Althouse: The "most iconic block" in Greenwich Village "has been taken over by drug peddlers, prostitutes and marauding youths."

July 3, 2011

The "most iconic block" in Greenwich Village "has been taken over by drug peddlers, prostitutes and marauding youths."

Christopher Street.

57 comments:

Anonymous said...: "Most Iconic Block Taken Over by the People Who Made It Iconic"

So?; 7/3/11, 7:18 AM
traditionalguy said...: But why are Drug Dealers, pimps, and muggers not entitled to have their own rights to use of the free public streets without any authority prohibiting their slightly different lifestyle? Lifestyles uber alles! Community organizing is now a growth industry here.; 7/3/11, 7:23 AM
AllenS said...: I'll cut right to the chase; sounds like the place is being overrun by n-words.; 7/3/11, 7:23 AM
KCFleming said...: Drudge has been noting this same problem in multiple cities across the US.

1. The "marauding pack of wolves" were raised by single moms on the dole, daycare, gangs, and the public school system. That is, they have no sense of morals, and feel entitled to do anything they please.

2. They know that other New Yorkers don't and can't have any weapons.; 7/3/11, 7:34 AM
Matthew Noto said...: Sorry to disappoint, but Christopher Street and it's environs was ALWAYS like this.

It's only now when property values have sunken for all the fancy condos and co-ops that sprang up in the last 20 years -- and now that Gay Marriage is 'allowed' in New York, which means means more 'Gay Families' -- that it has suddenly become a problem.; 7/3/11, 7:37 AM
KCFleming said...: A city's first duty is the safety and protection of its citizens.

Lacking that, New York is a failed state.

Bloomberg spent enormous effort being the city's nanny, so they are protected from trans fat, but not violence.; 7/3/11, 7:38 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I used to live on Jane Street... a few blocks from there.; 7/3/11, 7:44 AM
Temujin said...: Well, at least New Yorkers can thank their lucky stars that Bloomberg has saved them from salt and foie gras in restaurants.

How you liking Rudy now, New Yorkers?; 7/3/11, 7:46 AM
Night2night said...: Well it's been more than a few years since I've lived there, but from a distance there does seems to be a similarity between former Mayor Dinkins and Nanny Bloomberg, as compared to former Mayor Giuliani and Bernard Kerik. Before Giuliani a lot of the middle class office workers would head to the various transit stations around Manhattan as fast as their feet could carry them at the end of business (after dark the streets belonged to a different set of people and sadly, for a long time, this was tolerated).

Of course, then as now, the amateur socialists were out to advance their theories as to why nothing could change. Yet, they did. That experience (I was a NYC paramedic at the time), along with my observations of Reagan, went a long way toward changing the uniform mindset I had experienced during my undergrad years at Columbia U.; 7/3/11, 7:48 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Carefully laundered article to protect the groups the Swipples likes.

The kids are gay, there to service the needs of the older gay guys. The black and hispanic kids bring in drugs and fresh meat. That market has centered around the PATH station on Christopher for as long as I can remember.

The reason that the drug peddlers, prostitutes and marauding youths are there is to service the needs of our sainted middle aged gay guys for young prostitutes, dangerous encounters, drugs, etc.

I haven't seen any noticeable change. Looks to me just about the same as always. Maybe the young gay guys are bringing with them the expectation that gay life ought to be sedate and domestic.

Back in the day when people were more honest about these things (i.e. before the gay activist agenda demanded that things be cleaned up at least for propaganda purposes), this area and the waterfront were the scene for rough anonymous sex encounters in back alleys and on the piers.; 7/3/11, 7:50 AM
Matthew Noto said...: Jane Street.

I (mis-)spent a good deal of my youth in the Village. When it wasn't punk in the East Village,it was a (youthful) pretense at being a jazz afficianado at the Vanguard, or the stupid money-wasting all-night binges come bonus day at Smith-Barney.

The neighborhood was always seedy, although a few decent enclaves could be found here and there, mostly around NYU.

