"Everything old is new again"

The latest issue of The L Magazine has a piece a short piece on the new John Varvatos boutique on the Bowery:

In many ways, it’s the perfect setting for a designer looking to cater to aging rockers (Joe Perry, holla!) and I-have-a-job hipsters ($100 John Varvatos for Converse kicks!). Varvatos is trying to shelter the ghosts of the space, even if it does feel like Rent.
Yeah, yeah, it’s “oh so shocking” and “a classic example of the gentrification of the Bowery,” but, realistically, real estate is real estate in this city, and nothing is sacred. Take for example the sleek and stylish Stuart and Wright boutique in Fort Greene, which used to be a dry cleaner’s — the owners chose to keep the fantastically retro façade, including a big sign that reads “French Garment Cleaners” with an Eiffel Tower graphic. A lot of the stores in Soho have a gallery-esque look because, well, they were art galleries before they were overpriced retailers. The gargantuan Prada shop on Prince and Broadway used to be the visitors’ entrance and bookstore of the Guggenheim Museum’s Soho branch. Parasuco — the obnoxious denim giant on Spring Street — made the old East River Savings Bank into its flagship, a grand space composed of vaulted ceilings and marble. Everything old is new again.

Not sure if I'm following this logic.

Uh. In any event, I've been thinking about this space since Jeremiah Moss wrote this essay on the "it's better than a bank/Starbucks" syndrome. Specifically: Could there be something worse than a bank/Starbucks in that space? How about a Tennessee Mountain or Olive Garden? Or a Hooters? Or a Stage Deli-esque type theme restaurant with sandwiches named after bands who played at CBGB? (I'll be having the Television -- ham and turkey on rye with American cheese and traditional greens. You get the idea. And you can do better.) A Disney Store featuring a new line of punk-rock Mickey Mouse? A Madame Tussauds on the Bowery featuring interactive experiences like sing along with Joey Ramone? A Pinkberry spin-off called PunkBerry? What if the Bowery Residents' Committee sold the building to NYU, who promptly tore it down for a 40-story dorm?

[Photo by Jeremiah Moss at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]

"...a very conspicuous display of the wealthy sucking up and devouring even more of the soul of downtown NYC"

Bob at Neither More Nor Less has posted his photos and recap of the John Varvatos protest from this past Thursday night.

He writes, in part:

No matter how well meaning Mr. Varvatos' intentions may have been , and actually be , what many local artists and musicians saw in his Thursday evening extravaganza was just another example of a very conspicuous display of the wealthy sucking up and devouring even more of the soul of downtown NYC.

As always, he took many great photos, such as this one.

EV Etc.: Page Six on the John Varvatos protest

With bold-faced names! That guy from the Garfield movies was there!

The revelers inside, who included Gina Gershon, Damien Fahey, Bobby Cannavale, Breckin Meyer and Jakob Dylan, ignored the demonstration, which continued for the duration of the party. The bash ended up raising $30,000 for Save the Music.

The whole piece is here.

Perhaps some credit Page Sixers for those who covered it...?

Last night: "I am on the side of New York City fucking rock 'n' roll!"

Jeremiah's Vanishing New York has the first recap of the John Varvatos protest last night.

A few highlights:

Rebecca, Billy, and their posse chanted "Down with $800 pants!" Not everyone agreed. Heated exchanges ensued. Arturo Vega, Ramones artistic director and designer of their logo, got into the fray. He had just been telling the documentarian, "It's natural. Everything dies and transforms. The excitement is still here. The tourists will come. In there, you're closer than ever to rock 'n' roll."

And!

Aside from Randy Jones, the cowboy member of the Village People, Jett was my most exciting celebrity sighting--and the 12-year-old in me who once roller-skated like crazy to her anthem "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" was almost, for a moment, taken in by the fairy tale being spun by Varvatos, a fairy tale that so many of the older New Yorkers on the scene wanted desperately to believe.

Cubed picks up Jeremiah's post. They take away their five favorite moments:

5) The sign that read "40-40-$40,000 dollars a mo-onth. We're gonna be evicted!"
4) Protester Reverend Billy: "Punk was an egalitarian movement, it was about low prices."
3) Ramones posse member Arturo Vega told a documentarian, "The excitement is still here. The tourists will come. In there, you're closer than ever to rock 'n' roll," and then got into a shouting match with the protesters.
2) A member of The Misfits yelled "I am on the side of New York City fucking rock 'n' roll!" and then spat on a sign.
1) The photo [below]



I'll post more highlights as they roll in...

Meanwhile, unrelated! Speaking of fairy tales...(Even though it's not Christmas...)

"I did warn him about the ghosts of the dead rockers and junkies that haunt CB’s and the Bowery"

Scoopy's Notebook in The Villager this week includes the following item:

Billy Leroy of Billy’s Antiques & Props said a man identifying himself as John Varvatos came into his E. Houston St. tent last week and purchased a $150 lamp for his new boutique at the former CBGB space on the Bowery. Saying he knows what “the street” thinks of the Varvatos shop, Leroy said he checked it out and was pretty impressed. “I am glad it is not a bank or a Starbucks and I think John did a tasteful decorating job,” Leroy said. “However, I did warn him about the ghosts of the dead rockers and junkies that haunt CB’s and the Bowery, and offered him an exorcism kit when he was buying a cool lamp.”

Meanwhile, the Varvatos shop has its official opening tonight. There will be protestors. Get the details here. (Via Jeremiah)

Meanwhile 2:

Scoopy also reports that the Manhattan borough Parks Department commissioner has signed off on a permit allowing concerts to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Tompkins Square riots to occur Aug. 2 and Aug. 3.

[Image via Lionel Rogosin's On the Bowery, 1956]

What's new at 315 Bowery?

The New York Post has a piece today on the new John Varvatos boutique, which opened over the weekend at the site of the former CBGB on the Bowery.

According to the Post article, written by Serena French: "[P]unk preservationists will be glad to hear that the Bowery site - which once hosted such pioneers as the Ramones and Blondie - hasn't been sanitized beyond recognition.
The stage is gone, replaced by a tailoring shop, but it's encased with gold Alice Cooper records.
And those who remember the walls encrusted with posters and stickers will be relieved to find them intact and preserved behind glass."

Hmm.

So Varvatos has reportedly made the shop equal parts museum and retail space. "I wanted to combine music, fashion, memorabilia and really make it like a cultural space," he told The Post. He's planning on holding monthly concerts there too.

What do some old-timers think?

"I like it. I'm relieved," Arturo Vega, creative director for the Ramones, who has lived around the corner from the club since 1973, told the Post. "We were expecting a drug store in the space," he said. "So when I found out it was Varvatos moving in, it was a relief."

Yesterday, in the Post's Page Six Magazine, Dana Kristal, son of CBGB founder Hilly Kristal, was asked whether he thought his father would approve of eight high-profile new ventures on the Bowery. Interestingly enough, he wasn't asked about this shop.

Meanwhile, I'll have to check out this space for myself. I've been following the progress via Jeremiah.

[Photos: Victoria Will/New York Post]