think the dogs liked it. Would you put a cardboard piano with a hole in it for your kid's head to stick out of on your kid's back and drag him/her around the hood while everyone sticks a camera in his/her face? This parade is terrible for the animals and terrible for the neighborhood."

Couldn't agree more - the dogs by and large looked miserable and in some cases scared by the huge crowds.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 10/30 1:18, Have you ever heard of Halloween? Kids do exactly what you just described. And the cameras are in no one's faces. Your caricature of the dog parade is addled.

Anonymous said...

@Concerned Parent

You said Halloween Drug Abuser PARADE not "real drug addicts".

You know back in the day two kids up the block from my house dropped acid and set their family dog on fire but the thing that concerns me is the 10,000 + people from all around the world descending on the East Village, as it is the LARGEST PARADE OF ITS KIND IN THE WORLD because that is what it is and it is that because it was created as such.

You like the Halloween Dog Parade. My grandmother likes Mary Poppins. I do not.

Since you are so concerned and enjoy this event so much perhaps you could tell us who the organizers are because for all I know it could be any one or number of people. After all it's hard work to hit a button on a computer and send a mass email out to the press.

Anonymous said...

Addled is a fine choice of words and aptly describes what happens to an animal when they are dressed in costumes and paraded around. They used to put costumes on monkeys and have they turn a crank on a box to make noise and collect change for the adult standing next to them. Is that okay?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 3:52, My grandfather was an organ grinder. He worked hard and supported his family in a tenement building that was condemned in the 1950s for being unsafe. His kids finished high school, something he didn't. No one ever worked harder. So yes, I would say it was OK.

Anonymous said...

Would you say the same thing if you someone doing that now?

Jared said...

On the bright side, on Ave A between 10th and 4th there isn't a single bank, Starbucks, or Walgreens.. yet.
The rest of Alphabet City is a lot less chain stored than most of Manhattan.
As much as we lost, it could get and probably will get worse.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Hans Hoffman or Franz Kline were annoyed at the newer residents of our community when people followed them here.
That's history, repeating over and over.

Anonymous said...

Imagine what the Native Americans would have commented on a blog about the Dutch settlers, or the Dutch about the English.
Wampum Grieve....New Amsterdam Grieve.

Randall said...

@ Anon 11:59

you point out that the whole US indeed the whole world is changing, so we might as well get used to it, but part of the problem and part of where this animosity comes from is that for a long time, NYC in general, much less Alphabet City was pretty much immune to the prevailing winds of change. We'd look at the rest of the country/world and laugh at what rubes the rest of you all were. Since 9/11 much of that has changed. A spotlight has been shined on the city and the vultures have descended. Because of 9/11 the city went from being just New Yorker's to the World's city and everyone thinks they have some sort of connection to the place just because some fanatics flew some planes into a couple of buildings.

The New York real estate machine has always been predatory, but with the influx of people from the rest of the world coming to live here and people in other developing countries using NYC real estate as an investment the rate at which the rest of the world is coming into NYC has accelerated. where before 9/11 no one really gave a shit about what went on here the influx of people laying claim to NYC is causing the displacement of a lot of people who liked the fact that no one really gave a shit and liked the fact that they could affordably live in such a great city.

I'm not sure where you're from originally, and since I'm about a week late to this posting, I'm pretty sure I never will, but imagine if you really dug everything about where you were from (which you probably don't because you're somewhere else) and then one day, people who seem really foreign to you, because of their values and culture came into wherever you're from and totally changed the place, naturally you'd have feelings of animosity too, despite the fact that maybe this is happening everywhere.

This is really a clash of cultures and one that is being played out everywhere, the problem with the culture being complained of is that it is by and large selfish, narcissistic and materialistic whereas the culture being defended is one of community, art, and by and large non-materialistic.

just my thoughts, take for what it's worth.