Lammastide said:

stop that!

Mara said:

dang, the magnolia has LINES OUT THE DOOR now? i remember getting pastries from there and they were good, but nothing to freak out over. but that was back in the old timey days back before microwaves or fire. as i remember it, all the magnolia sold back in my day were dinosaur patties in pastel cupcake liners, with some sprinkles on top. kind of like what you can get at moishes.

oh, but speaking of second ave, i will stand in ridiculous lines for pommes frites when i am visiting the village. i love those damn fries.

ThreadBare said:

*****mental note: 'must check this out in your city'****

Anxiety said:

Ohh their stock has increased dramatically. It's usually a scene 7 days a week. Walked in there one night, the bake crew was jammin to M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes." It was kinda cool, tho.

Believe it or not, I haven't hit up Pommes Frites, but I definitely know of it. Lots of spots I like right near there.

Mara said:

i used to love that strip of second ave, and i guess i still do - i always hit up love saves the day and toy tokyo when i'm in the city. even though lower 2nd ave has a bunch of stupid pretentious bars and restaurants now, i guess there's still some cool stuff to be found.

The Village's Washington Square has gotta be one of the coolest places in NYC. And it's completely free. I've sat for hours just people watching, playing with folks' dogs and checking out street performers.

It's a great place to fly over when you're traveling to Europe...

Anxiety said:

Umm, yeah. It's been like that since it was mentioned on a Sex in the City episode, I think. One just opened a few blocks from my apartment on 69th (or 70th) and Columbus and there are lines in there all the time. They are open until midnight on weekends and there are lines even at that time. (Most of the pizza places in the 'hood are closed, but not Magnolia's!) I went in there once to see what all the fuss was about--never again. Cupcakes are overrated.


Oh and Avenue C is all gentrified, now too! (It was only a matter of time, after all, a Chipotle opened on St. Marks in 2003. lol) I lived on 8th b/t B & C when I moved here about 5 years ago and Ave. C was still a little dicey late at night. There were about 4 bars to choose from. Umm not anymore. It's like one big strip of loungey-club-bars from 10th down to 4th that seem to cater to the college/mid-20s and Euro crowd. I felt SO old and decidedly unhip when I went there a few months ago.



Ave C. edit

.
[Edited 8/20/08 21:12pm]

Lammastide said:

Well, awhile ago, the NY times claimed there was an artist's community in Staten Island... But seriously, I think maybe Borum Hill, Cobble Hill, & Carroll Gardens (Brooklyn). At least they'd have you believe that since they acronym'd themselves BoCoCa.* Williamsburg was it about 5-7 years ago, but now it's all hipster-fied.


* My friends and I thought this was ridiculous so we made up an acronym for their Queens neighborhood: Astoria / Long Island City = AsLic!

DevotedPuppy said:

no they didn't...please say it ain't so.

Anxiety said:

http://gothamist.com/2004..._cocoa.php


I still think AstLic is brilliant! It's just a matter of time before the Times picks it up!

Who was there when Prince played Club Life? That was the best night I ever spent in the Village.

DevotedPuppy said:

AstLic is beautiful.

"bococa" sounds like something a monkey made up!

DevotedPuppy said:

Now what about uptown Manhattan? Is it true young, trendy types are starting to take over Washington Heights and Harle... *ahem* "Hamilton Heights?"

Lammastide said:

I'm not sure about Washington Heights. West Harlem (as opposed to East/Spanish Harlem) is definitely more gentrified, but I get the sense that it's not artist/literati so much as young couples. But it's still very patchy. One day my friend and I walked down Lenox from 125 to 110th and one block would have an organic grocery and wireless cafe and then the next block would have Count Crackula and his lady friend trying to hustle on the corner.

A guy I used to work with has lived on 126 and Lenox for about 8 years and he says the neighborhood had changed a lot. There is a NY Sports Club (gym) nearby and all sorts of shops, we went to jazz lounge around the corner from his place on the Sunday before Memorial day but the next night 3(?) people got shot right outside there; so it can still be a little edgy.

I would LOVE to live in Harlem, but as I would be living there by myself and I'm female, I would worry a little bit about coming home late at night. (Even on his block there are a lot of vacant buildings and drug issues.) Right now I live very close to Central Park in a "nice" neighborhood and I even hate walking along the park after dark considering there have been robberies at my closest subway stop and in the park right across from the subway entrance.

DevotedPuppy said:

I have friends, a male-male couple, who just had to move out of their apartment in Harlem. They would get death threats from the neighborhood thugs as they walked down the street. And it's funny -- they believe it wasn't necessarily because they're gay, but because one of them is Vietnamese while the other is Puerto Rican! They're also fairly wealthy, and it shows. They have very expensive, prissy little dogs -- whippets and such -- instead of Rottweilers and Pitbulls that I guess are more the Harlem standard. Suffice it to say my friends quite visibly "didn't fit."

And yet I know a girl who successfully opened up a swanky upscale tearoom on Madison and 118, and apparently it's going very well, drawing all sorts of ethnicities and such across the upper middle class.

It's fascinating that one neighborhood could have such different demographics crammed together.

That aside, I always am a bit in awe of anyone who lives in NYC. I'm too soft to survive there, I think. And I can't imagine how you guys can afford those rents!!
[Edited 8/20/08 23:36pm]

One of my favorite places in the world. Go there. Lots of bars, restaurants, places to shop, whenever i go to NYC that's where i spend most of my time.

Lammastide said:

If we aren't rich then we have some kind of hookup when it comes to rent. I'm not rich so I fall into the latter category.

sextonseven said:

Same here.

rolling said:

A trick question?

DevotedPuppy said:

Hookups? What kind of hookups?

Lammastide said:

sexy stuff

Lammastide said:

j/k


Well for me--I used to have a rent stabilized apartment on the east side and my landlord filed a petition with the City to demolish it. So my friend (an attorney) negotiated a deal with the landlord that I would gladly move (as opposed to staying put and contesting the demolition, which I could have done) if landlord made it worth my while to move.

After 13 months of negotiations, I got moved to a nicer apartment also owned by the landlord, in a better neighborhood/location and landlord paid for the move. My rent went up by about 30% per month (b/c this apartment isn't stabilized), but landlord also paid me that difference for 72 months (6 years). I was just hoping for him to cover moving expenses and a broker's fee for me to find my own place, so I really lucked out. There is no way I could afford the rent for this apartment if I didn't have that extra money from the landlord. I just withdraw the difference from my savings account every month. The only thing that sucks is that I had to pay taxes on it and so instead of having enough for 6 years, I now only have enough for about 2 more years (I've already lived in this place almost a year).

I really love my apartment and don't want to move, but the reality is unless I get a significantly higher paying job (or start dating someone who moves in with me) I will have to move in a year or two. So I will stay here at least another year and then probably move...that way I'll still have a little money left over.

DevotedPuppy said:

Very smart.

Lammastide said:

I moved into an apartment building owned by my parents. My rent is pretty much half of what it should be.

DanceWme said:

I could hook you up with a place.

sextonseven said:

Cool. I live in an apartment that I have to pay only about half the rent that would be fair for it myself . But the again I am not living in New York .

sextonseven said:

I like it nice and big.

Serious said:

What kind of deal do you have? You're not doing sexy stuff, are you?

DanceWme said:

You'll give me sexy stuff for a discount in rent?