Meanwhile, it seems my hood East Harlem is quickly become Upper Yorkville, darling!
For some time now Lex has observed the signs of yuppie-fication near his uptown bachelor pad. In the nearly 3 years since I left the East Village and moved up here, the last abandoned building on my block has been gutted, renovated and rented out, while two brand new buildings, both looking rather fancy, are going up within feet of my doorstep. Likewise there are many new buildings going up on surrounding blocks, and a somewhat lavish-looking doorman apartment building on First Ave & 102nd Street with a huge marble lobby. Not to mention the slow proliferation of suits, post-collegiate white grunge rockers and occasional trendy Asian girls. Nevertheless East Harlem is still rough around the edges and feels like a ghetto to me, warts and all.
But the clincher came earlier this week when I visited a new, very downtown-looking restaurant that opened up on Second Avenue btwn East 110th & 111th, right around the corner from my apartment. I'd been meaning to try it since it opened a couple of months ago and finally got to around to it. The food was excellent, so I'm glad it's there because the closest nice restaurants up here are at least 10-12 blocks away from me. Anyhoo, the owner tells me proudly and without apology how East Harlem will get the next Meatpacking District-style makeover with a Starbucks opening several blocks away and of all things a W Hotel opening at the corner of 110th St & Fifth Ave at the northeast tip of Central Park. Needless to say I gagged, trying to picture how it would all blend with the scores of housing projects around here (East Harlem has the highest concentration of them in NYC). But that's how New York has always been, they just gentrify around the housing projects. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, having said for years that Central Park North was an undiscovered gold mine that somebody would one day exploit. But still ....
I don't see the build-up of this hood as terrible per se as it was never a Red Light district like the Meat Market was. Also it's difficult at times for someone like me who barely knows how to boil water to have no nice restaurants nearby. It's all fatty fast food around here, and I don't always feel like schlepping downtown. But I don't want the rough trade scared away! And you know when Starbucks opens on the corner, the Stepford Wives marching in their Monolos are not far behind. I guess it's a mixed bag.