"There is nothing more New York preservationists love to do than throw embarrassing tantrums when richer, better looking people take over their sloppy ass neighborhoods. People actually have protests because wine stores and boutiques are opening where shells of squalid, condemned buildings used to stand. Currently the drama of Bowery gentrification is playing out in a neighborhood that was long overdue for a spitshine. Some people would rather preserve the 'integrity' of an area-or in this case, a lack there of- just for the sake of keeping it the same. And while it pains me to see a Whole Foods rise like a gleaming glass middle finger from the grimy ashes of an old New York neighborhood, I also recognize that this had to happen eventually." [Pop Serious]
Above, photos from a special Curbed operative who showed up outside Avalon Bowery Place at dusk on Friday night, where neighborhood rabblerousers gathered to tell the world that the word "yuppie" is still an effective insult. The Die Hard Yuppie Scum protest march against "real estate developers, landlords, yuppie scum, and [probably just for good measure] Republicans" drew a non-unimpressive crowd of several dozen folks and one set of Jewels, but failed to burn the John Varvatos store in the old CBGB space to the ground as promised. Next time!
· East Village Protesters Denounce All Things Gentrified [NYTimes]
· Friday the 13th Wine Bar Protest [Neither More Nor Less]
· At the Bowery Wine Co. Protest [EV Grieve]
· Happy 20th Die Yuppie Scum [Vanishing NY]
Tonight, some East Villagers will gather outside Bruce Willis' Bowery Wine Co. to protest yuppies, wine bars, real estate developers and the general loss of the gritty character of the neighborhood. While the area's aggressive gentrification probably won't be reversed, at least one old EV institution has returned: "Crusty Row," the group of benches near the middle of Tompkins Square Park, has welcomed back its, um, Crusts. Neither More Nor Less reports:
A year or so ago the Crustys were driven from and denied access to this row of seats that had been named for them. Until recently NYPD and the Parks Dept. allowed the Crusty community to gather in a small out-of-the-way shrub enclosed enclave near the basketball courts . A couple of weeks ago this area was also denied them. They were for a while a diaspora scattered in small groups on the benches , grass and asphalt of TSP. Two days ago they returned to their namesake seating in the central part of TSP near the current dog run.
That's famed Crusty L.E.S. Jewels seen above, posing with a Villager item on tonight's protest. And speaking of the protest, the leader of the New York Young Republicans—whose meeting at the Bowery Wine Co. touched off this whole affair—foolishly tries to add some common sense to this whole ridiculous situation, telling Urbanite, "Talking about how we all come in with blackberries and briefcases. Just because we have an event somewhere doesn't mean that a place is pro-Republican or anti-Democrat." Uh, it might be best to just let this storm die out without further comment, before L.E.S. Jewels shows up on your doorstep.
· Crusty Row Renaissance in Tompkins Square Park [NMNL]
· 'Die Hard Yuppie Scum' Protest the Latest in Bowery Hijinx [Curbed]
Last week, a couple of notable (maybe?) East Villagers created a bit of a stir when they announced they were protesting Bruce Willis's Bowery Wine Co., because the newish spot had recently hosted a New York Young Republicans Club gathering. The protest would be against "right-wing Republicans opening yuppie wine bars in our neighborhood," they said. We assumed the story would just go away and the protest would never happen (inspiration often yields to procrastination when you get below 14th Street), but sure enough, a Curbed tipster sent in this photo of a flyer posted in the 'hood. Now, it's not only Bruce Willis and Republicans in the crosshairs, but also real estate developers and landlords in general. Will anyone actually show to this thing? Given that it's a Friday night at 8pm, all of the Bowery will have probably decamped to their Hamptons homes already.
· Bowery Gentrification Watch [Curbed]
The Bowery of 2008 is so out of whack with reality that national retailers can't even afford to move into old tattoo parlors: "This is where you were getting your windshield cleaned a few years back," said Benjamin Fox, president of Winick Realty Group, "and now they're asking $22,500" a month for the 2,000-square-foot former Bowery Tattoo parlor just above East Houston Street. Mr. Fox initially offered $15,000 on behalf of a national chain. When that offer was rejected, he countered with $17,000, but the landlord is standing firm at $22,500, or about $135 a square foot. [NYT]
The John Varvatos boutique (née CBGB) at 315 Bowery held a grand opening/benefit concert last night, and protesters promised to show. Vanishing New York swung by, and the scene was total madness. It makes for riveting reading, but we're going to boil it down to our 5 Favorite Things About Last Night's John Varvatos/CBGB Protest:
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 after the jump.
It's a little late to be outraged about what's happening to the Bowery, especially now that a John Varvatos boutique has opened its doors in the former CBGBs space. For those who don't remember CBGBs, it was a landmark nightclub at 315 Bowery that helped birth punk, then it spiraled into a depressing has-been that charged $6 for a Pabst Blue Ribbon before finally getting kicked out for not paying rent—to its homeless shelter landlord. Tonight, there's a benefit concert at the Varvatos boutique that's doubling as a glitzy opening party, and some activists are not pleased. In fact, they plan on picketing outside the Varvatos boutique, Brooklyn Vegan reports, but it's not about the loss of CBGB, specifically (because it sucked for well over a decade).
The new-look Bowery just got more ... new-lookie. And mallish! And a bunch of other made-up words, because it's hard to look at the above photo and mentally compute the fact that this is Avalon Bay's vision for Extra Place—the alley behind CBGB (R.I.P.) that the developer has long been planning to convert to a "slice of the Left Bank." The Real Deal recently revealed the latest plans for the pedestrian mall, a companion piece to Avalon's luxury rental buildings along the Bowery. Extra Place will have an entrance to the John Varvatos store that will open in the old CBGB space, as well as many other fresh-faced boutiques. Said Avalon's development director: "We have turn-key spaces. We want people who are looking to finally do their own thing, like the just-graduated fashion student. Everything from fashion, jewelry, paper, flowers, etc." The rents are actually slightly lower than the current going-rate for Bowery retail, perhaps because—upon signing the lease—your soul dies a little.
· A new street is born on the Bowery [TRD via Vanishing New York]
· Avalon Chrystie III Scheme: 'Left Bank' for East Village [Curbed]
The changing face of the Bowery has been a hot topic lately, but the area south of Delancey has remained mostly untouched. Until now. A tipster sends in the above jarring camera phone shot, along with this note:
Long gone are the days of the slums and whore houses in chinatown, but a few whores do pop up at ping pong clubs. Here comes another condo, but this time in new territory. It seems on the south-east corner of bowery and hester st. Nothing much has been happening with the former movie house, but today things changed. Morali Architect has stepped up to create chinatowns answer to the blue building with some flash of yellow. It appears maybe to be 15 stories give or take. Right behind it on Chrystie the new comfort inn is getting ready to be finished in about a year.
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Tonight, some East Villagers will 
