Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Cooper Square Hotel : The People Protest ...
This monster of an edifice at the corner of 5th street and Bowery , completely out of place and scale in the urban context of the neighborhood that surrounds it , was the object of a robust protest Monday night . A group of local residents , 50 t0 75 in number including some of the senior citizens living at the senior citizens home at 200 East 5th street , gathered across 5th street from the Cooper Square Hotel to protest the hotel's arrogant presence and to protest what appear as troubling plans to operate a large outdoor restaurant and bar .
This Cooper Square Hotel , and most of the other monster buildings intruding everywhere downtown for that matter , are often refered to as phallic by their critics for all the obvious reasons . In the case of this Cooper Square Hotel though ; as well as with some of the other out-of-scale buildings , to us here at NMNL at least , being that this structure is long , has a sensuosly curving taper , is so very mechanical looking and is always popping up there ... always errect ; we suggest that it is rather more dildo than phallus . Of course this is all a matter of opinion ,we know , but we suspect that at least some of those protesting on the street Monday night could on considering the matter perhaps find that they could agree with us .
With the presence of this new hotel , the several others that already exist and the several new hotels to come in the near future in downtown NYC can it be long before we will see a NYC version of Las Vegas , a sort of " Las Vegas , Las Vegas " , grow under our feet displacing the East Village , at least as we know it , of necessity to fill these hotels with tourists , corporate traveler-partiers and week-end revelers ... so-called "market forces" ( greed abetted by indfferent and/ or corrupt city and state agencies ) at work have already changed our community radically...there should be no surprise here . We already have the original "Coyote Ugly " and "Rays Candy Store " too ; we just need an Eiffel Tower , a giant pyramid and a few other sundry mega-fantasies to reify this bastard of a night-mare .
Finally we allow that the faces and words of the protestors tell the evening's story very well ... so no more rants from us .
Comments:
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Thanks for the coverage, Bob. I think they're trying to turn the Bowery into Bourbon Street, a destination for tourists to get drunk
Well done Bob. I am so proud of my community. There are so many people that feel the way these wonderful people do and if only we could get organzied city wide and bring it to City Hall with a massive demonstration to bid mayor Bloomberg and mega millionaire city planner Amanda Burden good bye. They act like the work for NYU, Cooper Union, Columbia University and any mega rich exploitive developer and landlord that would move us out to make room for party central aka NYU-ala Las Vegas-ville.
We thought we were living in the East Village, LES and the Bowery, not a bad xerox of midtown.
The mega dorms down Third Avenue started with NYU's hideous monster dorms...the last visual horror is Cooper Union's mega dorm and than this ugly monster...Cooper Square...figures the dorm turn into a sea of over priced zone busting hotels -- from mega dorms to hideous hotels = they don't fit in with the neighborhood and with greedy people like John Sexton -- Sexton won't be happy until he has moved us all out in his monsterous Ahab like need to make the entire area NYU student housing.
The glittery mirrored condo's and high priced hotels like the one on Rivington make wonder if these architects did a lot of cocaine and Scarano "Bowery Hotel" looks like he did anti-depressants. The Bowery Hotel looks like a prison and to sit out side and eat sandwhiched between the Salvation Army and a homeless shelter is only for people that have no empathy or feeling for the area which are those that want us all out to supersize the entire area for their greed.
Suzannah B. Troy
We thought we were living in the East Village, LES and the Bowery, not a bad xerox of midtown.
The mega dorms down Third Avenue started with NYU's hideous monster dorms...the last visual horror is Cooper Union's mega dorm and than this ugly monster...Cooper Square...figures the dorm turn into a sea of over priced zone busting hotels -- from mega dorms to hideous hotels = they don't fit in with the neighborhood and with greedy people like John Sexton -- Sexton won't be happy until he has moved us all out in his monsterous Ahab like need to make the entire area NYU student housing.
The glittery mirrored condo's and high priced hotels like the one on Rivington make wonder if these architects did a lot of cocaine and Scarano "Bowery Hotel" looks like he did anti-depressants. The Bowery Hotel looks like a prison and to sit out side and eat sandwhiched between the Salvation Army and a homeless shelter is only for people that have no empathy or feeling for the area which are those that want us all out to supersize the entire area for their greed.
Suzannah B. Troy
# posted by 
: 7:57 PM
: 7:57 PM
that photo is so chilling, but I am heartened by your images of the protesters. I wish I had known about it.
The people chanted "No more bars!!!" and you can see the sign that makes a point about "quality of life" and sleepless nights re: bars yet Webster Hall moved across the street with "Pour House" and the double entendre is doubly offensive (plus 2 full bars and like NYU they advertise on the radio exploiting the fantasy of our neighborhood) and it and the billard bar across from Grace Church and a children's school entrance housed in the back of the church have flashy signs that conjur 42nd Street in contrast to the beauty of Grace Church...it all caters to dorm living and "NYU-Las Vegas-Ville" party central and our community board chair is the bar czar of the East Village.
