There Goes The Neighborhood

This lament is heard in cities worldwide whenever something major changes that the incumbent residents don’t like. It isn’t limited to situations where an area goes downhill because of lower-income housing and the types of residents it’s meant for, either. An old friend who is no longer an urbanite was once married to a man who grew up in a Manhattan area that had become a hellhole of crime by the time they met; $500 per month for the 3-bedroom apartment kept them there until 1996. Was he in denial about the dangers of this area, where cars were being set on fire outside their building and girl gangs would rob women by threatening to harm their children? Or did he stubbornly believe that this neighborhood would turn around? Rumor has it so, with apartments like his former one going for $350K and more listings to come, but this was not happening until ten years after their departure.

The other situation that provokes this comment is the suburbanization of other neighborhoods. Some artist friends of the Urban Anthropologist who live in the East Village are saying this about the new proliferation of baby prams and children on heelies that disturb the quiet, artistic atmosphere that once prevailed there. While there are still plenty of sidewalk cafes and art galleries to be found, the atmosphere around them is often disturbed by shrieks and childish giggling, often unchecked by the parents.

The transformation of such a neighborhood is anathema to a creative soul when the sidewalk cafes are taken over by “I’m my children’s best friend” mothers and their unruly spawn. It is disconcerting to see a favored coffee house disappear in favor of a Gymboree or – Heaven forefend – Chuck E. Cheese. Etiquetteers all over the US are besieged with questions about the invasion of children into venues that used to be taken for granted as Adults Only. Weren’t the suburbs created for that way of life? Are they now too small to contain it?

Artists, musicians, and actors are the cultural lifeblood of Manhattan, but the sad reality is that the neighborhoods that once welcomed them are now priced out of their incomes. The well-heeled invaders with prams, nannies, and selective disciplining of their progeny are sending the artistic and creative people running to Brooklyn and Queens where gentrification is only a few steps behind them.

Astoria, the famous one-time Greek enclave in Queens, is currently experiencing something between gentrification and suburbanization. It is difficult to predict which of these forces will ultimately win out as there are such contradictory signs all over. Chain venues such as Chicago Uno, Panera, Applebees, and – of course – Starbucks – follow other things such as the Regal Multiplex which, as a first-run theatre with stadium seating, has become a destination for movie fans outside the neighborhood. The Museum of the Moving Image sits sedately nearby, showing vintage films to audiences that range from nostalgia buffs to sophisticates. Art house? From time to time the Museum shows latter-day horror and the Regal saves a screen or two for art house films such as Pan’s Labyrinth. The non-urbanite friend has no theatre near her showing Sweeney Todd yet. A performing arts high school is currently under construction, set to open in September of this year.

Sidewalk café culture has always been a staple of Astoria life with at least one every few blocks along Broadway and 30th Avenue. The variety of accents heard in them today is endemic to New York: Greek, Cypriot, Indian, Italian, endlessly stimulating the brain as the various foods stimulate the senses. The irony of all this is that the new Italian restaurant near the Regal, Cinema Paradiso, has followed the path of many a Manhattan eatery of all atmosphere and bland fare. The Fellini posters on the walls and the bottles of Pellegrino promise greater cuisine than is found there; the Urban Anthropologist didn’t see or taste a speck of oregano or basil on the pizza.

In a vain attempt to determine whether Astoria is becoming the new Manhattan, the Urban Anthropologist is more inclined to compare it to Ancient Rome. Locals need to be forgiving for the mixed metaphor, but that city of Caesar, Cicero, and Ovid was the model for the modern metropolitan city in ways the Sybils could never have predicted. It held people, both free and enslaved, from all over the Empire and points beyond. Romans loved their luxuries, their imports, their entertainments, and even their own violence. New York itself is the new Ancient Rome; Caesar himself would feel at home here.