Full disclosure, I grew up in Jersey, but NYC has been a part of my life since before I was able to make memories. I remember hookers and crack vials in Times Square and a meat packing district that actually packed meat. I shed a tear for youth lost when when CBGBs closed and I migrated to Katz Deli when 2nd Ave Deli became a Citibank. I have been priced out of formally dangerous neighborhoods and seen gentrification land on the shores of Brownsville. Pearl Paint is now closed and a beer in a brown bag will get you locked up. Despite all of that, nothing prepared me for today in Washington Square. This was the place I bought my first bag of weed, my first tab of acid, I used to skate there, lose horribly in rap battles to kids from Brooklyn projects, and generally, sowed my wild oats in that park. Today I went there for the first time since they renovated it and got the sense that it was now NYUs quad. What really drove it home though was, for the first time ever, I used the public restroom in Wash Square Park, EVER. This, for me, was the realization that our city has moved on, this, for me, marked the end of an era. Here is my toast... may NEW, New York City still provide the fire for the eager youth, that it provided for me and long live the NYC of yesteryear, may her spirit still haunt the avenues and streets for centuries to come.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Apr 2014 03:15:43 +0000
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