Have you ever eaten at Sevilla, on W 4th and Charles, Professor?; 7/3/11, 7:53 AM
The Dude said...: Society gets more of the behavior it rewards.; 7/3/11, 8:15 AM
paminwi said...: Jane Street - anyone been to the Corner Bistro?; 7/3/11, 8:16 AM
Matthew Noto said...: Pretty good burgers at the Corner Bistro.; 7/3/11, 8:20 AM
Joe said...: (The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew)

We could skip the “gay bashing” and simply point out that neighborhoods TRANSITION…the “Village” was what it was because it was transitioned from commerce to Bohemian Residential and Business and now it moves on, assuming that it HAS moved on:
1) Either that the gangs, the drugs and the prostitutes are “new” rather than old friends newly recognized
2) Or that it is still a neighborhood of Bohemian tastes, and that reports of its demise are much exaggerated.
IF the Village has transitioned again, well here’s a news flash, it’s what happens! NOTHING is static! And that’s a problem many Liberals have, because the Village was “X” ten years ago, it MUST remain “X” in perpetuity….

The Village could never have existed, as Liberals style it, had it not PREVIOUSLY transitioned. Transition and change they are what created the Village. Rather than lament it, how about seeking the NEW Village? Liberals always want things, and to be fair HUMANS, always want things to be static, $25/hour plus health care for putting on a bolt…the Village like it was when Bob Dylan couldn’t vote. Well sorry, folks, those conditions that allow for such things change and INEVITABLY we must change too.; 7/3/11, 8:35 AM
ricpic said...: This in no way pertains to race. Oh no. Mustn't go there. Don't believe you're lying eyes and you'll be A-OK with all the withit people.; 7/3/11, 8:35 AM
G Joubert said...: I used to live on Jane Street... a few blocks from there.

Was Christopher Street iconic back then?; 7/3/11, 8:47 AM
Matthew Noto said...: Hey Joe: I don't think anyone gay bashed. I don't care if anyone is gay...I have my own problems, TYVM.

There's not much (mmajor) difference between the Village as it is now, and when I was a kid in the late-70's/early 80's, except that the housing is more 'upscale', and the vice a bit more brazen.; 7/3/11, 8:47 AM
Bayoneteer said...: I thought NYC hipsters liked the edginess of urban life? I mean here in the middle places with our slopeheaded skulls and safe streets they'd be bored stoopid, right?; 7/3/11, 8:53 AM
Matthew Noto said...: We Native New Yorkers go to the Village for the nightclubs and the restaurants. The neighborhood has always been a sorta-kinda haven for 'outsiders' who have/had a romantic vision of the bohemian lifestyle, and (mostly) posers, although you could find a great many 'authentic' New York eccentrics there even today.; 7/3/11, 8:58 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Have you ever eaten at Sevilla, on W 4th and Charles, Professor?"

Yes.

Do you remember the New Amsterdam Café?; 7/3/11, 9:08 AM
Matthew Noto said...: I'd also quibble with the term 'iconic' with regards to NYC neighborhoods, and guess that's dependant upon your point of view.

I'd argue that Wall Street, 125th Street, 32nd street, Times Square, the Bowery, and Murray Hill are all more 'iconic' in their own ways than the West Village.; 7/3/11, 9:08 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Jane Street - anyone been to the Corner Bistro?"

That was right across the street from our apartment building. Used to look out the window and see the people going in and out of the place late at night.

Of course, we ate there sometimes. It's just a bar with decent hamburgers.

Anyone ever been to Dotty Dumplings Dowry?; 7/3/11, 9:10 AM
Matthew Noto said...: I've heard of the New Amsterdam, but don't think I've ever been there. That's a ways uptown, if I recall...close to Columbia, right?; 7/3/11, 9:13 AM
Ann Althouse said...: As far as that Daily News article and race: You're right that it doesn't mention race, but the photograph is highly racial. It's odd that the paper is fastidious about excluding race from the text, but then illustrates the story with that picture.; 7/3/11, 9:15 AM
Michael said...: You need the picture to say what you are not permitted to write.; 7/3/11, 9:23 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I've heard of the New Amsterdam, but don't think I've ever been there. That's a ways uptown, if I recall...close to Columbia, right?"

Back when I lived there, 1977-1979, it was about a block west of the Corner Bistro. I think it was at the corner of 4th Street and 12th Street. (The grid system doesn't apply south of 14th Street.); 7/3/11, 9:23 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Was Christopher Street iconic back then?"

