Block Party

"Cruising down 8th street, off-white Lexus..."

Jay-Z, "Empire State of Mind", 2009

The key to living in a great neighborhood is to find that one dodgy street in the middle of browstone lined streets - Exhibit A: West 8th street, between 5th and 6th avenue: my block. Formerly known as "the shoe street".

I'm not kidding. When I tell people where I live, many respond "ohhhh the street with all the shoe shops". It's really random how one block drew so many shoe vendors but truly, every other window shop used to be filled with Italian leather loafers, cowboy boots, hiking boots, stilettos, and every shape, size and color inbetween. My roommate, Liza, and I often fantasized about filming a spoof of the You Tube "shoes" video walking down our block. That was 2 years ago. Over the past 2 years, the face of this block has changed dramatically. Blame it on the recession, the decline of demand for tacky shoes, or the laws of capitalism, but many shoe shops and restaurants have shut their doors.

RIP Chicken & Pizza Bar with your one-stop shop for my two favorite food items, RIP Pio Maya serving sub-par tex-mex, RIP next-door jazz cafe that serenaded me on my walks home, RIP Salvation Army Donation Center providing the absolute best costumes - you are missed.

But as we all know, when one shop door closes, another opens. And there are some great new neighbors which have brought new life to this block. While my roomates and I are thrilled of the new additions, we secretly hope this block doesn't get too nice, or our rent may go up.

I could devote an entire blog to the quirkyness that is my block (the motorcycle tailgates, the tranny shops, the underground rave club, wondering why the double decker tour busses drive down our street, etc....in fact, maybe that is worth another blog) but instead I'll frequently feature the greatness that is west 8th street, between 5th and 6th avenue.