Meanwhile on the Bowery….

Earlier today… apparently on the way to DBGB….

Photo by Derek Berg

Q-and-A with Richard Ocejo, author of 'Upscaling Downtown: From Bowery Saloons to Cocktail Bars'

Richard Ocejo, an assistant professor in sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, is the author of the new book "Upscaling Downtown: From Bowery Saloons to Cocktail Bars" (Princeton University Press).

As we're cutting-and-pasting from the news release:

The product of four years of fieldwork in the East Village and on the Lower East Side, "Upscaling Downtown: From Bowery Saloons to Cocktail Bars" in New York City uses nightlife as a window into understanding urban development and explores what community institutions, such as neighborhood bars, gain or lose amid gentrification.

Ocejo considers why residents continue unsuccessfully to protest the arrival of new bars, how new bar owners produce a nightlife culture that attracts visitors rather than locals, and how government actors, including elected officials and the police, regulate and encourage nightlife culture.

Ahead of a panel discussion on the topic tomorrow night (see details at the end of this post), we asked Ocejo a few questions via email about his research.

Why was this topic of particular interest for you to explore?

I started by studying one bar, Milano's, on Houston. It was an old Bowery bar, until the area started to gentrify and newcomers — artists, students, writers, musicians — started moving in, around the 1980s and 1990s. These folks joined the homeless men who had been going to the bar for decades, until they began dying off or simply leaving as the Bowery became less of a Skid Row and more of a place for downtown luxury.

Then, in the 2000s, the "newcomers" were mainly people who wanted to visit the bar because it was a "dive." I was fascinated that these three generations of customers were all hanging out at this place, while the neighborhood was completely changing.

As a sociologist, I was taught to look at the larger context to truly understand what happens to specific people, small groups and places. So I decided to learn more about these changes in the surrounding area and in the city to see if there was any connection to what I had been observing at Milano's. It led to me exploring how downtown's nightlife scenes grew, who was involved with their growth and who was effected by it. I was really interested in what I thought was a unique form of gentrification, namely an advanced level in which forms of everyday life become upscale, as examined through the lens of bars and nightlife.

You spent four years in the neighborhood doing legwork for the book. How would you describe the changes that you witnessed during that time?

In that time I witnessed a lot of piecemeal changes — old businesses closing and new ones opening, old buildings getting renovated and new ones going up, community groups fighting gentrification both dissipating and forming. These changes happen in most neighborhoods, but what they look like and how they occur always vary.

I would describe them in these neighborhoods as like a slow death, I'm sorry to say, more so than a rebirth, as gentrification is often characterized, although these neighborhoods certainly have a lot of life in them, of a certain sort. It's both, and I came to appreciate many of the new cultures in these neighborhoods now. But I felt I was witnessing the spirit of downtown fading over the years. The new people and cultures don't have the same spirit.

Vanishing New York blogger Jeremiah Moss describes what happened on the Bowery as "the quintessence of hyper-gentrification." What do you think of that assessment?

I agree with him, and I believe his term is similar to my "advanced gentrification" concept. The British geographer Loretta Lees has also used the term "super-gentrification" to describe when really wealthy people gentrify an already wealthy neighborhood — certainly a possibility in these neighborhoods.

A difference between them, I believe, is their emphases. Bowery (the avenue) is interesting because historically the avenues and streets to its east gentrified earlier and more gradually than it did. I think it took a while for it to lose its Skid Row stigma. But once Bowery started to transform, it really went into hyper-drive. My concept deals with the result of the gentrification enterprise in a neighborhood. But I'd agree that what's happened on Bowery happened at a pace and scale unique among streets in the area.

Why do you think the Bowery is so appealing to developers, restaurateurs, bar owners, etc.?

Well, its zoning allows for tall buildings and mixed uses as of right. It's also right in between SoHo/NoHo and the East Village and Lower East Side. I'd like to say that its historical importance as a place for working-class culture is what attracts people there, but at this point, I think its history is insignificant to the people building and opening businesses there, at least in the sense that it doesn't seem to play a role in the places they open.

