manhattan

Craving for Community

August 12, 2015 by Nicole Yapijakis Leave a Comment

The city evolves with the times. However there are few places where locals and tourists alike can escape the repetition made by New York’s arrays of concrete, glass and brick edifices. The High Line has become a park where people seek refuge from such order.

The High Line has become more than just a popular tourist attraction due to the opening of the Whitney museum in the Meatpacking District. The park now captures the essence of New York’s changes and diversity.

Western_Electric_complex_NYC_1936 — The High Line in the 1900’s

The park has steel framed perspectives of the city streets and river views. These frames capture the old brick warehouses, modern glass hotels and apartments, and the historical cobble stoned streets intersecting with freshly paved asphalt. Yet they also appear to be ombré images of New York’s development.

In 2009, the first section of the High Line opened to the public. What once was a railroad track for transporting goods to and from the Industrial District, has become a public park that attracts thousands of visitors each day.

People from all over the world and right around the block come here – people of different cultural backgrounds and social classes. Yet here society draws no division. Melina Franco, a tourist from California, was brought here by her aunt. Franco says, “Here there is no judgement from people around you. Everyone is doing their own thing.”

The High Line has become a must-see place for not only tourists, but also to those who are or used to be fellow New Yorkers. Joseph Whelan used to live in New York City before the High Line was a public park and now comes here to “play tourist.” John Reverol comes once a month all the way from New Rochelle, “to have some alone time, even though I’m never really alone because there are so many people. It’s very relaxing.”

Love can also be found at the High Line. Couples flock to the park to see the hidden sculptures, variety of foliage and views of the river and city or to just sit and talk. Ninety year old, Marion Needlman, comes every three months from Chapel Hill, NC to spend time with her high school sweetheart Herbert Oppenheimer, a local. Together they look at the interesting public art projects that can be found all over the High Line and architecture of surrounding buildings.

The High Line has become a place where visitors seek refuge from the extreme summer heat and the smelly streets. Visitors can enjoy the cool breezes and pleasant olfactory experiences of the park while resting on the many benches scattered along the park.

3706235356_309fdbb904_o — Where the past meets the present

Noelle Franco, a local, says, “New Yorkers crave greenery!” This can be confirmed by many of the locals who come to to the High Line. However this isn’t just true for them. Tourists such as Deepa Manjanatha like “the integrations of plants and the juxtaposition of nature and industrial Meatpacking District.”

Many people find the mélange “funny because you see these plants and then there is like scaffolding and art.” Although some may consider it a mess or confusing, most see the beautiful flowers and other perennials hidden in the grasses and the seemingly random placement of trees as beautiful and interesting. Rosemary Klassen is from a part of Florida where nature thrives. She finds that the park is a nice “combination of the familiar (nature) in an unfamiliar place. A place where urban meshes with nature.”

unnamed 2 — Views from the “Urban Cloud”

Despite the attraction, the High Line is also used as a form of transportation. Visitors can walk over traffic in an “urban cloud” all the way from Gansevoort and Washington Street to 34th Street and 12th Avenue. Natasha Pereira works at the Whitney Museum and due to the convenience and proximity, travels uptown through the park.

Yet despite the endless reasons why people enjoy and come to the High Line, what people really love is the sense of community that it provides. The way people come together at the High Line reflects how New York has come to be the city where diversity is commonality.

A Fresh Look at Food

August 6, 2015 by Nicole Yapijakis

The aroma of fresh harvested produce surrounds those who pass through. Curious locals peer at the peculiar variations of produce. As they become immersed in the Union Square Greenmarket, time ceases to exist; at least compared to the fast paced New York life. However, customers are doing more than just buying groceries.

The market offers ethical, healthy and organic products that the standard supermarket wouldn’t offer. John Hayton, a cheese maker and vendor at Cherry Grove Farm, says,”Our cows are grass-fed and at our farm there is a small herd of cows that we make our cheese from. This makes the flavor more natural.”

