We went away for a little bit and returned to an even newer New East Village. Among its changes in mere weeks: a Starbucks on the corner of Avenue A and St. Mark’s. [Go ahead, process that.] We fought like mad against the coming of the garbage-peddling turnstile (a.k.a., 7-Eleven) on the corner of our block… and, of course, we lost. It arrived, spread its neon tendrils and fluorescent bile up and down our block, and catered to the “slumming millennials,” upper class crusties, bridge-n-tunnelers, sweet and sensitive NYU students, local public schools, and the many stoned lunch-time construction workers reshaping our community. In other words, it’s often packed, serving its purpose, and now a fixture in the neighborhood. I would like to express a righteous indignation over the arrival of yet another shitty chain store… but after just a few days, it too is packed. PACKED! I want to be insulted; I want to rage; I want to boycott, picket, post, and protest; but that would be for my own misguided sense of what I think Alphabet City should be. This ain’t that place no more… and from what I understand, the post-post-gentrified EV is on course to becoming the most chain-friendly neighborhood in Manhattan.
The newly minted East Chainville screams, “Suck it, Brian!"
Oh, I will, but it won’t be a Grande, a Venti, or even a Trenta. It’ll be a perfectly nice, little cup of coffee from the café around the corner… the one that’s about to go out of business (like me).
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