The luckiest guy on the Lower East Side – The Magnetic Fields
When i bad mouth New York, it is from a knowing subordinance, and is out of jealousy and spite. It’s reinforcement in songs like this, imagery like this, of wonder and of life lived properly, that makes it all at once so compelling, vital, and distasteful. Even though this is a very slight survey of the lives and people who live there, and of a way of life and a city that doesn’t really exist anymore, it’s a very appealing fantasy. I think the city is treated as the centre of the universe too often, but i guess if i lived there, why too would i consider any place else? I really would love to live there, but as a native. I could never move there. I could never move anywhere.
The East Village was once considered the Lower East Side’s northwest corner. However, in the 1960s, the demographics of the area above Houston Street began to change, as hippies, musicians and artists moved in. Newcomers and real estate brokers popularized the East Village name, and the term was adopted by the popular media by the mid-60s. As East Village developed a culture separate from the rest of the Lower East Side, the two areas came to be seen as two separate neighborhoods rather than the former being part of the latter.
In the early 2000s, the gentrification of the East Village spread to the Lower East Side, making it one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Manhattan. Orchard Street, despite its “Bargain District” moniker, is now lined with upscale restaurants and boutiques. Similarly, Clinton Street has long been a destination for trendy dining establishments (including Clinton Street Baking Company, WD-50, Cube 63, Falai, and the now-closed 71 Clinton Fresh Foods).
In recent years, the gentrification that was previously confined to north of Delancey Street has continued south. Several restaurants, bars and galleries have opened below Delancey Street since 2005, especially around the intersection of Broome and Orchard Streets. The neighborhood’s second boutique hotel, Blue Moon Hotel, opened on Orchard Street just south of Delancey Street in early 2006. However, unlike The Hotel on Rivington, the Blue Moon used an existing tenement building and its exterior is almost identical to neighboring buildings.
(Wikipedia, the source for everything)