“I come three times a week because I live in the area and it is convenient. I enjoy supporting local farmers instead of buying from large supermarkets,” says Erin Stair, a regular at the market. Many customers, like Stair, help promote small businesses and the local economy.

Buying local is better for the environment because it cuts down on the processing, packaging and shipping of food produced by large corporations. By supporting the market, customers helps cut the amount of waste sent to landfills, which also decreases greenhouse gas emissions.

Although the market is the center of consumption, it is also a big contributor to recycling what most urbanites would waste.

It offers a convenient compost collection, where locals can bring produce scraps, breads and grains, beverage waste and other compostable things. Once the compost is collected at the market, it is transported to a compost site. There it is made into fertile soil for local farming and gardening projects. This collection doesn’t only cut down city waste, but decreases the amounts of greenhouse gases released into the air.

There is also an inviting textile recycling collection, where locals can drop off unwanted clothes and textiles that would otherwise be thrown away. Instead of wasting, the collection service finds ways to reuse these items. The usables clothes are redistributed to markets with a high demand for second hand clothing and the scraps are used as cleaning rags or recycled into car door panels and insulation

Volunteers from City Harvest come at the end of the market on Saturdays to collect thousands of pounds of leftover food. You can see them in green t-shirts, talking to vendors, bagging produce or pushing around packed bins of food. All this is loaded onto the City Harvest truck parked on the corner of Union Sq West and 15th Street. All of the food is distributed to food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens and other food programs around the city free of charge.

People from all over New York come together four days a week to be a part of an interactive, community minded experience. What most visitors don’t realize is that this market is a model for a sustainable and environmentally conscious community.

Ring! Ring! Bike Coming Through

August 6, 2015 by VIVIAN SHAN

It is no secret that the number of active bikers in Manhattan has increased since Mayor Bloo
mberg’s implementation of CitiBikes in 2013, but what is it really like to ride between the chaos of New York City traffic?

Shawn Jones, a 24 year old bike courier, can give one a good idea of what it’s like to travel on two wheels amid New York City’s yellow cabs and black ubers.

The merging of two popular food delivery companies- Seamless and GrubHub- in 2013 has given many individuals easy access to online and mobile ordering. While ordering food may feel as easy as the click of a button, delivering food is a much more complex process when bikes do the job faster than cars.

After almost two years of delivering food to various destinations in Manhattan, Jones has become used to the reckless drivers that he shares the road with. During this time, Jones has stayed out of accidents by riding between cars rather than in bike lanes, which drivers normally don’t pay attention to.

On average, Jones does 15 to 20 deliveries a day, each of which takes around 20 minutes. He finds himself biking around the city for both business and pleasure, because he thinks “it’s nice to stare at all the cars sitting in traffic and think, ‘haha.’” Like many other people who deliver food or parcels on bikes, Jones enjoys not being restricted by traffic while still being able to move through the streets efficiently.

Daryl Williams, a security guard for Credit Suisse Bank on 24th and Madison, says that there are constantly people passing by on bikes, whether they are biking to work, or biking for pleasure. In the years that he’s watched bikers ride through one New York City streets, he hasn’t seen any major accidents occur.

Nonetheless, many bike couriers have said that they’d like to improve the safety of bike-riding in a city as busy as Manhattan. “I think maybe drivers ed should include how to maintain the safety of not only pedestrians but also bikers,” says Jones.

Jones has noticed that with an increase in bikers in NYC, some drivers are being more attentive to bike lanes, while others less so. Citi Bike users have revealed that prior to the implementation of this new bike system, they were skeptical of biking in the big streets where cars are constantly moving around them, but felt safer after knowing that there would be more bike users joining them.

“I feel like Joseph Gordon Levitt in that movie Premium Rush– every moment I’m riding my bike I’m thinking of which way to turn and how to get to my destination in the shortest amount of time,” says Shawn Jones.

