RENT and a Changing East Village

A really thought-provoking piece in The Times by Campbell Robertson about the impact of the themes explored by RENT as it stands today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/nyregion/thecity/13rent.html?_r=1&ref=thecity&oref=slogin

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Was this just on their website or was this published in the newspaper today?

thanks!

Updated On: 7/13/08 at 08:34 PM

Also would this be in papers outside of the city. I am in NJ and I've been feverishly been searching for it and I can't find the city section..

Thanks

thanks for the link to that article gothampc. the threat of gentrification in the east village is nothing new. that new york magazine article documenting the beginnings was written in 1984 - a full ten years prior to RENT.

the reality is even though it was a rough neighborhood the east village and the lower east side were always "trendy" to some point. in the 1960s it was trendy because of the hippie movement which gave way in the 1980s to the new wave/punk movement and so on and so on and so forth.

the rents around that area were slowly creeping up as early as 1984...it was a slow process but it was inevitable for it to become what it is today.

the most jarring images for me were the images of the life cafe in both the new york times article from this year and the new york magazine article in 1984. HUGE difference, HUGE transformation. that it was featured so prominently in two articles written over 20 years apart illustrates it's importance within that community. RENT served to solidify it's already legendary status. that it now sells souvenirs and tote bags is not suprising...it was bound to happen.

I graduated from college and came to New York to attend NYU in 1977.

I got a studio apartment on East 3rd Street between 1st and 2nd--the Hell's Angels block--for $175/month.

The following summer I moved to a tiny one-bedroom to 107 St. Marks Place, between 1st Avenue and Avenue A for $250/month. I stayed there till 1992.

The apartment was on the 6th floor and faced St. Mark's Place. Ordinarily, it was a quiet block, except for the crosstown bus.

But the night of the Tompkins Square Riot, I had a front-row balcony seat. I lit a joint and watched as mounted police in riot gear clashed with garbage-can throwing residents and activists.

It was pretty much over after that. They shut down the park for two years and by the time it reopened, the Christadora was selling.

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