A Saturday Walk

It was a Saturday, and after working hard at home for a few days, I needed to get out.   I decided to do a bookstore walk; visiting three of my favorites; Dashwood Books, the bookstore at the New Museum, and McNally-Jackson.   Unfortunately, this meant braving the Saturday shopping crowds in Noho and Soho and Roho; apparently everyone desperately needs new clothes.
Dashwood Books is on Bond Street between Lafayette and Bowery (in Noho), a block which has a lot of memories for me.  Back in the 70's, it was a pretty desolate area, but home to the avant-garde saxophonist Sam River's performance space.  I remember many a concert there; and afterwards, wandering out late at night in the deserted streets, feeling somewhat nervous.  (It was the 1970's, after all.)   In the 1980's, we had good friends who lived in a loft on that block.  By then the streets were less deserted at night; instead, crack dealers and their customers populated the block at night.   I remember the police coming by and, by their presence, chasing them all away; ten minutes later, they would all be back.  Now, the building our friends lived in has been torn down, and the block is dominated by Ian Schrager's high end condo building designed by Herzog and de Meuron.   Fancy boutiques, etc. now line the street. I hope Dashwood Books survives; they are in a basement level shop, which might help.

Progress?

The same general narrative applies to Soho, though it all happened earlier.   Now Soho functions as a giant shopping mall, which is sad, because the architecture is still there.   And if you can ignore the retail throngs, you can look up and begin to imagine what it all looked like 50 years ago.  There are still some amazing buildings.

MacNally Jackson Books in Soho is a fantastic bookstore; discerning taste and a large selection make for wonderful browsing.

And the Bowery is following the same trends as well, though the restaurant equipment stores that used to dominate the area are still around, and the architecture is not really that interesting.   (There was a reason that it was the neighborhood for "bums".)   And now the "bums" can go to Whole Foods.  (I get disconcerted whenever I go in to a Whole Foods in Manhattan; there is too much room in the aisles, I can't possibly be in New York.   I must be in a suburb, or Vancouver. )  The New Museum (on Bowery) has a great bookstore, which includes not only books about new art, but a carefully curated selection of literature, etc.   Take that, MOMA!

Looking up in Soho:

It never ceases to amaze me how much elaborate decoration they put on these barely visible upper stories:

And you never know what you will find when you are walking around: