My new book, Feral City, hits the shelves October 4, 2022. You can pre-order it today from your local bookshop and wherever books are sold. Thank you! What happens when an entire social class abandons a metropolis? This genre-bending journey through lockdown New York offers an exhilarating, intimate look at a city returned to its rebellious spirit.    The pandemic lockdown of 2020 launched an unprecedented urban experiment. Traffic disappeared from the streets. Times Square fell silent. And half a million residents fled the most crowded city in America. In this innovative and thrill ..read more

As New York City reopens after lockdown, it is also closing down. During 2020, especially from spring to summer, many New Yorkers who ventured into the streets found a joyful and communal openness to the city, in the midst of so much anxiety and grief during the pandemic. In public parks, we gathered together, in mixtures of races and classes, to play music, dance, and connect politically for actions we hoped would change the world for the better. Coalitions formed. Empathy increased. Friendships were made. As spring 2021 came, this vibrant new life continued--but the city is working hard to s ..read more

 VANISHED One of the greatest, and one of my favorites, has gone. After temporarily shuttering during the pandemic, Eisenberg's sandwich shop, near the Flatiron since 1929, has closed for good. A For Lease sign is in the window. I went by yesterday and talked with building manager Jackie Valiente who told me that she and the building owner would love to save Eisenberg's, but they need someone to take it over and keep it as it is. "Someone who wants the old Eisenberg's," she said, "the old concept of New York." That concept, said customer Arnold Engelman, is simple. "Eisenberg's is what N ..read more

This article in the Guardian begins, "On a damp and humid Thursday afternoon Manhattan’s Union Square is looking sorry for itself. There’s 73,000 sq ft of empty retail space up for grabs at 44 Union Square in the now boarded up neo-Georgian landmark that was once Tammany Hall."  What it doesn't mention is the fact that several small mom-and-pop businesses were pushed out of the building in 2016 to make room for, undoubtedly, more chain and luxury businesses that would fit the class of workers intended for the building's high-tech makeover.      Frank's Wines & Liquors ..read more

The wonderful, radical, fiercely essential, collectively owned Bluestockings bookstore and activist center is leaving. "This is not goodbye," they write. "This is 'wait for our new location announcement,' hopefully soon." "Though we wish we were making this decision on our own terms, our decision has been forced by the demands of our landlord for more money and by their inaction on necessary repairs to the structural damage our wild little slice of space has endured over these last 21 years." Let's hope they stay in the neighborhood of the Lower East Side, though that seems rather unlikel ..read more

VANISHING Back in 2013, the old Odessa closed. This Odessa was also known as the "dark" Odessa. It was the first Odessa and the one I loved best. Now the new Odessa, also known as a the "light" Odessa, is closing. Odessa in miniature by Nicholas Buffon When the old Odessa still existed, I didn't go much to the new Odessa because it felt redundant and too new when it opened back in 1990-whenever. Then, when the old Odessa closed, I went to the new Odessa (which was no longer new) because it was no longer redundant and, in fact, was one of the only places left in the East Village where you c ..read more

In 1975, when Mayor Abe Beame planned to lay off thousands of firefighters, police, and other law enforcement officers, their unions, operating under the name Council for Public Safety, took revenge by printing up a harrowing leaflet designed to keep tourists out of New York. Entitled “Welcome to Fear City,” it featured a grim reaper on the cover. The advice included: (1) Stay off the streets after 6 p.m., (2) Do not walk; (3) Avoid public transportation, i.e., "never ride the subway for any reason whatsoever”; (4) Remain in Manhattan, restricting your movements to Midtown only; and five more ..read more

VANISHED After 62 years, Record Mart, "the oldest record store in Manhattan," has closed. photo: Jesse Jarnow Untapped Cities reports the sad news, “I’d seen them clearing the store out last week but I thought it was because of the fear of looting.” It was not the looting. It was "due to the pandemic," according to a sign on their door, which also reads, "We are moving into the vintage audio business, where we buy, refurbish, and sell audio equipment. Please visit us at recordmartwifi.com to browse our selection, or if you want to contact us to sell your audio gear." I was last inside Rec ..read more

Yesterday, I marched with the Black Lives Matter rally and protest that kicked off from Union Square and traveled to the West Side Highway and through the Village. I broke off there, but they continued their march, until night fell and they settled back at Union Square. In the dark, the protest turned into a rebellion, some call it a riot, as protesters smashed and set fire to police vehicles and broke the windows of nearby bank chains. I went back out around 10:30 p.m when the streets of the East Village were silent, except for the sound of police helicopters overhead. Second Avenue wa ..read more

VANISHED Another small-business casualty of the coronavirus shutdown, Foley's pub on West 33rd has closed for good. This afternoon, owner Shaun Clancy posted a sad video on Twitter to say,  "Foley's won't reopen. Just with everything that's going on, there's just no way that I see that we can do it." He thanks his customers and family, and concludes, "This is the end of the inning, but not the end of the game." Foley's, located in an antique barroom featuring many original features, overflows with a stunning array of baseball memorabilia. I've enjoyed a few burgers there over the ..read more