The Lower East Side: There goes the neighborhood

That's the headline for the May 28, 1984, New York magazine cover story that I recently came across. The piece begins in the early 1980s with the rotting hulk of the Christodora and the young man eager to own it, Harry Skydell.

Skydell's enthusiasm was indeed mysterious. The sixteen-story building he wanted to buy, on Avenue B facing Tompkins Square Park, was surrounded by burned-out buildings that crawled with pushers and junkies. It was boarded up, ripped out, and flooded...Early in the seventies, the city had put up the Christodora up for auction and nobody bid.

The building was eventually sold in 1975 for $62,500. (Last I saw, two-bedroom units there -- roughly 1,100 square feet -- average $1.6 million or so. Of course, they're rarely available.)

The article talks about the influx of chain stores, art galleries and chic cafes. "And real-estate values are exploding" as a result. Said one longtime resident on the changes: "I've lived in my rent-controlled apartment for years and pay $115 a month. I live on the Lower East Side. The young kids who just moved in upstairs and pay $700 a month for the same space -- they live in the East Village."

There are so many interesting passages in the article by Craig Unger that I'd end up excerpting the whole thing. So it's below. You can click on each image to read it. Meanwhile, what do you think would be the headline for this story today?

I SO hope my new fake ID works this weekend!

Random gripe of the day

The music played at the new bar comes from the iPod owned by the 23-year-old bartender (UES resident?), which makes you long for the quality of, say, Z-100.

[Warning: More gripes TK.]

Stoop-id tourists

Jeremiah bravely ventured into the belly of the SATC beast yesterday to see what the real people who live in the fake Carrie Bradshaw house think of the constant stream of tourists who simply must get their photo taken on the stoop.

And?

Who could blame them.


Still, sign or not, the fans will not be denied!


(The caption with this photo on Flickr reads, "In front of Carrie Bradshaw's stoop. & yes, there is a sign that says "PRIVATE PROPERTY, TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED". Fuh real!)

Meanwhile, back to the kitchen for me. So much more baking to do!

[Updated! Jeremiah joined the SATC consumer orgy yesterday as well! With pictures!]

Remembering New York hard-core

As you can see, the May 26, 1986, issue of New York magazine featured the cover story titled "Hard-core Kids: Rebellion in the Age of Reagan."

(Deeplinking.net has a pdf of the article here.)

Anyway, the article caused quite a stir! How do we know? Because Phil Donahue tackled the topic, in an episode featuring the author, Peter Blauner, and members of Youth of Today, Murphy's Law, Agnostic Front and the Cro-Mags, among others.



What did Blauner have to say about all this later?

[Thanks to flanagan11 and deeplinking.]

The other side of the story: the Alistair Economakis Web site

Alistair Economakis, owner of 47 E. 3rd St, has his own Web site called the other side of the story.

Here's what he has to say about his building and his family's plans for it.

In April 2007 my family and I moved into the space available to us and have made 47 East 3rd Street our home. Unfortunately, however, due to tenants remaining in apartments, our living space is not contiguous and we are required to go through the public hallway to get from one part of our home to the other. Despite the awkward set up of our living space, we are thrilled to finally be living in our building and we love our neighborhood.

For the rest of the other side of the story, go to his site.

[Photo via Flickr by trickydame]

Green...with envy

No, you're not just extra hungover this morning. The New York Post is green today...As the cover line says, the Post "is greener with less paper and fewer ads. Enjoy." It's part of a promo for planet green, the first all green tv network that debuts tonight at 6. (Reminder to self: be sure to turn on my huge, electricity-sucking plasma-screen TV at 6 to watch!)

Uh, meanwhile, the environmentalists at the Post included in this issue a 50-plus page glitzy Home & Design ad supplement touting "Living at its Best!" The lavish supplement includes all the luxury developments that you will never be able to afford...there's Ariel...The Brompton...The Harrison...Sky House...and on Pages 28 and 29 -- something called AZURE. Hmm, haven't I read about that place recently?

"We'll just stitch together a few shower curtains from the 99-cent store and no one will be able to tell the street is missing!"

As I've mentioned before, there's not much -- if any -- street left on Fulton Street. So somebody recently had the idea to brighten up the pedestrian crossings on Fulton Street with these cheap-looking, flowery screens. As if these will make us not notice this:

If you must know...

Along Nassau Street. There's probably a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why the shopkeeper decided to let his or her valued customers know that it was a cousin who passed and not an aunt or uncle or someone else. (And does this inclusion feel like an afterthought?)

"For them to want to kick us out so they can have a luxury mansion -- it's ethically and morally unconscionable"

From today's Post:

Rent-stabilized tenants can't stop a wealthy couple from turning their East Village apartment building into their dream mansion, the state's highest court ruled yesterday.
The Court of Appeals found that Alistair and Catherine Economakis can go ahead with eviction proceedings against their low-income tenants at 47 E. 3rd St., as long as they plan to use their apartments for themselves.
The Economakis' lawyer, Jeffrey Turkel, said that's exactly what his clients are trying to do - and said they've already converted 40 percent of the five-story building into a super-apartment for themselves and their two kids.
"They want to expand the home they already have in the building," Turkel said.
That also means evicting the rent-stabilized residents living in the rest of the building's six apartments, a move the tenants are vowing to fight.

"We're all working people, your typical, moderate-income working people. For them to want to kick us out so they can have a luxury mansion - it's ethically and morally unconscionable. I don't know what other word to use," said David Pultz, 56, who's lived in the building for the past 30 years.

The backstory.