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Once a haven for drug addicts, the infamous Skid Row went from edgy to trendy in less time than Giuliani’s Extreme City Makeover. Chronicling the controversial effects of Bowery’s gentrification, Bowery Dish investigates a neighborhood which once held over a hundred flophouses yet now only has 3, the remaining homeless gathering yellowed copies of Paper Magazine to start a cozy fire.
Through a fair mix of footage and interviews (including B-Bar’s Howard Shafer on starting a trend), the documentary explains Bowery’s evolution – from notorious gang hangout to flophouse & brothel central to hard-knock “Bowery Boys” avenue to a home for the homeless and mentally-ill to an upscale restaurant transformation.
The documentary’s director, Kevin R. Frech (who insists all crew members live below 14th street), explores all facts and sides of downtown’s facelift; the struggling shops, the ritzy restaurant takeover, frustrated residents, reduced crime rates & increased economic activity, as well as Ja-Rule sightings (giving new meaning to the phrase “there goes the neighborhood”).
“I noticed that the delis on the Bowery were being converted to pricey restaurants, complete with architects, publicists, and ‘chefs’ instead of ‘cooks'" explains Frech. “I’m struck by the number of buildings torn down and rebuilt and the number of businesses that have vanished. I view this as an odd mixture of hope for the future as people pursue their dreams, and loss, as others are cut from what was dear to them.”
While gentrification might be a touchy subject for Gothamist readers, we suggest heading to Tribeca next week to learn more about the pros and cons of trading knish shops for Andre Balazs. Tribeca Film Festival Screenings: Sun. Apr 14@ Regal Battery Park 1, Thu. Apr 28 @ Tribeca Cinemas, and Sat. Apr 30 @Regal Battery Park 4. Tickets
To see what became of former flophouses and brothels, check out New York Magazine's map to Bowery's gentrification.
Gothamist wants to know what you think - are we “gaining taste, but losing flavor”? Can we have our cake and fresh direct it too? What neighborhoods do you think are on their way to being Lizzie Grubman’s next hangout?
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All you youngins don't remember when the Bowery used to be hell. Hey, even Debra Harry had to move out eventually.
Developers are ruining the bowery. One more upscale boutique or restaurant and we know armageddon is coming.
Right on, Rina.
This subject has been tired for way too many years. The funny part is that most people bitching about it aren't even old enough to have even been of age back in the day, anyway. Debbie Harry is about 60 years old....
"Developers are ruining the bowery"
(rolling my eyes) please sir/ma'am. stop.
If you think development is ruining The Bowery, maybe you miss the days when women would get assaulted trying to walk the streets. Yeah, 'cause, like, you know... safety is ruining it, right?
The yuppie restaurants are a symptom, not the true cause of the gentrification. If people did their research, they'd find that it was mostly caused by a trickle-down effect of rent control and stabilization laws that lasted way beyond their intended end (the end of WWII). The few cheap places protected by stabilization were all hoarded. The regulations combined with hoarding and dysfunctional zoning restrictions caused artificially low housing supply, driving up the prices of everything once people started to have wads of money in the gold-rush 1990s. The higher values naturally spread to commercial spaces in the vicinity. Basic economics. Same thing happened in San Francisco.
I walked by a Guernsey cow
Who directed me down
To the Bowery slums
Where people carried signs around
Saying, "Ban the bums"
Ah, I remember the good ol' days of the Bowery. I was but a wee lad running with the Bowery Boys, picking fights with the Plug Uglies and the Dead Rabbits.