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Since Webster Hall closed its doors for impending renovation this past summer, I hadn’t really walked down East 11th Street. I posted my last word on the subject back in July, wherein I recounted a clutch of my favorite memories from its more significant tenure – to my mind, at least – as The Ritz.
In the ensuing weeks, East 11th Street has seen a lot of change. I remember reading about people prizing likely aritfacts – pieces of a drum kit, microphone stands, etc. – out of the dumpsters that were parked out front of the building. Across the street, meanwhile, a whole row of low-rise buildings have been razed, leaving a yawning cavity in advance of a new luxury hotel that’s been planned to sprout up like giant zit.
Down at the southeastern corner, meanwhile, they closed the irreparably douchey Pour House bar after about a decade. Originally, there’d been plans to reimagine that space as an equally dubious rock-themed bar called “E.Vil" (geddit?), but apparently those plans have been scrapped as well. Now, the space is slathered with messy graffiti and looks, for all intents and purposes, abandoned.
Beyond all that, I hadn’t really felt a need to walk down East 11th. But last weekend, my kids and I went out for a stroll around the neighborhood and sure enough, we ended up taking that right on 4th Avenue. I was struck by how dilapidated the façade and overhanging marquee looked. There are still people picking through the dumpsters, and latest reports suggest the space probably won’t reopen as its next iteration until 2020, probably with a different name.
With that in mind, I told my kids to strike a pose.
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