May 27, 2006
We Need To Talk About West Eighth Street
Along with the "Broken Windows" crime prevention theory, one of the big success stories of Gotham's dramatic revitalization over the past two decades has been the BID (that's Business Improvement District, FYI) where business and property owners in a designated area work with the City and make a collective effort to boost business. The most famous BID success is probably Times Square, but they're all over the place nowadays (of the 53 BIDs in New York State there are 45 in NYC), and often are quite successful. Which is why this article on the Village Alliance BID in this week's Villager is so interesting: Efforts to revitalize West Eighth Street have been an unmitigated disaster:
As anyone who has recently walked down Eighth St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves. can’t help but notice, the block resembles a retail ghost town, as if the Great Depression had hit all over again. Virtually every other store is vacant, with For Rent signs prominently posted. In all, about 20 stores were empty when a reporter walked the street two weekends ago. On Sixth Ave., the former Sam Goody space, also in the BID’s district, is vacant.
Reasons for the blocks downturn in fortunes - West Eighth used to be a serious destination back in the day - are numerous and range from small retail spaces (the average store ranges from 500-1,500 square feet) selling things nobody wants ("look at the shoes they sell here — high-heeled, with sequins. Who wears those?”) to too many bikers enjoying their hot dogs from Grey's Papaya. Not to mention poor management of the district by Village Alliance Executive Director Honi Klein. Whatever the reason for the downturn its impossible to walk down West Eighth and deny its existence. So now that its out in the open and up for discussion we turn to you, our esteemed readers. How would you fix West Eighth Street?
Detail from a photograph by Gary He for the Villager.
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Easy. Get rid of all the HOMOS. They fucked up west 8th street big time. I mean it was different when 8th street was a cornucopia of different people but now it's gay city. WHo wants to shop where all the gay guys get their clothes to go clubbin? only gays. Who wants to drink at gay bars. Only gays. they have their big gay parade and guess what? their favorite food is hot dogs at gray's papaya. whowaddathunk? 8th street's deader than dead. they need a whole food's. and another point about gay saturation: Remember how popular Inline skating was? everybody was doing it til they noticed that gays had a special affinity for inline skating. Then all the heteros stopped cold turkey from inline skating else they were labeled a fag. Gays ruined inline skating! I've got a new anti-smoking campaign: Smokers are gay. Seriously, if people started equating smoking to being gay you would see a precipitous drop in smoking related health problems. The republicans totally won the election in the last 6 years cause they said democrats were homo loving homos.
they should make some of the storefronts into artist studios. There's not enough of that left in manhattan anymore.
Back in the 1980s, going to West 8th Street was the Junior High Shool/High School equivalent of going to the mall. Postermat, FLIP, and tons of basically punk/vintage stores that used to be like smaller versions of Canal Jeans (well, at least the old school Canal Jeans)...
And music-wise, there were tons of record stores there as well. All gone. I damned miss playing the KISS pinball machine at "It's Only Rock and Roll".
Beyond mismanagement, I think a lot of the reason why the street is in the shape it is, is mainly because the teens of today just don't go to a specific destination like that anymore. Music? Copy MP3s or share them. Clothes? Hot Topic. There are more and more reasons nowadays for kids to simply stay at home and still "socialize" than there ever have been before.
And heck, the lure of going to 8th Street with one group of friends and then meeting other people just by chance--and by the fact it's saturday and EVERYONE is out--is not there anymore. Hello, MySpace "socialization".
Deeper down, St. Marks Place is stilll alive in a way. But not really at all. It's mainly filled with Japanese ex-pat stores/restaurants and the one or two record stores that still exist there are ghost towns at best.
Welcome to the new world kiddos! Where small business just can't survive.
Bring back more Headshops
and Postermat.
Bob: I truly hope you are kidding. If you're not, perhaps you'd be better off in a more homophobic part of the country.
people stopped shopping or going to the area because of fast racing bikes.
it has been shown that "deader" areas in the city, as BOB mentioned, were revitalized by the homos.
i live on this block and i totally agree with this article. something needs to change. i think get rid of the shoe stores. its not working.
but let me tell you the best thing that happens once in a while on this block....
the streets close off and a line of tow trucks come in with the Marshalls. they tow half of the cars on the block and all of the girls who are driving their man' car are going crazy. and they put them all in a patty wagon while they are all trying to figure out why their boyfriend hasnt made a payment on his mercedes in a year.
its perfect.
8th Street needs a shakeup. All of the tenants have to go - attractions no longer exist; the movie theatre is long dead, the poster & T-shirt shops are a thng of the past, the merchandise/crap you could only get there 20 years ago is old news at suburban malls across the country and the shoe stores are not worth the trouble. I'm surprised NYU doesn't just gobble it up and turrn it all into student housing.
If it can be turned around, there has to be a reason to go there and not the same old saws. Revitalizing it means bringing new life into the area, not rehashing what was unless it turns into a "Ferris Bueller's Day Off Retro Playland" with old crap and arcade action(!)type of place They can hire guys to look like Principal Rooney and you spit soda on them while they walk around with torn up shoes.