Why getting around the Financial District is so fun!

Need to get somewhere in a jiffy? You'll be better off, oh, crawling.

Pearl Street!



Liberty Street!



Maiden Lane!



Wall Street!



Fulton Street! (Still!)



Fulton Street is really ugly



Broad Street!



And last summer, Beekman was torn up...back to normal now...

Report: In this recession, not even beer is recession-proof

This chart makes my head hurt. Still! According to FiveThirtyEight.com, who broke this story:

As you can see, there has generally not been much of a relationship between alcohol purchases and changes in GDP -- the correlation is essentially zero. Nor have alcohol purchases historically been any kind of lagging or leading indicator.

But something was very, very different in the fourth quarter of 2008. Sales of alcohol for off-premises consumption were down by 9.3 percent from the previous quarter, according to the Commerce Department. This is absolutely unprecedented: the largest previous drop had been just 3.7 percent, between the third and fourth quarters of 1991.

Beer accounts for almost all of the decrease, with revenues off by almost 14 percent. Wine and spirits were much more stable, with sales volumes declining by 1.6 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

And thank you to my beleaguered intern for finding this information. I owe him a beer. Or wine.

Note taped to the front door of the week

Somewhere in the East Village.

LES dawn... sunrise over Williamsburg

Here's the latest work from filmmaker Paul Dougherty. He explains the video:

"I'm not keen on the new luxury towers cropping up in NYC's low-rise neighborhoods but there they are. I sped this up to make the movement of the elevator and crane more obvious on this construction site."

Why you won't be seeing some high school productions of "Rent"

As the Times reports today:

Theater directors and students at more than 40 high schools across the country have selected a new show for their big springtime musical this year: “Rent: School Edition,” a modified version of the hit Broadway musical that, while toned down a bit, remains provocative by traditional drama club standards.

Too provocative, in the view of some high school officials and parents. At least three of the planned high school productions, in California, Texas and West Virginia, have been canceled after administrators or parents raised objections about the show’s morality, its portrayals of homosexuality and theft, and its frank discussions of drug use and H.I.V., according to administrators, teachers and parents involved in those cases.

The article focuses on Ron Martin, the theater director at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, Calif. "Rent," which depicts struggling artists living in the East Village, was cancelled there.

He said his principal, Fal Asrani, had objected to the show because of its treatment of “prostitution and homosexuality.” “When I heard that, I stopped her and looked her in the eye and said, ‘First, there is no prostitution in ‘Rent,’ and second, homosexuality is not wrong,’ ” Mr. Martin said. “She made no comment. It was the most demoralizing, disappointing moment in my career as a teacher.”

The principal denies this. In any event, what will Martin show instead?

He also said he was leaning toward directing “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” as the spring musical “because I don’t think there’s anything she can object to in that.”

Dumpster of the day

East Second Street near Avenue A.

Is Walmart sniffing around Union Square?

Maybe! Patrick Hedlund has the story in his Mixed Use column this week in The Villager. Best Buy's name has also been floated, he reports.

"Coney Island will be open for business in 2009"

I'm reprinting a comment left by Electricia on my Coney Island post from this morning:

Your observation that you ran into about 50 people taking photos is telling. As someone who works in Coney, I worry that the proliferation of pix showing a disaster zone will reinforce the mistaken idea people have from media reports that ALL of Coney Island is closed.

Despite the devastating loss of Astroland and the threatening Store for Lease banners on Ruby's and other Thor owned properties, CONEY ISLAND WILL BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS IN 2009! Not only the landmark Cyclone and Wonder Wheel, and Nathan's, but Deno's Wonder Wheel Park (20 rides), Eldorado Bumper Cars and Arcade, 12th Street Amusements including Polar Express, McCullough's Kiddie Park, The Coney Island Sideshow & Museum, the Coney Island History Project (under the Cyclone coaster), fireworks, Mermaid Parade and much, much more! Please visit and help us keep Coney's businesses alive and thriving! The 2009 season begins on Palm Sunday, April 5th.

List of what will *definitely be open & happenin' in 2009

Flickr group "Coney Island is Alive & Kicking" with 250+ photos of attractions you can enjoy in 2009

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

Looking back at the murder of Lee Morgan, gunned down at Slug's on Third Street and Avenue C (This Ain't the Summer of Love)

About the old Fulton Ferry Hotel (Patell and Waterman's History of New York)

Matt Harvey interviews Poster Boy (New York Press)

Another NYC institution to fall? (Eater)

WTF FYI: More men getting BoTox...because of the recession (Daily Intel)

Getting glazed over in the West Village (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

$20 million for this EV pad (The Observer)

The photography of Paul McDonough (Stupefaction)

Alex has a good anecdote on (new blogger) Glen E. Friedman (Flaming Pablum)

Esquared retires (Esquared)

Neck Face offers an opinion on Michael Phelps (BoweryBoogie)

The haunted house of Second Avenue (Blah Blog Blah)

First look at the condos where the Cedar Tavern once served (Curbed)

Most winners of The New Yorker's caption contest are from California (Blog About Town)

A milestone in the housing market? (A Fine Blog)

At Coney Island

I've been following the development hell that is Coney Island of late. (If you're not up to speed, on Tuesday, the Times had a decent overview of where things are...and be sure to check out Kinetic Carnival and Gowanus Lounge for as-it-happens news...not to mention coneyisland.com and any others that I'm forgetting...)

Anyway. This past holiday weekend seemed like a good time to visit Coney Island...to see things for myself...



Given everything that I had read to date, I expected a grim scene...



That's what I got. Suitably depressing. And almost unbelievable, really.



[Sigh] Ruby's, I was hoping maybe those reports were...not true.



I don't have much to add to what has already been noted other places...One thing: I was one of about, oh, 50 people walking around taking pictures. At one point, there were nearly 12 people in front of the now-derelict Shoot the Freak taking photos. I felt as if I was at a press conference.



Left 4 Dead? I'll say.



Hmmmm.



See some 50 more photos on my Flickr page.

Jim Jarmusch set to test our "Limits"

Here's an update on the next project by LES resident Jim Jarmsuch, who hasn't made a good film since "Permanent Vacation." (Jeez, kidding, people!) "The Limits of Control" stars Isaach De Bankolé (pictured) "as a lone wolf criminal undertaking a job in Spain." The supporting cast includes Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Gael García Bernal and Hiam Abbass, among many others. There's more information at Ion Cinema and a ton of stills at a Spanish-language site. Supposed to come out sometime this summer. (Hat tip, Goldfiddle)

This week's sign of the apocalypse

[Via Gothamist]