2010 Review

It's the time of year for end-of-year lists and roundups. In 2010, the losses seemed fewer in number, but there were some big ones in there. We lost more of our old newsstands and watched too much of Coney Island collapse or get pushed out (Ruby's and Paul's Daughter and the Shore Hotel...). I'm still in denial about Coney.



Otherwise, at the top of my list of grievances, there's Skyline Books, a great bookshop gone and still mourned. The closure of Gino remains a major heartbreak, as is the demolition and reappropriation of Fedora. I'm not getting over those two. Carmine's at the Seaport was a third Italian joint to go.





While the little bakery Les Desirs was not a place close to my own heart, it was of major importance to many senior citizens in Chelsea. The closure of St. Vincent's Hospital, of course, was a tremendous blow for many Villagers.

The shuttering of Atomic Passion marked another death to vintage and thrift in the East Village, while the fall of the Treasures & Trifles antique shop made more space available to the Jacobsian on Bleecker. At the other end of Bleecker, the Aphrodisia Herb Shop closed this year. And little Alphaville shut down, taking its vintage toys with it.



In bars, we lost Hickey's, and plenty of boozers will miss The Rum House, but Freddy's was the big one, finally crushed by eminent domain. It may yet reopen. Village Paper fell to fire, but reopened on 8th Street. Novac Noury's crazy building was demolished by the city, pushed by the Standard Hotel and the changing Meatpacking District.

There were more, of course. I only listed the ones covered in this blog. With the impending loss of Mars Bar, the Pink Pony, and Max Fish, 2011 is already looking bleak.


For more year-end roundup, check out Lost City's Bring Out Your Dead.

Nostalgia Bus

Reader Dimitrios Gazis writes in with a report from Nostalgia Bus #9098: "If you had asked me prior to my ride, I would have probably responded with a big 'Meh.' I'm quite surprised at just how satisfying an experience riding that bus across town was. I hope I can catch another one this month."



Here's Dimitrios' full review:

1. Much more comfortable. People with heavy coats could sit next to each other without squirming and squeezing. Since the 1960s, bus designers seem to assume Americans have shrunk, even though we've all packed on 40-50 pounds of beef.

2. The noise and the stench of diesel was comforting--you felt like you were on a bus, not a shuttle with ion drive and inertial dampeners flying to your nearest zero-sensory Moon spa (not that there's anything wrong with that... IN CALIFORNIA).

3. Other folks on the bus seemed to enjoy it, and the heavy, difficult, completely manual doors actually forced people to interact, as we young 'uns held the doors open for the less able, with giggles and "thank yous" all around.

4. I took off my iPod to take it all in, and then I realized--so had everyone else. I have since made it a point to sometimes go about my daily life without headphones, reserving their use for running and the occasional annoying Wisconsin chick sharing her latest yeast infection adventure on the subway.

An EV Grieve reader also caught the bus. If you'd like a ride, click here to find the Nostalgia Bus at its next stop until December 31.