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"East Village" Debuted In The Times 52 Years Ago Today!
By
Garth Johnston
Published Feb 7, 2012
Modified Feb 7, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Feb 7, 2012
Modified Feb 7, 2012
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Only fitting that the day after we wrote about the silly man who wants to rename the Kips Bay neighborhood NoEVil (North of the East Village) we'd find out that today is, arguably, the 52nd anniversary of the East Village itself its moniker. Yup, as EVGrieve notes, the Paper of Record first mentioned the "East Village" in a February 7, 1960 story called "Village' Spills Across 3D Ave." The best part? The name is, naturally, all the fault of the real estate agents!
In the eighth paragraph of the article the Grey Lady notes that, "Rental agents-some of them advertising rooms for '$40 and down'-are increasingly referring to the area as Village East or East Village." Can you imagine what you might get for $40 now? Maybe a shelf in somebody's fridge.
Anyway, the gist of the article—that the destruction of the Third Avenue El made it easier for artists, bohemians and hipsters to escape the already more expensive Village without really leaving—is interesting. And, considering the ups and downs the area has seen since the story appeared—anybody else remember practicing counting by tracking the colors of the crack vials on the sidewalk in the 1980s?—it is pretty amusing to see that "gentrification" and its variations has always been an issue there.
Anyway, happy name-day old girl! May you survive this latest round of transients long enough for the next round.
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east village
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Garth Johnston
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