Early newcomers, like B Bar, at least referenced the street's past (not very delicately, but still). Now new bars, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses draw from a broad array of themes when they open their establishments, many of which point to upscale forms of leisure and consumption.

What can local residents and preservationists do, if anything, to slow down this nightlife gold rush on the Bowery?

The conclusion I reached in my book is, not much. They can certainly have little victories, like reducing a business's hours or altering its method of operation or even withdrawing from the space. But we haven't seen many examples in New York of gentrification reversing itself, if we've seen any at all (slowing down or stagnating, sure, but not reversing).

This pattern of growth is quite entrenched in New York politically and economically; it's what most officials and leaders feel it needs to operate.



So where do you see the Bowery in 10 years?

Barring some major economic catastrophe, I see the street becoming even more upscaled. Perhaps more so on the lower parts of the street, which still have lighting stores, jewelry stores and a strong Chinese presence.

But with many new Chinese immigrants living in less-expensive areas of the city, with increasing rents in Manhattan's Chinatown, and an aging Chinese population, it's likely that Chinatown will shrink further, giving way to similar developments we see on the upper parts of Bowery.

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Via the EVG inbox...

"Upscaling Downtown" book launch

Please join the University Settlement and the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors for a panel discussion to celebrate the publication of Richard E. Ocejo's "Upscaling Downtown: From Bowery Saloons to Cocktail Bars in New York City."

Representing groups examined in the book, panelists will express their thoughts on its arguments based on their own unique backgrounds. A Q-and-A period will follow.

Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge St.

When: Wednesday, Oct. 15, reception at 6:30 p.m., panel begins at 7 p.m.

Free and open to the public

About the panelists
• Rob Hollander: Neighborhood Historian and Activist
• Bob Holman: Poet, Founder, Bowery Poetry Club
• Matt Krivich: Director of Operations, The Bowery Mission
• Mike Stuto: Owner of HiFi Bar
• Richard E. Ocejo: Assistant Professor of sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY
• Sara Romanoski, Director of East Village Community Coalition

How the Bowery will soon be 'wholly unrecognizable'

[Photo by Nathan Kensinger]

Today over at Curbed, photo journalist Nathan Kensinger takes a look at the ever-changing Bowery ... providing 20 updates on current or upcoming developments.

Despite the luxurification the past 10-plus years, "this 'land rush' is only now reaching its peak, and in the next few years, the already altered landscape of this once scrappy, iconic boulevard will become wholly unrecognizable."

The post includes a quote from EVG as well as Jeremiah Moss.

The documentary that captured the Bowery's high-end restaurant transformation

In case you haven't seen it, the 2005 documentary "Bowery Dish," which chronicles the Bowery's transformation from skid row to high-end restaurant row, airs tonight at 10 on Channel 13/WNET.



The director, Kevin R. Frech, is a 20-plus year resident of the East Village. He filmed between 1999-2004, after noticing that more restaurants were popping up on the Bowery. He wanted to document the changes.

The film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and later aired on the Sundance Channel.

With the arrival of even bigger bold-face-named restaurateurs such as Keith McNally (Pulino's then Cherche Midi) and Daniel Boulud (DBGB), we asked Frech about what has transpired on the Bowery since the film's release.

Did you ever anticipate that the Bowery would continue to transform to such a degree as it has in 2014? Seems like a sequel is in order!

Yes, I really want to make a sequel — follow some of the camera angles from the original to show what dramatic changes have happened lately. When I set out to make the film, I could see the street was about to undergo radical change, but I was amazed at how fast it happened.

While I knew it would continue after the film was completed, I had no idea how much further it would go. Keith McNally, the New Museum, all of the high-rises and galleries. Meanwhile the flophouses are mostly gone, the Salvation Army is gone, and only the Bowery Mission remains from the rougher days of the old Bowery.