Yes. It was where the gay men were to be found. Back in the days before people got sentimental about gay people. Back before you even heard reports of the "gay cancer," in the days before people used the term AIDS.; 7/3/11, 9:26 AM
Matthew Noto said...: Ah, I see. There's a (I guess 'New') New Amsterdam Cafe uptown, nowadays. Somewhere near of 116th St, I think.; 7/3/11, 9:27 AM
GMay said...: AA remarked: "It's odd that the paper is fastidious about excluding race from the text, but then illustrates the story with that picture."

That's odd to you in this day and age? Really?

Anyway, this take doesn't mesh with the other articles I've read about NYC recently lamenting the loss of a dirtier, seedier New York. Only been there a few times myself in the early '00s.; 7/3/11, 9:28 AM
Matthew Noto said...: I can promise you that no one is lamenting the loss of the dirtier, seedier Hell's Kitchen.

That's prime real estate, these days.; 7/3/11, 9:31 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: I can promise you that no one is lamenting the loss of the dirtier, seedier Hell's Kitchen.

That's prime real estate, these days.

Yes, but I assure you that the dirt and seeds are still there.

Swept into a corner, to be sure.

The seeds are just waiting to sprout again.; 7/3/11, 9:34 AM
Matthew Noto said...: I'm sure all the guys in Brooks Brother's Suits, and the Busy Career Mommies wholeave their kids to be raised by the Jamaican nanny would be most surprised to still find them there, Thomas.

That neighborhood went 'upscale' over decade ago. Hardly anything but co-ops and loft apartments.; 7/3/11, 9:37 AM
virgil xenophon said...: KenK hits the nail on the head. NOW they're complaining? Yes, life IS dynamic--constantly. My first significant time spent in NYC was circa 1979, the last in Dec, 1999. Thanks to Rudy G. LOTS of BIG changes in between--although I could groove to the old Norman Mailer NYC he so lamented as well as he. It's all a matter of perspective. To the young the "new" NYC is the "normal" NYC and any tendency to reversing back to the "old" Mailer beloved NYC is "abnormal" now. But ST probably puts it pretty much in perspective.

Some people really do enjoy a certain level of raffishness--which explains native New Orleanians' love for their city. As one young 30-something professional returning expatriate New Orleanian exclaimed to one and all one night back in '95 while I was "imbibing" as she strode thru the doors of Cosimo's Bar on Burgundy St. in the Quarter (pronounced Bur-GUN-di) one "morn" at 2:30 am on a Friday "nite.": "This dirty, filthy, corrupt, crime-ridden city! I can't stay away, I love it so!" LOL..; 7/3/11, 9:50 AM
MadisonMan said...: Anyone ever been to Dotty Dumplings Dowry?

I liked it better when it was on Regent Street.; 7/3/11, 9:55 AM
edutcher said...: But I thought all those were victimless crimes according to the Lefties, except for the 'marauding yout's'.

And were those yout's imported from France, their parents having been imported from Muzzzlim countries?

They're not burning cars in the streets, so they must be home-grown.

Pogo said...

Drudge has been noting this same problem in multiple cities across the US.

1. The "marauding pack of wolves" were raised by single moms on the dole, daycare, gangs, and the public school system. That is, they have no sense of morals, and feel entitled to do anything they please.

It's been around for about 30 years, thanks to the social engineers and the Democrats, but apparently it's gotten worse with the second (or is it third?) generation.

It's even the subject of today's Day By Day cartoon.; 7/3/11, 9:56 AM
pst314 said...: Ann Althouse "I used to live on Jane Street... a few blocks from there."

When was that? And what was the crime situation?; 7/3/11, 10:09 AM
Anonymous said...: Sure, it looks awful, but the pimps and youths are not smoking or eating trans fats. Victory!; 7/3/11, 10:19 AM
Anonymous said...: As far as that Daily News article and race: You're right that it doesn't mention race, but the photograph is highly racial. It's odd that the paper is fastidious about excluding race from the text, but then illustrates the story with that picture.

It is politically incorrect to note that minorities have higher crime rates.

