:: Because the original Avalon wasn't such a good idea either ::

Wednesday, January 07, 2004

Amen to this rant about the horrific Avalon Chrystie Place being built on the Lower East Side. It used to be a big empty lot, which was refreshing given the area's imposing density.

Posted by morland @ 02:28 PM

:: Comments ::

Oh, come on Morland. Do you really endorse this whiney tripe? All the huddled masses in the neato old buildings that will be displaced by the wretched corporate thugs building this evil monstrosity... isn't it a little late to be crying about this sort of thing? I'm not saying it's right but let's face it, there's something a little deluded about championing low income neighborhoods in Manhattan. Maybe if we all join together this weekend, get drunk, and listen to insightful indie-rock we can make it all go away.

Posted by: Natacocha on January 7, 2004 07:45 PM

SNAP!!!

Posted by: #47 on January 7, 2004 08:50 PM

I don't give a hoot about the tired huddled masses; it'd be very hypocritical of me to decry gentrification. My beef is architectural: there are dozens of these cheap, ugly buildings springing up in dense downtown neighborhoods originally designed to support smaller-scale units. They rarely have the same kind of commercial space for rent on the ground level, and suddenly a lobby consumes half a block where four or five restaurants/stores used to be, detracting from the intimacy I prefer to be conveyed to pedestrians. I also think they're extraordinarily bland. The older buildings tend to show much more attention to detail, despite many having been originally constructed as tenements, with elaborate cornices, tin ceilings, and detailed fenestration (I don't think modern buildings should emulate these specifically, but a proportional level of exacting aesthetic effort would be nice). The pre-war walk-ups have their faults, but Avalon Chrystie Place will not hold up as well when it's 100 years old.

Now back to my Guided By Voices CD and copies of NME strewn about amidst PBR cans.

Posted by: morland on January 8, 2004 11:18 AM

It's just such a tired old lament. Affluent newcomer moves to former low income, now trendy area and then has the audacity to complain about the removal of dilapidated buildings of "architectural significance" that are being razed to accommodate more affluent newcomers.

Yes, the Avalon is probably "extraordinarily bland." So are the self-righteous, trendster windbags that bitch about it.

saouse.

Posted by: Earl Boykins on January 8, 2004 01:14 PM

Yeah, I know, that's why I'm not bitching about that particular phenomenon. It was an abandoned lot - nothing's getting demolished to build it, no one's being relocated (except some squatters). It's just one hell of an ugly building.

I think plenty of run-down tenements should be razed. But the fact remains that most of these developers are building cheap, disposable replacements, and have the gall to call them luxury units. And the bigger-is-better trend exemplified by ACP doesn't fit well given the context and street layout of the area.

I guess I did implicitly complain about what you've mentioned by linking to that post, but I've been itching to rant about ACP for a while. I probably should have just written my own entry.

Posted by: morland on January 8, 2004 03:24 PM

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