Burnout | Main | Putting the Word Feline in Circus
October 17, 2005
Where Did All the Warehouses Go?
Well, that answer is obvious. Ca-ca-ca-condos...
It finally cleared up this weekend and we tackled it like any eager couple confined by a long, tedious workweek and eight days of unrelenting rain. On Saturday, we hit the DUMBO arts festival, happy to make the walk from Red Hook and soak in some waterfront on the way.
The art was uneven, and it was good to see that something had not changed. It also seemed as though there were less open studios than usual, though we managed to find quite a few that were worth popping into. And, as always, we some amazing living spaces...enough to make anyone bite their lip and say jealousy.
I kept asking myself whether I would actually want to live in DUMBO anymore, if I could suddenly and miraculous afford it. I asked Lex the same question about Tribeca as we walked through it on Sunday. If you could have your dream apartment/home, but it was in a neighborhood that had changed so much that it often made you gag, would you grab it?
More to come later in the week...midterms are upon us, and I have a paper due tomorrow.
Posted by callalillie at October 17, 2005 7:18 AM | City Life
We went on Sunday, and I of course, fell in love with DUMBO and want to live there but will be able to afford it in approximately never.
But, about the neighborhoods changing... I think that this is the essential character of all NYC neighborhoods, the way they never look the same way they did even 50 years ago � and its been this way since its inception, as neighborhoods like the LES went from Irish to Italian to Eastern European to Chinese and Hispanic and now Hipster (ha). I think when Alex & I (rob a bank) buy something, we�re just going to have to accept that it�s not going to look a tiny piece of Old New York for much longer, sad as that is.
Of course, what else would you expect from me � I live in Chelsea. :)
Posted by: deb at October 17, 2005 11:14 AM
I think it is waaaay beyond hipster. I'm not realistically lamenting the change...I mean, it happens everywhere. It just blows my mind that a place could change so quickly, and so drastically. I guess the correct comparison is SoHo, or perhaps that is the only drastic change that I can remember in my short life of twenty-seven years.
It's weird to remember a place being desolate, or close to desolate, and not have to think very far back to get there.
But rest assured...if someone offered me one of those BEAUTIFUL lofts with original wide plane pine floors and ceiling to floor windows, I'm sure that I would take it.
Posted by: corie at October 17, 2005 12:40 PM
Posted by: alex at October 17, 2005 10:45 PM
let's face it, if money was no object, we'd all be getting 'luxury loft-like condos' in dumbo, historic brownstones in clinton hill (or park slope i guess), plus i've been thinking lately that tribeca would be a prety cool place to roost if i really had the werewithal. again if money was no object, you could really stock up with freshdirect in your SubZero freezer and cook it up on your Viking stove whenever you wanted. plus your personal chauffeur could drive you to the nearest subway station and drop your laundry off while taking the cat to the Obedience School. then, i suppose, the only thing left to do would be run for mayor!
Posted by: ChrisG at October 18, 2005 12:29 AM
No, i'd rather have a shack in a place that i loved, than a penthouse in somewhere that i didnt feel comfortable in.
Islington's changed quite a bit in just these 5 years that ive been here, and i'm now getting itchy feet, as are those in my circle of friends who live nearby.
Posted by: discostu at October 18, 2005 7:56 AM
