The building I live in is nothing special. It’s story is typical of buildings built on the Lower East Side of New York in the late 1800’s. I like to believe that it’s nondescript life is representative of a larger whole, of a story not quite yet pinned down by history. Let me give a brief overview so you can see what I mean.
Compared to many other cities, New York is very young. It's indexical historical sense of self, carved out when the Landmarks Commission was formed in the 1960's, is evolving as established neighborhoods are slowly being transformed piecemeal by new development. Instead of whole areas being swallowed up in the name of urban renewal, empty lots and one story shops are cleared and luxury condos rise in their wake. Six story tenements, most built in the late 1800's, are slowly being bought by mega-landlords and their tenants booted so the buildings can be gutted reinvented as high-end rentals. On the outside, these tenements represent the "authentic" aspect of the neighborhood, as placeholders for the identity that new arrivals seek. But I'm off topic here - identity formed by living in a specific neighborhood is a subject for another day.
My street on the Lower East Side is a short one. Much of it's presence on the grid was obliterated by various housing projects built in the mid-twentieth century below Delancey Street. Also a playground for a school just across the way divides the three blocks that are left into two. My particular block, over the years, was shaped so that residential buildings were left on the ends near the cross streets and the middle was filled with one story garages and warehouses. A lot did change in the 1990’s in terms of vacant buildings being renovated and rented, but the block overall seems to have been mostly overlooked during the last few waves of new high end construction. That's all changing, hardcore, right about now.
to be continued......
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