The Health Craze is Not Just a Phase, But a Gaze into History

July 29, 2015 by Nicole Yapijakis

Merriam Webster needs to make revisions to its dictionaries because society has altered the definitions of beauty and success once again due to the increased popularity of the health craze.

As a new resident of the Chelsea/ Flatiron neighborhood, I wasn’t surprised to find numerous Starbucks locations at my disposal, yet when I explored the area they appeared scarce compared to the overpopulation of juice bars. I never expected to stumble upon 7 spinning studios – 3 of which were SoulCycle.

SoulCycle reinvented indoor cycling when it opened its first studio in 2006 and became one of the top 10 NYC Google Searches of 2012. Ever since then, spinning studios have become part of the New York City lifestyle.

Companies like Juice Press and Blue Print have become popular names in the juice industry and they too are being integrated into our lives. They no longer just offer a trendy beverage for those who can afford it at $10 a bottle, but the companies, like spinning studios, have become part of our regimen.

“We see detoxing as a path to transcendence, a symbol of modern urban virtue and self transformation through abstinence…we indulge in expensive cold pressed juices and SoulCycle classes, justifying these purchases as investments in our health,” says Lizzie Crocker, journalist at the Daily Beast.

These days it seems like trends are ever so fleeting, but a few like these have become a part of who we are as a community.When you look into history, you see the trends that defined beauty and success have transformed drastically, while reflecting the times.

Look at the corset for example. In the 16th century it was meant to create a cylindrical figure, while flattening and raising the bust line. By the 18th century it transformed into an unhealthy device that created a hourglass figure. A trend that became a part of society for over 2 centuries evolved and changed to the point where it no longer was one.

In the past, a full figure meant you were wealthy enough to eat rich food. Due to this, such a figure became the definition of beauty and success for both women and men. Yet now, being skinny and fit has become the epitome of beauty. Just like in history, only those who can afford it have the opportunity to become society’s ideal image.

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Eugene Lee Yang, video producer at BuzzFeed, said, “We’re so often preoccupied with current trends that we lose perspective on how fleeting our obsession with physical perfection has historically been.”

This recent health craze isn’t just a trend that reflects how we are fixated on obtaining society’s idea of perfection, but how perfection is made for the rich. If Merriam Webster needs help revising its definitions, here is a suggestion, “Beauty & Success: If you can afford it!”

Gentrifying One Block at a Time

August 7, 2014 by JASON LI

“Everything is just shutting down in this neighborhood,” said Solon Ramirez, a local resident.

This has been a common complaint among New Yorkers in Hell’s Kitchen. Owners of local shops were forced to close and pack their belongings to make room for a flashy 38-story hotel.

Hell’s Kitchen is located between 34th Street and 59th Street. Once a low-rise community, it has come to be known as “Clinton” because “Clinton” sounds more modern and the name reflects the sleek, new buildings dominating the area.

Although Hell’s Kitchen has been gentrifying since the 1970s, locals were very disappointed to hear that a city block of markets was forced to move elsewhere during the past two months.

extralarge — *Photo Credit: DNA Info*
MARKET “MEATS” END: The Big Apple Meat Market was relocated at the end of January.

The first victim was the Big Apple Meat Market located on the corner of 41st and 9th Avenue. It had been open for more than two decades and has become a local favorite because of its cheap, good quality meats and other food.

“That’s why I like this place; you get cheap and good food,” said Edward Montilla, who was a regular shopper at that market.

When the market was abruptly closed at the end of January to make room for the New York Hotel, a message from the store was posted on the door.

“I tried everything but at the end we have to move on,” wrote Pat Maddalena, the manager of the meat market.

When locals heard about this news, they were very disappointed. They complained how everyone would have to buy groceries at the Food Emporium and that it would be constantly crowded.

“Now, I have to buy my meats in the Food Emporium and it’s going to be like a war zone inside,” said Michael McKee.

“The Emporium could only do so much,” said Raul Garcia.

