Thursday, November 15, 2012

Toll on 22

As another Toll Brothers' tower gets ready to rise on 22nd St. and 3rd Ave., a (presumed) local has responded with a bit of pointed graffiti.



What's Going On Here?

Armed with a Magic Marker, the graffitist has line-edited the explanation, and remarks, "you got a lot of nerve thinking people will believe your bullshit!"

 

The graffitist continues around the corner, remarking on affordability and inequality.



And here's what's coming--the thing that ate Gramercy, a mountain of glass enveloping a small brick tenement. It is celebrated, in the renderings, by striving, smiling people laden with shopping bags and briefcases. The people of New York. More familiar every day.








8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen an explanation for the legal mechanism that allowed this project to build over the lot containing the small brick building; it would appear that the owner of the brick building cut a deal with the developer, selling their development rights while retaining their building. Does anyone know?

Anonymous said...

The best graffiti I've seen on a building site was at the monster going up at 9th St & roughly 3rd Ave, across from K-Mart. It said "Imagine a park here".

BabyDave said...

As a commenter mentioned in June 2008, just wait until the police academy moves out and some developer takes over that and/or the Cabrini Hospital land.
You ain't seen nothin' yet in "Gramercy."

glamma said...

All hail the magic marker heroes.

laura said...

i fail to see what is so wrong w/a shopping bag. maybe she bought something. somtimes we do. sometimes they do. sometimes you do.

Anonymous said...

These renderings almost always do not feature people of color.

Anonymous said...

Wait, you mean all New Yorkers aren't slim, orthodontically correct, caucasoid and either brunette or blond?

I thought the Toll Brothers were growing their tenants in large cloning silos in the Bronx nowadays like in "the Matrix?"

Heh, go figure.

Anonymous said...

Notionally, new housing coming online (albeit at the Vongerichtified end of the scale) should improve supply and fluidity for housing elsewhere in the city, right?

It's also possible that some number of units in the building are set aside for low-income residents. I lived in a rental building once (323 West 96th) that was new, but had units set aside for that purpose in exchange for tax abatements.