Man. Myth. Morland.: Brand flakes

Changes in household income in the East Village between 1989-1999

The number of households earning:

Less than $9,999 decreased by 32% between 1989 and 1999
$10,000 to $19,999 decreased by 24%
$20,000 to $29,999 decreased by 37%
$30,000 to $39,999 decreased by 19%
$40,000 to $49,999 increased by 18%
$50,000 to $74,999 increased by 76%
$75,000 to $99,999 increased by 130%
$100,000 to $124,999 increased by 364%
$125,000 to $149,999 increased by 480%
$150,000 or more increased by 613% between 1989 and 1999

Statistics taken from U.S. Census

East Village defined as census tracts containing area between 3rd Avenue and Bowery on the west, Avenue D on the east, 14th St on the north, and Houston St. on the south.

(from an article the subject of which you have heard before and will hear again)

Not bad for a neighborhood whose avenues A, B, C, and D used to be nicknamed Adventurous, Brave, Crazy, and Dead (after the state of those who chose to stroll them, the further east, the worse). I am puzzled by those who still speak of the area with trepidation.

In Downtown 81 (aka New York Beat Movie), Basquiat walks around these here streets, and it looks like bombed-out post-WWII Berlin. Now you can swing by Zum Schneider and drop $15 on a plate of Leberkaese (essentially spam and eggs - I dare you to try and recreate this meal at home and spend more than $4). I deplore how the hood's appeal piggybacks on vestigial notions. When it was actually dangerous it was seen as untouchable, when it became merely edgy people still saw it as dangerous, now that it's safe residents and non-residents alike cling to edgy. Edgy is the marketing porridge that Goldilocks would have chosen. Edgy's not quite mainstream, but edgy won't get you knifed when a heroin deal goes wrong either. Edgy though is ultimately just another transitory stepping-stone to bland, and while you can linger longer if you have a seedy past, you can only abate the inevitable so much. Don't get me wrong, I'm not casting normative judgments here with respect to this progression, and if I were, I can't say I'd side with dangerous over edgy, or even edgy over bland. I like the whole not-getting-mugged-on-my-way-back-from-work thing, for one. It's just that it's weird seeing Molly Ringwald dress up like Judd Nelson.

"Edgy" is appropriate, but still, itz a reach, especially when i reach deep into my pocketsess for that monthly 17K plus rent. Sure, i appreciate not being mugged regularly, but DAMN...