One month later, the relocated meat market opened again. The new location is located at 39th Street and 9th Avenue, which is about two blocks away from the original location. However, according to locals, they said it doesn’t see to have the same success as before.

_IGP2738_39_40_tonemapped_zps3158a327 — *Photo Credit: Scu Monkey*
OUT OF DOUGH: 99¢ Fresh Pizza was relocated this February, just weeks after the meat market was closed.

The second victim was next to the meat market, the 99¢ Fresh Pizza. Like the Big Apple Meat Market, it also was an old-time favorite. It has opened for at least a decade.

“That pizza place was amazing, it was the ideal hangout place after school. The service was quick and the people that worked there was really friendly,” said Daniel Das, a regular customer of the place.

Just weeks after the Meat Market was moved, the pizzeria suffered a similar fate. The pizzeria closed but announced that it will relocate one avenue away.

Today, the pizzeria is experiencing the same amount of success as before but some locals, particularly students said they couldn’t stick around as much as before because of the close proximity to other residential and office buildings occupying the area.

“I can’t hang out there anymore because people from the residential building next to the pizza place don’t want kids blocking their entrance,” said Jay Williams.

20130405-stiles-exterior-thumb-300xauto-317336 — *Photo Credit: New York Serious Seats*
FARMER’S LAST STAND: The beloved farmers market was forced to close. Like its neighbors, it will make way for the new hotel.

But the biggest blow for residents in Hell’s Kitchen was the closing of the Stiles Farmers Market, which was between the meat market and the pizzeria.

The market had been open for 26 years and has gained a remarkable reputation as one of the most popular markets in the neighborhood.

But at the end of February, it was forced to close and was purchased by the Friedman & Landis Group who will use the property as space for the new hotel.

“Best kept neighborhood secret; extremely sad to hear the place is closing for good,” said Kirsten Smith, a regular shopper at the farmers market.

“This was the last cheap place around town,” said Sumto Samin.

Stiles has another location ten blocks away but some shoppers won’t be able to shop as often because it’s too far away.

Regulars who shopped at the original Stiles location noticed that the fruits and vegetables the other location sells aren’t as fresh.

“Not the same as the one near Port Authority. The prices are the same but the produce isn’t,” said Brandon Chang.

Today, local residents still feel the impact of the closed stores. Some have move on while others tried to get people to sign a petition, hoping to reverse the future hotel’s plans. However, they had little success.

“There’s nothing we can do but just watch the neighborhood change before our very eyes,” said Michael McKee.

Artists' Haven Shuts its Doors

August 7, 2014 by NIKKI LEE WADE

Pearl Paint’s landmark building located on 308 Canal Street.

Established in 1933, Pearl Paint has been the home of artists for over 80 years. Its Canal Street location in Lower Manhattan has been an iconic New York City landmark for decades, but on April 17th the beloved red and white building closed its gates for good.

Pearl Paint’s real estate broker, Massey Kankal has not released any plans to demolish the building, and proposes that the space can be “delivered vacant.” The five-story building is listed for sale at $15 million, with a lease price of $825,000.

Pearl Paint’s newly unemployed workers are shocked. They were given only 10 days notice that their jobs would be terminated, an act deemed illegal by their union, Workers United Local 169. “We all just can’t believe it,” said an anonymous worker to DNAinfo. “I’ve worked here for 10 years and this is how they treat you? You know how I really feel? This is f—– up.”

Pearl Paint’s previous customers are shocked as well. Lilly Nathan has been coming to the art store for over 20 years. “I’m in disbelief,” she says. “I mean I really can’t believe it. I’ve been coming here since I moved to New York City. I was just starting out as an artist, and that was when I was in my mid-twenties! That was so long ago.”

People like Dawn LaSalle have grown to know Pearl Paint’s employees as a local family. “I remember coming here with my mother as a little girl. She used to paint all the time at home and I would love to play with her different paint bottles,” she says. “I would see this beautiful red and white building and be so happy. The people here were always so kind and friendly. It’s a shame they’re closing this place down.”

