EV Grieve penned an innocent little update today about the status of the long-dormant former site of Tower Records on the corner of 4th & Broadway (an establishment wherein I spent vast amounts of time and dubiously-earned income, back in the day). The space is now going to be used as some sort of professional sports promotion wherein two slackjawed jocks get paid to sit around and watch baseball games all day. In any case, in response to Grieve's post, a very defensive reader named “5th Gen” launched into a windy, multi-paragraph screed, railing about the perceived tone of the piece, defending baseball as a national pastime, making a sniffily dismissive comment about the Ramones, getting uppity about being perceived as a well-heeled yuppie because he wears a blazer and lambasting the fact that the neighborhood is still saddled with a counterculture stereotype of the tattooed & leather-jacket-clad punk rocker. It’s quite a rant.
Personally speaking, I only wish there was still a credible whiff of the very atmosphere 5th Gen evidently hates so much left in the neighborhood, but the truth of the matter is that it just isn't really there anymore. Downtown stopped exuding that particular vibe quite some time ago. More to the point, though, it’s not like Tower Records was really some artsy bastion of bohemia. Sure, I bought unwieldy piles of punk vinyl there, but it was just as much of a corporate operation as the venture that’s opening there now. That all said, I'll take a record store over anything sports-related every. damn. time. Doesn't dumb jock culture have enough of a stranglehold on society?
About five minutes after I left my own snarky comment on the thread (pedantically pointing out that the Ramones wore leather jackets and were avid baseball fans), I came across the below trailer for “Blank City,” yet another film that seeks to blow the cobwebs off/further lionize the CBGB generation (as if it was somehow in dire peril of not being lionized?) Being that I'm perfectly at peace with being an unapologetic nostalgist and avowed fan of all things NYC Punk, I’m quite curious to check it out, but it seems like precisely the type of document that would get 5th Gen further bent out of shape. Well, too bad for you, Gen. Downtown may have become gentrified beyond all recognition from its admittedly-over-rhapsodized late 70s/early 80s incarnation.... but don't expect the ghosts of that period of the East Village to disappear anytime soon. No "critical urban design theory" is about to outweigh the fact that people still care about their impact, no matter how much you'd love to write it off.
Find out more about the film by clicking right here!
Well said, Alex. I agree - too much jock culture all around. MN is facing a huge budget deficet like most states - "we're broke" they say - but the same assholes in the legislature/senate and our Governor here are moving ahead with plans - any plans they can scape together, to build yet another stadium here - this time for the Vikings - owned by a billionaire who could affor to build his own damn stadium. Drives me up the f'n wall!
Posted by: BKNYCDreamin | March 31, 2011 at 08:56 AM
I fail to understand why "5th Gen." is getting so badly slammed. I did not find his comment on EV Grieve "defensive," and while it was a bit long-winded, it was more thought-out than simply a "rant."
The Major League Baseball installation is better than having a massive storefront stay vacant. Who knows, it might even be fun to nose around in. It also might be an awful tourist trap. I'll stop in and see before passing judgment.
(And for heaven's sake, it's not even in the East Village.)
As for the nay-sayers in general, I offer what is, admittedly, a familiar argument: The East Village did not begin its existence when John Sex first appeared at Club 57 or when the Fun Gallery opened. As deeply nostalgic as I can be about a particular time and place, I must concede that there was a creative scene in the neighborhood before then, and that to a certain point those who were soon to be heralded were interlopers.
It may now take some doing to ensure that creativity and free thinking do not forever yield to encroachment motivated solely by financial gain, but automatically to dismiss anything that smacks of heartland America -- such as baseball -- is to overreact. To that end, 5th Gen.'s comparison of "thoughtful opposition to pernicious neighborhood developments" and the "hip-shot opposition" of some of the most vocal keepers of the flame is quite apt.
It seems that whatever offense 5th Gen. takes is one I, too have felt. It's foolish to shun someone because of the way he or she dresses. Some of those guys in cargo shorts and flip-flops must be OK fellows, and if I happen to wear a jacket and tie, please don't assume I am someone evil who does not belong in the neighborhood.
There may be no real schism here if we just drop the animosity.
Posted by: BabyDave | March 31, 2011 at 07:34 PM
That guy's comment was so passive aggressive, his remarks about tattoos, black leather jackets and the Ramones speak volumes.
Baby Dave: Look at what you just wrote, you presented your point of view in a clear manner that's to the point. You didn't have to include what you do, what books you read, what and where you have breakfast, where you drink and on and on and on. I agree that you shouldn't judge someone by how they dress or what they do for a living, but just make your point and move on.
And I agree with Alex, give me record stores over sport stores any day of the week. But that's just my opinion.
Posted by: Marty Wombacher | March 31, 2011 at 08:33 PM