DBGB apparently parted with these chairs on the Bowery

Or else they are expanding their sidewalk cafe!

EVG regular Derek Berg spotted these early last evening...

The Bowery and East First Street, now marked by bright neon

A reader asked if we had any information about the new neon signage that arrived on the Bowery and East First Street above the Hamptons-based Blue & Cream boutique … one for the First and the Bowery side to light up the night sky…





Perhaps some branding by Avalon Bowery Place to create excitement or something for Extra Place around the bend?

Anyone know what this is all about?

Tom Cruise movie poster lives to see another day on the Bowery

Hmm, something smashed into the phone bank here between East Houston and East First Street…



Forceful enough impact to cause the sidewalk to buckle … hopefully no one was making a call at the time …



… the "Edge of Tomorrow" poster mostly survived…



Anyone witness the collision?

A boomtown rat

A TRN original at 190 Bowery. Photo via jdx

Check out the Bowery on film

From the EVG inbox...

The Bowery on film dates to the earliest days of cinema, when its rowdy, amoral reputation provided titillating material for the 30-second peep shows viewed in arcades. It continued to be a popular setting for one-reelers and features (such as 1915’s REGENERATION), and featured even more prominently in the early sound era in films like SHE DONE HIM WRONG (1933). The ravaged lives of the Bowery’s skidrow have long fascinated artists, most famously in the semi-documentary classic ON THE BOWERY (1956). Scott Elliott’s SLUMMING IT is a wonderful overview of Bowery history, and Mandy Stein’s BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE is a poignant appreciation of Hilly Kristal’s CBGB, made during the legendary music venue’s final days.

With the Bowery imperiled by developers at every turn, we appropriately end the series with THE VANISHING CITY, a powerful look at the forces that threaten to obliterate the character and culture of our communities.

Co-presented with The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, whose chair, David Mulkins, curated the event.

Find more details about the films in the series here. (PDF!) All screenings are at the Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave. at East Second Street.

This is just one of the many events going on new as part of Lower East Side History Month. Find more details and events here.

Today on the Bowery

Photos by Derek Berg

Another round of plans to convert the Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery into a 9-floor hotel

The Whitehouse Hotel, the hostel/flophouse combo on the Bowery, has been on Deathwatch for years now. Dating back to 2008, developer Sam Chang had been trying to convert the property at 338-340 Bowery into a 9- (or 10-) floor hotel.

As The Commercial Observer reported this past Friday afternoon, Chang is now selling the property (officially called Bowery's Whitehouse Hotel and Hostel of New York) between Great Jones and Bond to an unknown buyer for $12 million.

We looked at DOB records and found that plans were filed on April 23 for a 9-floor hotel with a proposed 68 rooms. (Total cost of the project is listed at $5 million.) Michael Lisowski of Otte Architecture is the architect of record. It's not clear if the Whitehouse would be demolished for the new hotel, or if new floors would be dropped on top of the existing structure. (We're leaning toward the full demo, of course.) Sixteen Hotel LLC, the company affiliated with Chang, is still listed as the property owners on the latest permits.

According to the DOB, the city disapproved plans here for a 10-floor hotel in July 2011 with Gene Kaufman as the architect of record.

Despite a renovation to make itself more appealing to backpackers and other thrill seekers in 2011, the Whitehouse had retained some of the Bowery edge of yore. For $45, guests can stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling.

Meanwhile, it might not to be too much longer before that sidewalk bridge returns here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

[Updated] Was this a 'knockout' attack on the Bowery?

Police are looking for this suspect who sucker punched a 23-year-old man from Rockville Station on the Bowery near Stanton Street early this morning.

The victim was knocked unconscious and taken to Bellevue Hospital with a broken jaw.

There's some speculation that this was part of a Knockout Game attack.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).

Updated 12:38 p.m.