The attention has been increasing with artists online as well, and many are disappointed to see another local business shut its doors. “I remember going there with my mom when I was a freshman in art school,” writes Jonathan D on Pearl Paint’s Yelp page. “It’s a sad day for New York. The days of New York being an artist mecca are over.”

With such a classic business closed, many of Pearl Paint’s loyal customers now need to find a new art supply store. SoHo Art Materials is just a three minute walk away from Pearl Paint’s building, and they seem to be picking up quite a few of Pearl Paint’s old customers.

“Customers have been coming in that have been going to Pearl Paint for years, and we are able to provide them with the art materials they are looking for,” says the manager of SoHo Art Materials. “I wouldn’t say we are the secondary source for Pearl Paint’s customers, but the primary source.”

Surrounding art supply stores Blick Art Materials and Utrecht Art Supply were unable to provide a comment.

Even with other art supply stores in close proximity, some of Pearl Paint’s customers are uneasy making the switch. “I’ve tried the other stores and it’s just not the same,” says Jenna Soto. “I’m used to walking right into Pearl Paint knowing what I need and knowing right where to get it. With these new art stores, I don’t know where anything is and I always have to ask the workers.”

Pearl Paint was a home for individuality and creativity. The employees were welcoming and always encouraged self-expression through art. “The workers at other stores are nice, but they’re so young,” she says. “You can tell that this is just some job to make money. They’re kids, they don’t care what store they work in, as long as they earn money to spend. At Pearl Paint, you knew that the workers cared. You knew that they liked to help.”

No one has yet to express interest in buying the property. Although it is unclear what the building will become in the future, it is safe to say that Pearl Paint will definitely be missed.

Prices and Building Sizes Skyrocket as East Village Gentrifies

August 7, 2014 by ANNA LONDON

Prices and Building Sizes Skyrocket as the East Village Gentrifies

by Anna London

It’s no secret that real estate in New York is a hot commodity, and that developers and affluent people have been buying properties in poorer neighborhoods, displacing residents and changing the face of communities. Harlem, Hell’s Kitchen (‘Clinton’), and the East Village have been subject to it for some time now.

However, gentrification reached new levels in the East Village this May, as the contractor commonly referred to by East Village locals as Ben “The Sledgehammer” Shaoul purchased an entire strip of buildings on Houston Street with the purpose of knocking them down and building high rises. Shaoul is known as the “Sledgehammer” following an incident where he was seen in a heated argument with East Village squatters while his employees stood beside him holding sledgehammers.

The “Sledgehammer” has made it his mission to gentrify the tight-knit Village ever since his first project in September of 2013, when he bought the building that housed the beloved coffee shop “The Bean,” and raised their rent so exorbitantly that it was priced-out from its location on First Avenue to make room for yet another Starbucks.

In June 2013, Shaoul bought the non-profit Cabrini Center which supplied health care to low-income elderly people, and renovated it into luxury apartments. Rent for a one-bedroom at the old Cabrini, now named BLOOM 62, begins at $3,450 a month and goes up to $7,600 a month for larger apartments.

After six months, BLOOM 62 was 82 percent leased and received glowing reviews from Real Estate Weekly, which exclaimed, “The smell of barbecue coming from the built-in outdoor grills and the blooming hydrangea summed up the building’s message: Just because you’re in Manhattan, doesn’t mean you can’t live as if you’re out in the country”. Rooftop barbecues are illegal in New York City. Neighbors, many of them long term residents, are infuriated and confused about this, as many of them recall being ticketed and harassed when they would have barbecues on their roofs.

Inspired by his success with BLOOM 62 and what is estimated to be around 40 other buildings that he owns in the East Village alone, Shaoul set his sights on the block of Houston Street between Ludlow Street and Orchard Street, a strip of restaurants sharing the block with the famous restaurant Katz’s Delicatessen.