It was great to hear people chanting "NO more bars" because it is issues like quality of life from sleep to walking out and see the morning after "adult disney land from hell" and even worse are the rapes, murders and hit and runs that go with bars and clubs from Chelsea to "The Box" to horror of the young women that died horrific deaths like Ms. Imette St. Gullien. I don't blame the NYPD because based on the population which is enos including the huge amounts that come here to party -- they do an amazing job and they deserve more support including better pay and technology to work with and to engage us the community with.
I do equate problems to alcholol and drugs (both legal and illegal drugs)abuse and a mayor that puts night life economics a head of night life safety and communities quality of life. This is the mayor who lowered the NYPD's starting salary and won't honor our rescue workers with their rank. He doesn't support real New Yorker's rights to live in our neighborhood; the mayor's priority is college kids housing and party central night life.
Right now because of NYU mega dorm destruction/construction site next door to me there is no parking across the street so for the first time in years I do not have to hear screaming drunk people yelling they can't find their cars and worry if they are going to kill someone or themselves because they are so drunk.
The mega dorms and mega hotels besides being hideous and courting a population that has fantasy of the area have no investment in helping our community. They don't care about our community and the zone busting horrific architect says it all about their attitude which is zero respect for the communty and our history.
Today there was yet another infrastructure problem...I think a man hole cover at 1rst and 2nd Avenue blew and so much smoke and noxious smell was blowing in the air just blocks from where I stood and told NY1 it is a miracle no one died...again today the same thought...
The water main break I stood next to was one block from Cooper Union's construction site and in my opinion was the cause and guess what just around the corner from this hideous hotel that like Scarono's Bowery Hotel--and the Rivington hotel all do not belong here...
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=69978&search_result=1&stid=8
I got video tape of the smoking man hole and here is me on NY1 nest to the water main break...
Too much zone busting, too fast too tall and on an old infrastructure...believe me it won't break in front of their mega builds because they lay down new pipes but it will break down the street and we pay...in all ways -- some may pay with their lives...because it is about over the top way too rapid development -- a tsunami of community crushing development under Bloomberg-Burden mainly all for the mega rich.
I never imagined mayor Bloomberg would come in after Sept. 11 which was horrific and I think of all the people that took the express to Heaven on fire and police officers that may now because in Iraq now and if Mike Bloomberg had shown me St. Ann's torn down for another NYU mega dorm or this hideous hotel, or Scarano's prison aka the Bowery I would never have voted for him.
Suzannah B. Troy
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It was great to hear people chanting "NO more bars" because it is issues like quality of life from sleep to walking out and see the morning after "adult disney land from hell" and even worse are the rapes, murders and hit and runs that go with bars and clubs from Chelsea to "The Box" to horror of the young women that died horrific deaths like Ms. Imette St. Gullien. I don't blame the NYPD because based on the population which is enos including the huge amounts that come here to party -- they do an amazing job and they deserve more support including better pay and technology to work with and to engage us the community with.
I do equate problems to alcholol and drugs (both legal and illegal drugs)abuse and a mayor that puts night life economics a head of night life safety and communities quality of life. This is the mayor who lowered the NYPD's starting salary and won't honor our rescue workers with their rank. He doesn't support real New Yorker's rights to live in our neighborhood; the mayor's priority is college kids housing and party central night life.
Right now because of NYU mega dorm destruction/construction site next door to me there is no parking across the street so for the first time in years I do not have to hear screaming drunk people yelling they can't find their cars and worry if they are going to kill someone or themselves because they are so drunk.
The mega dorms and mega hotels besides being hideous and courting a population that has fantasy of the area have no investment in helping our community. They don't care about our community and the zone busting horrific architect says it all about their attitude which is zero respect for the communty and our history.
Today there was yet another infrastructure problem...I think a man hole cover at 1rst and 2nd Avenue blew and so much smoke and noxious smell was blowing in the air just blocks from where I stood and told NY1 it is a miracle no one died...again today the same thought...
The water main break I stood next to was one block from Cooper Union's construction site and in my opinion was the cause and guess what just around the corner from this hideous hotel that like Scarono's Bowery Hotel--and the Rivington hotel all do not belong here...
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=69978&search_result=1&stid=8
I got video tape of the smoking man hole and here is me on NY1 nest to the water main break...
Too much zone busting, too fast too tall and on an old infrastructure...believe me it won't break in front of their mega builds because they lay down new pipes but it will break down the street and we pay...in all ways -- some may pay with their lives...because it is about over the top way too rapid development -- a tsunami of community crushing development under Bloomberg-Burden mainly all for the mega rich.
I never imagined mayor Bloomberg would come in after Sept. 11 which was horrific and I think of all the people that took the express to Heaven on fire and police officers that may now because in Iraq now and if Mike Bloomberg had shown me St. Ann's torn down for another NYU mega dorm or this hideous hotel, or Scarano's prison aka the Bowery I would never have voted for him.
Suzannah B. Troy
# posted by : 7:21 PM
: 7:21 PM Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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