Peter; 7/3/11, 10:25 AM
Fen said...: Bets that "marauding youths" = Apes?; 7/3/11, 10:31 AM
Fen said...: the photograph is highly racial.

No. The perps are highly racial.; 7/3/11, 10:33 AM
Fen said...: Bets that "marauding youths" = Apes?

See? I didn't even need to see the pic to know who it was.; 7/3/11, 10:34 AM
Big Mike said...: Did you live in the Village at some point, Professor? Is that why you care?

Bloomberg sowed. The city reaps.; 7/3/11, 11:07 AM
Franklin said...: I was there ie on Christopher St last night at 9-10pm with my wife. Actually ate at Corner Bistro. Christopher Street is perfectly fine and it's the same way it's been since I moved here after college in 2003. I know I havent known the neighborhood as long as some, but it hasn't changed at all since I've been in NYC. Much ado about nothing.; 7/3/11, 11:36 AM
bcw said...: The Daily News for anything other than sports? You gotta be kidding. Do any of the posters other than Franklin actually live in New York? The biggest problem with that neighborhood is it's too expensive to live in and there are too many tourists.; 7/3/11, 12:13 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "When was that? And what was the crime situation?"

Here's where I've lived:

1950s: Newark, Delaware (in "Brookside")
1961-1964: Wilmington, Delaware (in "Holiday Hills"_
1964-1969: Wayne, NJ (in Packanack Lake)
1969-1973: Ann Arbor, Michigan (college)
1973-1976: NYC (East 91 St and E 85 St)
1976-1977: Ypsilanti, Michigan
1977-1979: Jane Street & 4th Street, NYC
1979-1981: Washington Square Village, NYC
1981-1984: Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY
1984-1986: University Houses in Madison, Wisconsin
1986-present: in Madison, Wisconsin, in the first house I ever bought. With semesters as a visiting professor in Boston (fall 1990, living just off Newbury Street), in Boulder, CO (spring 1991, living in university housing), and Brooklyn (fall 2007, spring 2008, living on Pierrepont Street).

I've never had a crime problem in any of those places, except for the threats of violence here in Madison in the last few months.

I've only been robbed once: in Rome, Italy. I've never lived in a place that was burglarized.

I was once punched in the face, by a guy whom I was hitting to try to get him to stop hitting my brother.; 7/3/11, 12:30 PM
Carol_Herman said...: I'm not sure.

I think people who live in the Village, invited the dope pushers in, because they make very good customers.

That it would get out of hand?

At least we're not in Mexico. Where the drug cartel gets its supplies from the ATF.

As to the Village. The commercial enterprises never sleep.

Yes, you can go outside to buy drugs. Or get sex. If what you mean by "sex" is a stranger giving you a blow job.

But you can also buy ice cream cones. There's always stores that are open.

The donut shop that got a hit? Cell phones. A coordinated attack that probably won't get repeated.

If a store gets attacked ... they come up with solutions.

Just as they do at malls across the USA.

I also notice that most of the time the teenagers are grabbing water. Which is kept in the front. Like umbrellas on rainy days.

Perhaps, the stock losses then become highly exaggerated?

Everybody's caught on already installed security cameras.

While ahead, perhaps, instead of tourists heading down to Christopher Street ... the bus tours will take ya to see the ginko trees? There's a million of 'em.

More trees than dope dealers, I think.; 7/3/11, 12:44 PM
Matthew Noto said...: @bcw:

The NY Daily News is the Libtard newspaper for those with a 3rd grade reading level who otherwise can't read the Times because of all the big words in it.

And yeah, some of us are REAL New Yorkers (not those transplanted kinds who think the city is Manhattan, and nothing but). I was born here, and I've lived here all of my 44 years, except for the one year in which I lived in Charlotte, NC, a lovely city in the process of being ruined by the Philadelphians and Bostonians (Barbarians).

What Franklin said is essentially true (you can walk the streets without being accosted), but if anyone ever wanted to find pimps, drug dealers, and gang bangers in the Village, it wasn't like a search for the Holy Grail; they were always there, and still are.; 7/3/11, 1:05 PM
Methadras said...: Leftards say what?; 7/3/11, 1:14 PM
purplepenquin said...: It appears to me that the problems are mostly related to our laws in regard to drugs and prostitution. Overall, it would be better if these wares and services were peddled in stores rather then the streets. (Look at all the additional problems that were associated with booze back when that was banned.)