His newest project on Houston Street has led to the closing of numerous old and loved businesses such as Bereket, a famous Turkish restaurant that opened in 1995. The only business remaining is Katz’s, which only remains because the owner of the deli also owns the building.

The block of buildings to be demolished on Houston Street, surrounded by high rises.

From The Ludlow on Ludlow Street to a massive 166-unit building on Avenue D, high rises have already begun to line Houston street, virtually blocking out the sky with their massive height. In response to the grumblings of numerous residents in the East Village, Shaoul told a reporter from the New York Times during a tour of some of his buildings, “Why is everyone so hung up on the East Village? How about saying to me, ‘Ben, wow, your building is really beautiful, let’s focus on how

well-built it is?'”

East Village resident Edward Arrocha, known affectionately to many East Villagers as “Eak”, disagrees strongly, exclaiming, “All this money they’re spending and they’re still getting tenements. These buildings are so badly built. I can’t fathom that they spend this much, when I moved here you could live on very little.”

The East Village was once protected by such New York zoning laws, which demanded that all buildings along avenues A, B and C be six stories high. In 2008, rezoning laws were approved, which stated that buildings on Avenue A could be up to 32 stories high. Buildings east of Essex Street on Houston could be up to 12. Elissa Sampson, an urban geographer in the East Village, holds out hope that the process is not irreversible, saying, “Gentrification is made by humans and can be prevented by zoning.”

Zoning did not prevent Community Board 3 from voting to approve the construction of a massive high rise on Houston Street and Avenue D, directly across from the NYCHA projects. and one of the most impoverished areas of the Lower East Side. Affordable housing advocate, Joel Feingold of GOLES (the Good Old Lower East Side), said to the Lo-Down NY, “this will be viewed as an incredibly hostile imposition. This building fits the exact caricature in people’s minds of neighborhood loss and change. I think it’s ludicrous to consider putting a building on Avenue D that’s all glass and steel and costs $2800 for a studio. I think it’s outrageous.” In addition, the building replaced a community garden.

Eak, who has lived in the East Village since the early 90’s, has seen a number of waves of gentrification. He states, “I feel that gentrification has become a victim of its own success. This isn’t gentrification that we’re facing now, it’s super-gentrification, gentrification-on-steroids. Suddenly, the people who originally gentrified (the East Village) got displaced by the people who look at is as an investment.”

As a resident in the East Village myself, I have witnessed this gentrification firsthand. When my family moved to the East Village twenty-five years ago, it was an entirely different place than it is today. My parents, both self-employed artists, were typical of the first waves of gentrifiers. According to Sampson, who moved to the Lower East Side in the 70’s, “We were early gentrifiers. We were what the French call “bobo”, basically meaning ‘bourgeois bohemians’. People who chose to live in poor areas but had more conventional backgrounds.”

The Lower East Side and East Village attracted those with low incomes, artists, ‘oddballs and outcasts’ who could not afford to live in affluent neighborhoods. Steve Weintraub, a choreographer and former East Village resident, describes the neighborhood in those days, “That was kind of the funkier village. The Alphabet Jungle was just where you didn’t go.” The “Alphabet Jungle”, also commonly known as “Alphabet City” and “Loisaida”, refers to the region east of Avenue A, where the avenues have letters instead of numbers.

The East Village wasn’t always referred to as the East Village. According to Sampson, it used to be called the Lower East Side (which now refers to the area below Houston Street). “They began calling it the East Village in the late 50’s early 60’s, [which was meant to show it was] a continuation of the West Village and bohemian, [but which] destroyed the continuities with the past and made people think of them [the Lower East Side and the East Village] as two separate areas with two separate futures.”

While parts of the Lower East Side were dangerous and rightfully feared, others had a flourishing art scene and a tight-knit community. Collectively, it was a community built on support and creativity, with little to no emphasis on luxury.

