Showing posts with label Greenwich Village. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greenwich Village. Show all posts

Sunday, June 28, 2009

NYU looking to run Greenwich Village out of town


[Image via NY Post]

"It's the purple octopus that ate Greenwich Village! New York University plans to add 6 million square feet of space by 2031 -- development that may include a 40-story residential tower, the tallest in the Village." (New York Post)

The purple octopus? Hmm. Not bad. How about:

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Greenwich Village Sunday -- 1960 (also, 1944 and 1981)

The Times examines the ongoing battle for Washington Square Park today.

Meanwhile, let's take a look back at the Park and neighborhood in something called "Greenwich Village Sunday -- 1960."



Here's a little more of the neighborhood, circa 1944:



And 1981:

Friday, September 5, 2008

"NYC for the most part is a dead playground for yuppies and trustfunders"


Yesterday, BoingBoing posted an excerpt from the July Vanity Fair essay by Christopher Hitchens on the demolishment/development of Greenwich Village.

Here are a few responses to the essay/post:

#9 POSTED BY SEYO , SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 11:25 AM
The only thing that will save NYC in general, let alone the Vill., would be a brutal global recession. An economic downturn that would drive the rich people away and back to the burbs, and that would make foreigners stay home. Crime rates rising, budgetary deficits forcing reduction of police, and infrastructure breakdowns would help. In other words, the 1970's all over again. Not likely to happen. Bloomberg has a budgetary surplus, and has devoted his mayoralty towards turning Manhattan into a "luxury product" for financial service executives, lawyers, media moguls, international restaurateurs and fashion designers, and foreigners from the wealthy EU and Arab nations. His strategy is impervious to recession. While the rest of the country might be experiencing contraction, NYC, specifically Manhattan, has stayed stable. He doesn't give a shit about Bohemian culture, nor do the wealthy people flocking here. What they want is an Epcott Center simulacra of NYC grit and edginess because it is so Sex and the City, but they certainly don't want the real thing.

#14 POSTED BY ORCATEERS , SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 11:54 AM
I think that in a lot of neighborhoods like this, small business owners get punished for their success. They stick it out for years in a non-central neighborhood with a high crime rate and after all their hard work, the residual benefit of their business (increased community interaction, more pedestrian taffic, etc.) causes rents to rise outside their grasp, or for wholesale redevelopment to occur.

Recently I visited a traditionally downtrodden suburb of Seattle and my first thought was "wow, so many authentic, diverse, independent businesses, this place doesn't stand a chance!"

#15 POSTED BY NEWWAVE , SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 12:03 PM
Forget the Village, there isn't a single neighborhood in New York that resembles what it was in it's "heyday". Most of the people complaining have already missed the party. NYC for the most part is a dead playground for yuppies and trustfunders. Look in your backyard before you head to NYC looking for bohemia. The real thing is probably closer than you think.