Late July 2011, would-be guests of the
historic and storied Chelsea Hotel (also known as
Hotel Chelsea or simply The Chelsea)
were informed on their reservations were suddenly canceled, in preparation for a year-long renovation project, which some people
speculate is a union-busting strategy. Given the concerns for the future of The Chelsea,
some came to throw last-minute parties, while long-term tenants held more somber gatherings. On August 1st,
current guests were abruptly escorted out, increasing anxieties about the plans of
the new owner, elusive real estate investor Joseph Chetrit. Even if this is the end of the era, the hotel's
long and varied legacy lives on ...
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Aug 6, 2011 -
47 comments
Veteran Australian pop satirist
New Waver, best known for covers of pop songs rewritten from a pessimistically neo-Darwinian point of view, has a new album out. Titled
Bohemian Suburb Rhapsody, it looks at the subjects of gentrification, the explosion of revivalist styles in "hip" music, contemporary white-collar culture, the ideology of the "creative class" in the post-industrial age and the resulting oversupply of cultural products, through the medium of cover songs and musical montage. The album is free for dowloading from
New Waver's web site; there is a more detailed explanation
here, and a video for the song "Hey Dude" (which explains the dynamics of gentrification through the medium of a Beatles cover)
here.
posted by acb
on Feb 28, 2010 -
14 comments
The United States Conference of
Mayors will take place from June 20th-24th in
Miami, FL. The
agenda (pdf)
includes rising energy costs, housing, water, transportation, street crime, public schools, gangs, health care quality and costs, secure airports and ports, illegal guns, drugs, and immigration with a special focus on
climate protection initiatives. Not to mention
speakers Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton.
[more inside]
posted by lunit
on Jun 18, 2008 -
2 comments
Harlem's commercial and cultural backbone, 125th Street, has been gentrifying fast; many of its Black-owned businesses have been forced out by high rents and replaced by branches of white-owned national chain stores. The street's best-known cultural centers remain (notably the
Apollo Theater and the
Studio Museum in Harlem), but now, its oldest surviving Black-owned store,
The Record Shack, is facing eviction. Owner Shikulu Shange, along with other Harlem residents, will lead a
town meeting next week to discuss strategies for keeping Black economic development alive in Harlem and in NYC (as of the 2000 U.S. Census, NYC's five boroughs were home to more than 98,000 of about 129,000 Black-owned businesses in all of New York State).
posted by allterrainbrain
on Jul 7, 2007 -
52 comments