The Daily News has a few more details on the attack (including photos of the victim) ... the victim had been at Sweet & Vicious on Spring Street and was walking to another bar around 2:30 a.m. when the punch occurred ... The Daily News described the punch as "a hellacious haymaker."

Crunch branding back on the Bowery

We first saw the coming soon signs for Crunch in the long-vacant retail space at 2 Cooper Square last July. Then that signage all went away… and we wondered if the gym was still opening a location here on the Bowery and East Fourth Street.

Yes, as you can see from the Crunch signs that went up last week…



There's also a Crunch Bowery website showing the floor plans.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Crunch moving to the Bowery; CB3 OKs New York Sports Club on Avenue A

Crunch announces itself to the Bowery

Noted

This was lying on the sidewalk outside the John Varvatos store on the Bowery this morning… Speaking of CBGB … the CBGB movie came out on DVD/Blu-ray this past Tuesday. Soundtrack aside, I still haven't talked with anyone who liked the film…

Report: Tellers snub would-be bank robber on the Bowery

According to the Daily Blotter in the Post today, a man tried to rob the Chase on the Bowery at East First Street… but walked out empty-handed after tellers ignored his threat.

To the report!

The man slipped a note penned on a Whole Foods receipt to a teller ... at 12:18 p.m. Monday.

The note read, “Give me all the money nobody getting hurt!” the sources said.

The robber then whispered in a West Indian accent, “Just read it,” according to the sources.

The teller ignored him and walked away.

Infuriated, the crook screamed at a second teller, “Give me the money!” the sources said.

That teller, too, walked away without giving the would-be robber anything.

What can we learn from this?

Today in Auction Today photos on the Bowery

Somebody needs to keep the Bowery classy.

Photos by Derek Berg

A look at the Bowery before it becomes 'one golden strip'

Catching up to this from The Commercial Observer last week... where Billy Gray got "tour" of RKF's properties for lease/sale on the Bowery.

Per RKF Executive Vice President Ariel Schuster: the Bowery will soon be "one golden strip."

And it's well on it's way.

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And you can expect more changes in the aftermath of that $62 million deal earlier this summer for 11 mixed-use buildings on the Bowery between Canal and Houston... not to mention the sale of 347 Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A quick Bowery retail inventory

Intermix arrives on the Bowery

Retail space at historic 330 Bowery now on the market

Buying up the Bowery

Nearly 4 years later, sidewalk bridge removed from 338 Bowery

Wow. Something seems awfully strange walking on the west side of the Bowery between Bond and Great Jones... Sunlight! On the sidewalk! (Is that a song? — "Sunlight on the Sidewalk.")

The sidewalk bridge first arrived outside the Whitehouse at 338 Bowery in September 2009 for, according to permits, "emergency repairs." Nearly four years later, those emergency repairs must have finally been completed!

The sidewalk bridge even predates the Subway that opened in the former Downtown Music space next door ... the thing even prevented the Subwayers from finishing the paint job outside...



Perhaps it was the Subway manager who complained in December 2009 that he/she could not put up a business sign because of the sidewalk shed...

Not that the sidewalk bridge prevented Subway from advertising out front...




As for the Whitehouse Hotel, the hostel/flophouse combo that was barely hanging on and retaining some of the Bowery edge of yore, it appears safe... developer Sam Chang wanted to build a nine-story hotel on the carcass ... but those plans never materialized ... and the Whitehouse hung on, and after $100,000 of glammed up improvements and renovations, reopened as the Bowery's Whitehouse Hotel and Hostel of New York in January 2011.

And now they have their sidewalk and sunshine (and rain) back.

Meanwhile, on the Bowery...

Photos by Bobby Williams

Random new bench randomly arrives on East Houston and the Bowery

[Bobby Williams]

Swear that this wasn't here on Tuesday... anyway! Perfect for sitting and watching diners on the DBGB sidewalk cafe ... or taking in the ongoing Bowery/East Houston Street reconstruction project. Not sure which one is more fun!