Then & Now: 23 Wooster Street

Once upon a time, pretty much *ALL* of SoHo looked like 23 Wooster Street. But as the neighborhood was gradually scrubbed of all its artsy eccentricity and bohemian character, somehow 23 Wooster became one of the last bastions of wildly expressive, untethered street art. I honestly have no idea what purpose the building used to serve upon its inception, but it handily served as versatile canvas for street artists, taggers and practitioners of various other media even as recently as this year.

I took a long walk with my kids through SoHo and TriBeCa earlier today (see post below for a similarly weepy rumination) and was surprised and depressed to find the exterior of 23 Wooster covered by tell-tale scaffolding and wooden shedding. Something is definitely happening there, and I wouldn't be surprised it's going to be turned into another luxury high-rise or needless hotel.

Here's the building in 1999...

Here is was in 2009

And here it is now....