As someone who first began spending time in the Lower East Side in the late 80’s, Eak explains, “It was risky, but there was music, poetry readings, it was sad but beautiful. I fell in love with it. I came to the place where my heart felt it belonged. My heart led me here and suddenly I was home. I have nowhere else to go, my heart is here.”

Frank London, a musician (and my father), explains, “When I moved to the East Village in 1990, I got a six-floor walk up apartment with a bathtub in the kitchen. It was a small one-bedroom and it cost $650 a month – which felt quite expensive at the time. The building that it was in, on Fourteenth Street, has recently been torn down for new construction. Our next apartment was a larger one bedroom for which we paid about $770 in approximately 1993. Around 1995 or so we moved to another apartment in the same building, a 700 square foot, 2-bedroom apartment. It cost about $850 when we first moved in, but by the time we moved out in about 2007, it was almost $1100 a month. Each of those were rent-stabilized apartments.”

Rent stabilization is a system which tries to keep rents affordable for tenants, and rent stabilized apartments are apartments which increase in cost by small percentages yearly. Rent controlled apartments are much less expensive and only slightly increase in cost, but are nearly impossible to get ahold of. According to nakedapartments.com, only 2% of NYC apartments are rent controlled, and they’re passed down through family, making them unavailable to anybody whose family hasn’t lived in the apartment since 1971.

Today, the average one-bedroom East Village/Lower East Side apartment is not covered by rent stabilization and rents for $3,611 a month.

Eak admits there are benefits to gentrification, but explains, “At first, a certain level of gentrification made it a more agreeable neighborhood to live in. I could go to a store and buy fresh vegetables, I could get edible stuff at a corner store. I suddenly had a better sense of safety. But these points drove it to such a point that they didn’t exist anymore. Now I can’t afford it. Once it ultra gentrifies it won’t even benefit the rest of us [the original pioneers]”

The severe disproportionality in the economy has created a social divide in the East Village. Sampson elaborates, “This neighborhood still relies on food and clothes pantries. There are people on the top end and bottom end of the economic ladder. When you have neighborhoods with extremes and no middle class, you see people who are really needy, and the people who buy mink coats for their dogs”.

This latest demolition of buildings on Houston Street reflects the transformation of the beloved neighborhood from community gardens and small buildings with affordable apartments to glass high rises and overpriced wine shops (no less than twelve have opened in the East Village over the last two years). When he moved to the East Village, Eak explains, “It was all about individuality. We were all real oddballs looking for affordable rent and certain individuality. We didn’t have to like each other but we could live together”. Now, he resigns, “The people moving here are tone deaf, they don’t hear anything. You could be lying dead in the street and they’d keep walking. Nobody exists to them, there’s nothing, everyone is invisible. To see this in my community, it breaks my heart.”

Intertwining Three Worlds at Bristle + Crème

August 7, 2013 by GABRIELA ROBLES

When venturing around London, Kim Vu never imagined that she would find the inspiration for her store, Bristle + Crème, in the neighborhood of Notting Hill. When she entered 202 Restaurant, she found that there was a small clothing store attached to it. At that moment she realized that she wanted her store to offer a similar mix. That’s why when she opened her own beauty space, she integrated art, fashion, and hospitality under one roof.

The moment people pass by Bristle + Crème, they realize this isn’t your typical hair salon. The location in Kips Bay not only holds a hair salon, but this fall will also include an espresso bar and an art space. The unexpected mix at Bristle + Crème, was created by Kim Vu who believes it’s the perfect opportunity to blend together all of her interests.

Bristle + Crème recently had a soft launch in early June, opening only to a limited amount of people. On the recent opening Vu said, “We’ve definitely gone really far in a very short period of time.”

She said this is largely due to the service model, one of the things the company focuses on. Employees are handpicked and trained in what they do, a host instead of a receptionist serves clients, and the store carries high-end products such as Oribe and Bumble and Bumble.

