Uploaded January 2008 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Another clip of New York's changing Lower East Side (LES) inspired by an article I read about a MTV web site based on the neighborhood. This is an answer video to MTV's virtual world (VLES.com) which is based on a few blocks below Houston St. now called "Hell Square." As one would expect the site takes liberties with the accuracy of store-front geography, but one omission requires comment. The gateway into their VLES is the mouth of Ludlow Street flanked in their world by Katz's Deli (true) and the Mercury Lounge (false). Opposite Katz's and between it and Mercury Lounge is a newly opened (fall 2007) twenty-three story luxury tower called "the Ludlow" seen in this video. If you want to know where it's at in this area you have to reckon with the effect of several luxury towers filled with affluent 20 & 30-somethings lured to the neighborhood's by its party-zone reputation.
curbed.com/archives/2008/03/10/curbedwire_party_like_a_rockstar_at_the_ludlow_satans_diarrhea_in_harlem.php
I had lived across Houston street from Katzs for several decades and opposed the construction of this and other towers, they won, we lost. Because I couldn't stomach this luxe high-rise in my front yard I moved to another part of the East Village to get away.
At the risk of sounding like Gramps the Grouchy Beatnik these buildings spell the end of the LES as a "mecca for all things creative" (as LVES puts it). The engine that created this mecca was the freedom that low rent fostered. The low overheard allowed artists, musicians, etc. to pursue long-shot DIY dreams. The slummy aspects of the old LES, though not something to celebrate did keep out the faint-hearted. These two factors defined a creative community that is fast fading. Don't kill the Golden Goose, these towers destroy the mojo that draws the world to this area. Look at Soho, they killed the Golden Goose in that district and what's left is cast-iron architecture version of a mall.
If you're drawn to the Lower East Side learn about its history, it will make for a richer experience and hopefully inspire protective feelings towards this one-of-a-kind place.
nytimes.com/2008/01/06/arts/television/06itzk.html?scp=1&sq=vles
vles.com
theludlownyc.com
Another clip of New York's changing Lower East Side (LES) inspired by an article I read about a MTV web site based on the neighborhood. This is an answer video to MTV's virtual world (VLES.com) which is based on a few blocks below Houston St. now called "Hell Square." As one would expect the site takes liberties with the accuracy of store-front geography, but one omission requires comment. The gateway into their VLES is the mouth of Ludlow Street flanked in their world by Katz's Deli (true) and the Mercury Lounge (false). Opposite Katz's and between it and Mercury Lounge is a newly opened (fall 2007) twenty-three story luxury tower called "the Ludlow" seen in this video. If you want to know where it's at in this area you have to reckon with the effect of several luxury towers filled with affluent 20 & 30-somethings lured to the neighborhood's by its party-zone reputation.
curbed.com/archives/2008/03/10/curbedwire_party_like_a_rockstar_at_the_ludlow_satans_diarrhea_in_harlem.php
I had lived across Houston street from Katzs for several decades and opposed the construction of this and other towers, they won, we lost. Because I couldn't stomach this luxe high-rise in my front yard I moved to another part of the East Village to get away.
At the risk of sounding like Gramps the Grouchy Beatnik these buildings spell the end of the LES as a "mecca for all things creative" (as LVES puts it). The engine that created this mecca was the freedom that low rent fostered. The low overheard allowed artists, musicians, etc. to pursue long-shot DIY dreams. The slummy aspects of the old LES, though not something to celebrate did keep out the faint-hearted. These two factors defined a creative community that is fast fading. Don't kill the Golden Goose, these towers destroy the mojo that draws the world to this area. Look at Soho, they killed the Golden Goose in that district and what's left is cast-iron architecture version of a mall.
If you're drawn to the Lower East Side learn about its history, it will make for a richer experience and hopefully inspire protective feelings towards this one-of-a-kind place.
nytimes.com/2008/01/06/arts/television/06itzk.html?scp=1&sq=vles
vles.com
theludlownyc.com
