Sam Chang to Pussycat Lounge: I Will Crush You

1.

Oh the horror! The pussycat lounge leaving? What next Flashdancers? Everybody chant with me "S.O.S. Save our Strippers" "S.O.S. Save our Strippers" "S.O.S. Save our Strippers" "S.O.S. Save our Strippers" "S.O.S. Save our Strippers"

2.

I am okay with that.

3.

Let's see, Chang wants to demolish the disputed Underground Railroad houses in Downtown Brooklyn for a parking garage, and now this building for a driveway. The last thing these crowded areas need is more car facilities. I don't have that much sympathy for the Pussycat Lounge, but Chang is an asshole.

4.

any word on how tall another of his downtown monstrosities is shaping up to be at stone street?

5.

i played a couple of shows at the pussycat lounge.
sooooooo many bands have played there. it's not just a strip joint. that's too bad.

6.

the building is also 200 fucking years old - the Pussycat is only the latest use. When they landmarked Trash & Vaudville on St. Mark's, it waqsn't because of the store, it was the age of the building. There just aren't that many buildings left in New York City that pre-date 1810 and we should keep them. Driveways on the other hand.... (and how does this work with congestion pricing??)

7.

They should landmark the entire block. Most of the buildings are 150 yrs+ old, some over 200 yrs old. This is ridiculous.

8.

What I don't understand about all this (local resident here) is how Chang can build whatever he wants in this neighborhood without regard to prior leases, amenities, construction impact, traffic concerns, etc. and no one from the city will get in his way. He has already disrupted the neighborhood by purchasing the terra cotta building on Trinity Place and shutting it down cold without notice - that wasn't just a coffeeshop, that was a large grocery store serving a busy neighborhood, a suffering neighborhood affected heavily by 9/11. That act alone was so disruptive to life in this neighborhood that I would not support this developer on any future proposals. Now, in pursuing these federal houses, this guy wants to bulldoze all the remaining grocery stores, fast food joints, and delis! The Pussycat Lounge and porn store wouldn't be as much of a neighborhood loss as the couple of stores surrounding them. They're all we have left after 7pm at night. I bet Chang's group has NO PLAN to replace the lost neighborhood stores that serve many residential buildings that he does not own and that he can't bulldoze, so it's not just 3 years without groceries - it's a permanent loss. We don't need more hotel bars and upscale lounges to replace actual food. Last time I checked, "$16 Appletini" isn't a nutritional group.

Chang has plenty of opportunities in the area for building hotels, including some distressed and unoccupied buildings around the corner (like that parking garage plot), he doesn't need to buy up the land that actually have thriving operating neighborhood businesses.

Regarding traffic: if Bloomberg were a little sharper on his own demands to keep cars and traffic at a minimum in Manhattan, he would tell this Chang guy to shove his hotel plans up his ass. Knocking down 200-year-old buildings for a driveway? Get real. That should never go through.

So, all said and done, why would I skip that landmarking hearing and not relish the chance to fuck this guy over? Cause he already fucked me, and he ain't gonna fuck me again.

(so they should have that hearing already)

9.

Next to billy's topless this is the (billy's gone) last trashy low-rent strip bar in the city. Kind of a shame. One day the dancers will be great, the next horrible. gotta love that.

10.

That would be hilarious if they landmarked this building and not the Maspeth Church. In your face Maspeth!

11.

BrianVan- they already held the hearing, LPC just hasn't ruled on it yet. Chang offered to restore the other two 1798 federal houses (the deli and the pizza place) in exchange for bulldozing the Pussycat, and several preservationists were OK with that (sadly) since the Pussycat has "non-conforming later additions"-- ie ugly 1960s-era windows.

12.

Agree w/ #5, Pussycat Lounge isn't just a strip joint, I've caught a couple of shows in the upstairs area. Bands play there all the time. Would be a shame to lose yet another venue for bands to play at.

13.

BPC Gal - though I could actually live with that too, there's still the little matter of "3 years without local groceries". (I am being purposely ignorant to the two Gristedes in south BPC, but as far as I know, none of my neighbors will touch any food in either store. ) That neighborhood supermarket that went lights-out some months ago has been sitting vacant ever since, and I have to say that the place is actually kinda missed. I used to shop there daily. The food places that are left in the neighborhood don't compare to what was there. And it'll never come back because someone wants to build an ugly hotel there, sans-market.

I've been in the Pussycat, I've been there on photo assignment - the place isn't classy but it's got a certain bit of charm. Plus, it's the one venue in the neighborhood where someone hasn't pulled out a gun in the last 3 years. I wish someone would push-back on this.

And finally, though the mayor and the city want to be serious about 9/11 recovery, it's surprising how much of a let-down Lower Manhattan redevelopment has been so far. The MTA and the city decided to rip up every street (up to 5 times on the same block) and replace/redesign every utility and subway station in the area, causing a constant mess. Meanwhile, permits were given to major redevelopment on almost every block, often for the entire block. Not just NoBatt, but pretty much everything south of Vesey. With the WTC site being what it is, I question the wisdom of allowing so much parallel development. So far, every project is behind schedule precisely because of delays relating to "too much at one time". (The Cortlandt Street R/W station was shut in 2005 for rebuilding and was supposed to be finished in April 2006. Guess what, it's August 2007 and they're only halfway done! Yay Skanska!) And so it goes with the McSam hotels, just part of a disjointed and uncoordinated rebuilding plan that almost had a new-ish nearby hotel being shut down. (The Embassy Suites in BPC was bought by Goldman Sachs, who is building its own massive castle adjacent. The suites are still open but no one to this day knows why Goldman bought them. Goldman, as you know, doesn't run retail hotels as its primary business.)

I try not to be annoyed by all the constant idiocy in the area, as I did move in cheap and I can move out anytime. But, still, this won't be a real place to live when 2012 comes around. It's not much of a nabe right now, but it's going to be downright awful when the developers are done with it. Again, this is not because of the construction, or because of the luxury condos, but because you won't be able to buy actual food without crossing a highway or walking to Tribeca. They have the same stupid problem in the suburbs, where people buy expensive townhouses on old farmland that is 30 minutes from the nearest supermarket by car.

14.

We're doing a show there on the 11th.
http://www.annihilvs.org/UNSOUND/X811.jpg

I hope they don't tear it down. I like it there. We do good shows there.

15.

McSam has gotten away with pretty much every other McHotel and this one I'm sure won't be any different. LOL to those suckers who are buying at 88 Greenwich and will enjoy the addtional demo and contruction noise.

16.

This is a really nice place to work that provides good, safe jobs to a lot of women, many of whom are single moms. It's not in a residential area, where people don't want strip clubs. And the girls there like working there. Please don't make fun of the strippers. They are people with families to feed and house. I hope the Pussycat survives.