That said, I see about 1/2-dozen or so people saying these issues are due to race, as if it is genetic or something...which leads me to ask: What is your solution to the problem you are perceiving?; 7/3/11, 1:51 PM
CatherineM said...: Wow, it's 1986 all over again! Great.

Well at least this means NYC is getting back to being "real" and "gritty" pre-Guiliani. Thanks Bloomie!; 7/3/11, 2:31 PM
Palladian said...: If they stopped up the holes that drain New Jersey sewage into the Village, namely the Christopher Street and 9th Street PATH stations, this problem would disappear.

The only reason I go to Christopher Street these days is that's where I buy my coffee and tea, at McNulty's. And from that limited exposure, Christopher Street is pretty much exactly like it's been for the 16 years that I've lived in New York.; 7/3/11, 3:44 PM
Hoosierman said...: That's what happens when you elect weak mayors. Rudy Giuliani didn't give a damn about transfat and table salt but he made NYC livable. Before Giuliani was elected Times Square was as bad as Christopher St.is said to be now. West forty-second St. was nothing but adult bookstores, porn shops, and massage parlors. Hookers would run out in front of cars to solicit. It's a failure of leadership pure and simple.; 7/3/11, 6:15 PM
ken in tx said...: That woman who said that she loved crime-ridden New Orleans might be my ex. While we were legally separated, she went to Mardi Gras and never came back. I was paying alimony to her so she could finish college at the University of Alabama.; 7/3/11, 7:43 PM
KH said...: Took this shot of Christopher St. this afternoon. The Dunkin Donuts that got trashed in May is right behind the cigar store:

http://flickr.com/kimhill/5899418304/; 7/3/11, 10:56 PM
ampersand said...: Soundtrack: wonderful town
Title: christopher street

On your right,
Washington Square,
Right in the heart of Greenwich Village.

My, what trees,
Smell that air,
Painters and pigeons in washington square.

On your left,
Waverly place,
Bit of paree in greenwich village.

My, what charm,
My, what grace!
Poets and peasants on waverly place.

Here you see
Christopher street,
Typical spot in greenwich village.

Ain't it quaint,
Ain't it sweet,
Pleasant and peaceful on christopher street?

Here is home,
Christopher street,
Right in the heart of greenwich village.

Life is calm,
Life is sweet,
Pleasant and peaceful on christopher street.

Here's a famous village type:
Mr. Appopolous, modern painter,
Better known on this beat
As the lovable landlord of christopher street.

Here's a guy known as the Wreck,
Football professional out of season,
Unemployed throughout the heat,
Living on nothing on christopher street.

Here is yet another type:
Everyone knows the famous violet.
Nicest gal you’d ever meet,
Steadily working on christopher street.

Life is gay,
Life is sweet,
Interesting people on christopher street.

Such interesting people live on christopher street!

Such interesting people live on christopher street!

Such interesting people live on christopher street!

Such interesting people live on christopher street!

Such interesting people live on christopher street!

Look! look!
Poets! actors! dancers! writers!

Here we live,
Here we love.
This is the place for self-expression.

Life is mad,
Life is sweet.
Greenwich village! greenwich village! wheeee!!

Such interesting people live on christopher street!

Such interesting people live on christopher street!

Here we live,
Here we love.
This is the place for self-expression.

Life is mad,
Life is sweet.

Interesting people living on christopher street!; 7/4/11, 1:36 AM
Toad Trend said...: @Hoosierman

Right on - Times Square used to be brutal. Hookers, drug dealing out in the open - now its about the safest spot in Manhattan. Even Canal St. is relatively safe.

Sounds like the riff raff have set up shop elsewhere.

Priorities, priorities, always come down to priorities. Nanny Bloomberg concerns himself with the business of others, law-abiding citizens in general...and the naredowells have free reign.

Isn't socialism and top-down administration wonderful? I'm guessing Nanny Bloom is already targeting another American city to export his 'concerns' to, now...; 7/4/11, 7:18 AM