Open Letter to Lockhart Steele and his Patrons of The Cause (aka "Schiller's List")
As an early pioneer of the Lower East Side wilds, long before you hatched from some New England enclave and migrated southward with all the other baby chicks sporting Ivy-stamped BA's and Boston accents, I must voice my opinion on the recent Schiller's Liquor Bar debate. First, I do not doubt it is an establishment worthy of glossy accolades by people who find peculiar pleasure in restaurant reviews writ large. Nor will I make salty, tired remarks about gentrification for I too enjoy the hot tail that wags on Ludlow.
But Schiller's has gone too far, too fast, too east. How much more can we mock the working class of this neighborhood with neon signs, white-painted façades, and vomit-drenched Hermès scarves? The school-going children of the LES deserve a more positive influence from local businesses and the people they cater. The economic tides you ride in borrowed Bentleys are anti-community and protracted discrimination. It's reached the point where I can't even find a decent family-owned flat tire fix-it shop anymore.
This makes me weep, thinking of the days I volunteered afternoons for the Henry Street Settlement. (Oh, the impression I made on little Javier. Sure, I deserted the mentor program after 3 weeks which probably reminded him of every other male figure in his life but the thought was there. Really.) Make no mistake, it was a time we took our city growing pains in stride. But now, with your A-Life sneaks and martini hangovers, you have weakened the anesthetic and aesthetic.
So what's next? Are you planning to mount a defense for the "Gentlemen's Club" across the street from the Anna Silver Elementary School on Houston and Essex? Mothers and fathers should no longer need to cover the eyes of sons and daughters to avert such monstrosities. (Seriously, that KISS mural on Nice Guy Eddie's has to go one of these days too.) I pledge to you Lockhart and anyone else foolish to ignore my cries - I will not stand idly by while your kind sucks the marrow out of a neighborhood's backbone!
Deflated, Stripped of Dignity, and a Little Fucked-Up,
Andrew Krucoff
As an early pioneer of the Lower East Side wilds, long before you hatched from some New England enclave and migrated southward with all the other baby chicks sporting Ivy-stamped BA's and Boston accents, I must voice my opinion on the recent Schiller's Liquor Bar debate. First, I do not doubt it is an establishment worthy of glossy accolades by people who find peculiar pleasure in restaurant reviews writ large. Nor will I make salty, tired remarks about gentrification for I too enjoy the hot tail that wags on Ludlow.
But Schiller's has gone too far, too fast, too east. How much more can we mock the working class of this neighborhood with neon signs, white-painted façades, and vomit-drenched Hermès scarves? The school-going children of the LES deserve a more positive influence from local businesses and the people they cater. The economic tides you ride in borrowed Bentleys are anti-community and protracted discrimination. It's reached the point where I can't even find a decent family-owned flat tire fix-it shop anymore.
This makes me weep, thinking of the days I volunteered afternoons for the Henry Street Settlement. (Oh, the impression I made on little Javier. Sure, I deserted the mentor program after 3 weeks which probably reminded him of every other male figure in his life but the thought was there. Really.) Make no mistake, it was a time we took our city growing pains in stride. But now, with your A-Life sneaks and martini hangovers, you have weakened the anesthetic and aesthetic.
So what's next? Are you planning to mount a defense for the "Gentlemen's Club" across the street from the Anna Silver Elementary School on Houston and Essex? Mothers and fathers should no longer need to cover the eyes of sons and daughters to avert such monstrosities. (Seriously, that KISS mural on Nice Guy Eddie's has to go one of these days too.) I pledge to you Lockhart and anyone else foolish to ignore my cries - I will not stand idly by while your kind sucks the marrow out of a neighborhood's backbone!
Deflated, Stripped of Dignity, and a Little Fucked-Up,
Andrew Krucoff
posted by kiddigit at 9:54 AM
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