Tuesday, July 25, 2006

There Goes the Neighborhood


I've been meaning to write about the enormous number of changes that have been going on in my neighborhood of late -- most of which are not good. Some time ago we learned that Chelsea fave Eighteenth & Eighth would be demolished to make room for a new condo building slash Valley National Bank (above). The Big Cup became a useless, candle and rocks shop. My corner Korean deli has been out of commission for quite a few months now (it was recently disclosed that a Brooklyn-based apparel store called Brooklyn Industries would be taking its place. Several video stores and gyms have come and gone, only to be replaced by a home furnishings store (Details) that is also now out of business. (A new kitchen and bath remodeling place is on its way in now).


LightForms moved out of the neighborhood as is Capitol Fishing. And my favorite Cuban-Chinese place (La Chinita) closed over a year ago, which is a big loss although I have to admit that I'm enjoying the new Thai place that moved in called RoomService (above).



So just when it seemed like there were no buildings left to destroy I read over on BlogChelsea that the whole block of 8th Avenue between 16th and 17th streets will be demolished to make way for this monstrosity. By my calculations, that means Cajun, Paradise Cafe, a pizza place, Chelsea Bar and Grill, the Service Station, the maybe-already-closed cigar shop, the poster shop, and a few more places will soon be gone, too.
As sad as it is to see big-money developers completely destroy my neighborhood's look and feel, it's even sadder that the neighborhood that was once dubbed the epicenter of gay life doesn't really seem that gay anymore at all ...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, Kenny: You guys still have Hell's Kitchen. And the Upper West Side. But the fact that they're putting Brooklyn Industries anywhere in Manhattan makes me never want to buy any of their stuff. I hate that.

Lavi Soloway said...

Nothing feels gay anymore.