Saturday, April 12, 2008

 

Neighborhood Scenery ...

A sunny day in Tompkins Square Park

The new game in today's TSP : Soccer on the lawn .
It could be worse ; they could be playing "hacky-sack" as in Union Square Park .


"Cochise " ( not of the Chiricahua ) is back from a vacation courtesy of the State of New York ; "Steel Reserve" and cigarette in hand , in TSP



"Red" reads a book about that other red guy at the chess tables in TSP


Crack is back : A crack stem next to a sleeping man in TSP .
WE have heard recently that both heroin and crack are making a bit of a come-back together . Some of what we see in the street seems to support that conclusion . Smoked crack and injected heroin , it is claimed by some ,work together more favorably than interveinously injecting heroin and cocaine together as in the old days , i.e. ,the "speed-ball" . The crack is smoked for a brief high and does not permanently suppress the heroin high ....one can always when desired smoke some more crack later .



In Tompkins Square Park and along avenue A , "Leeds" , the vodka of choice . Available in unlimited quantities at the corner of avenue A and 4th street .


Partying on Avenue A.


Partying on avenue A.


Friday night traffic on avenue A .


ABOVE and BELOW : April showers













Comments:
Nice photos Bob--I look forward to seeing your posts about the "hood"
 
So do you assume that given the current recession gentrification in the East Village will slow down and TSP will become more like it was in the 90's?
 
Gentrification I suspect will continue but at what pace I don't know .So much depends on this elite class of consummers that keep our town afloat-- consummers that come by way of gentrification -- that those in charge will do everthing in their power to keep it all going ; selling our neighborhoods , piece-by-peice to anyone with cash .Consider here the billions the city makes in revenue from mortgage taxes .... and also consider that monsters like NYU must grow to continue to be profitable .

The economics of the East Village is a different thing . There are many buildings along our streets and avenues that have been mortgaged for 7,8, 9 million dollars ; the carrying charges on those buildings require big rent revenues . If the activity in the bars and restaurants drops significantly because of a recession then those businessess will fail ---there are signs of this happening right now -- and building owners with these mortgages may be hard pressed not to default on their obligations to pay .There are significant byzantine complications here with property ownership and credit that make it difficult to know how far the consequences extend down into our local economy .This certainly could change the look of avenue A and TSP.... but I don't believe enough to take us back to the 80s .

The real question here is what is NYPD going to be like in kind and size in the future . The question to ask is with a short-fall in tax revenue because of the greed ,arrogant elitism and bungling of our Mayor and our financial elites , will there be a sufficient number of cops and the requisite administrative will to prevent things from going back to 80s-like days in the neighborhood and TSP.
 
Thank you very much Bob for the thoughtful response! We can only hope that the trendy bars begin to slow down and what remains of old-time EV culture will be supported for as long as possible.
 
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