The environment of Bristle + Crème was designed with the clients in mind and Vu said she wants it to have a very communal feel. “The design of the store is very client centric. I wanted clients to come in and just want to sit down and hang out, which is one of the reasons why we have this large table in the center,” Vu said.

Her goal is to have the salon be beautiful, yet relaxing and approachable too. Vu recalled going to many different salons and always feeling that, while they may have been beautiful, the minute they finished doing her hair, she wanted to leave because the salon was too stuffy or boring. This is why she said she wants to make sure Bristle + Crème’s space is as inviting and different as possible.

The official grand opening in September will include the installing of the artisanal espresso bar, opening of the art space and launching the atelier program. The art space will be located on the second floor, where the beauty spa is, and will serve as an art gallery for various artists. Vu said, “I feel like this will be a good opportunity for emerging artists to display their work.”

An art curator will pick new artwork to display every three months to vary the art being presented. Every time there is a new exhibition, Bristle + Crème will hold an event to showcase the work. “We’ll be displaying all types of art. We definitely don’t want to stick to just one type,” Vu said. Along with the artwork, Vu also will invite photographers and musicians to use the space and will use it for other events.

The atelier program, also known as the backstage program, will allow fashion to be integrated into the salon. It will allow clients to book appointments with in-demand editorial stylists. Stylists will be able to use the space for photo shoots and even prepare for runway shoots. Vu said, “I’m really looking forward to further incorporating the fashion world into Bristle + Crème and through this program I know stylists will be able to bring in cutting edge fashion and techniques into the store.”

“New York City is such an eclectic place so I wanted to make it [Bristle + Crème] just as interesting,” Vu said. By intertwining the three worlds of fashion, art, and hospitality, Bristle + Crème is aspiring to bring something new to Kips Bay.

Greenmarket Vendors Enjoy Their Work Despite Challenges

August 7, 2013 by TRULY JOHNSON

Scott stands behind the display of treats for sale at vegan bakery Body and Soul.

Walking into Union Square on a Monday gives a feeling of community. Tents selling everything, from cookies to flowers, line the square and people walk though, looking for the products they need. This is the Union Square Greenmarket, a hot spot for tourists and native New Yorkers.

Many farmers and business owners work at the greenmarket to make a living. They experience problems like weather and people not wanting to buy their goods, but they are also able to work in a pleasant, unique environment unlike most people.

“It’s a nice place to work,” said Scott, who works at a vegan bakery tent called Body and Soul. He added that he liked being outside.

But when asked about the problems of working in the greenmarket, he answered “the weather,” saying that the sweltering heat in the summer and freezing cold in the winter are some of his main problems. Overall though, Body and Soul has been pretty successful. Over half of its reviews on Yelp, a food rating site, are 4 or 5 stars.

A lady selling flowers who asked to remain anonymous had bigger problems than the weather. She said that it’s been hard for her to sell her flowers in recent years due to the recession. People are only buying goods they need, like food, so flower sales are going down.

She has been selling flowers since 1986, and even though times are hard for her now, she still wants to continue. “I like to grow my flowers, that’s my passion,” she said.

Also in Union Square, right outside the greenmarket, a row of stands with blue umbrellas sell art.

Yuri Bobrykov, an artist who sells paintings of New York City landscapes, said that Union Square is a great community for artists.

He originally chose to set up a stand in Union Square because of all the traffic it gets. Now he has been there for five years and really enjoys it. He said that Union Square is “comfortable for me and comfortable for my art”.

The Union Square Greenmarket was started in 1976, according to the website of GrowNYC, the organization that runs greenmarkets all over the city. It started out very small, with only a few tents, but it has gone through a lot of growth since then.

Now, according to GrowNYC, “in peak season, 140 regional farmers, fishermen and bakers descend upon Union Square to sell their products to a devout legion of city dwellers who support local agriculture with their food dollars.”

With such a large amount of competition, and the always-changing weather conditions, it may seem daunting to set up a stand in Union Square. But as Scott from Body and Soul said, “all in all, it’s fun to work outside”.