Broadway in the 90s...

http://www.dnainfo.com/20110620/upper-west-side/westside-market-open-third-location-at-broadway-97th-st

But I thought they have one downtown, too????

The downtown location is at 7th Ave @ 16th St. - nice store!

But 16th Street isn't Downtown.

Weird.

Looking forward to Westside Market taking over that space. Wonder what will happen with Gourmet Garage once Westside moves in...

>>But 16th Street isn't Downtown.<<

To us Upper Westies it is...

front-porch — yes:
http://myupperwest.com/upper-west-side/upper-west-side-openings-new-westside-market-and/

bramstar: "To us Upper Westies it is..."

Does that mean people from Westchester would call you a southerner?

That means people from Inwood would call us 'southerners'.

It used to be uptown, downtown, eastside or westside. Maybe if we wanted to sound lofty we would say "the village". Fran Lebowitz addressed this in her book Social Studies as to the area name changes. She decided she would concoct one. Her new area was Nortisosher. Better known as North of Tiffany's, south of Sherry Netherland.

When will B'way from 96th to 103rd start to look a little better? When Westside Market comes in? I prefer the feel of Broadway north of 103rd. Anyone else?

875gator, that's it. Westside Market. It takes one good one for the rest to follow. That seems to be the history of the UWS for the last 35 years. With all the action at Westside Market, others of like kind will want to be there to grab the foot traffic. Two years from now could be a different story.

> But 16th Street isn't Downtown.

The village was considered downtown by the folks uptown. Think of CBGBs... the whole downtown vs. uptown going out scene....

Kiss's loft on 23rd was also considered downtown...

Bill - I hope you are right. Doesn't seem like Urban Outfitters is going to be the one to improve this part of Bway.

875gator, you are right. It needs to be something upscale that a large ratio of the area will support. Urban Outfitters has a much slimmer demographic. As soon as I saw this post about Westside Market going to that area, I saw history repeating itself in a good way.

I too would like to see more shopping options from 96 to 106 even. Any ideas about how to draw attention to the possibilities for retailers? I have written letters to a few places to try to get them to look at the commercial real estate options in the area with no such luck yet. There is an absence of shopping for clothing and shoes in that area for kids and adults. It seems to me there are enough families in the area to easily support such businesses and with the number of condo conversations with multi million dollar apartments, there must be a lot more disposabe income in the area as well. And what about that old movie theater next to the ariel on broadway - what is going to happen with that spot? Any great ideas?

WEST7 - I think what halt it is the project just around the corner of 100 and east broadway, do you?

by projects i mean the low income 12 buildings just around the corner of 100 st

Ali - Yes, it's true. I live nearby and the construction has already begun. No word on an official opening, but it's excellent news for the neighborhood. But we're already lucky with Gourmet Garage, Whole Foods, a very big The Health Nuts store (love their organic produce), several wine/liquor stores, Joon's fish market, and a weekly year-round Greenmarket every Friday morning at W. 97th Street.

I think there's room and appetite for them all to thrive, including the new Westside Market which will arrive just in time as Fairway's prices are going through the roof -- it's no longer worth a bus ride to shop there to save a little $$. Instead Fairway is starting to make Whole Foods seem like a bargain. The one store I think that might be fatally damaged by a new Westside Market is the Gristedes on W. 96th Street, which would be no loss to the neighborhood. It's expensive and grim.

Could the Joyce Theater, which announced it needs to move, relocate to the Metro Theater? And how about converting some of the abundance of under-utilized SROs to low cost dormitory-style housing for artists and performers.

I don't think the fact that there are projects east of B'way should negatively influence retailers from setting up shop on B'way...especially on the west side of the street. I think a few more trees would help also. I get a much more 'trafficy' feel walking the sidewalk between 96th and 103rd versus higher up. How about Lincoln Plaza type movies at the old Metro with maybe tables and food served in the theatre? Just a thought.

875gator, you are correct IMO. What was going on east of Broadway didn't deter the twenty or so blocks south through the years. It's just this pocket of 96th to 103rd is taking a bit longer. Trees do help enormously and that is up to the residents of the area to start requesting that. As I stated above, Westside Market is a great achor for the rest to follow and I would not be surprised if there are those now as we speak negotiating or considering upscale retail in the area. Two years, that's my prediction.

As a resident in the area, do you know how you go about requesting trees? Do the buildings have that responsibility for their particular part of the block or is there a city agency you have to contact? I'd like to support the process if anyone has ideas about how to get that process going.

I love the idea of performance space or an art gallery with low cost studio space for neighborhood artists - I guess with symphony space down the street, it might be hard to get the performnce space idea going but perhaps the art space in the area might be a possibility.

Any other ideas out there?

Ah, yes - I remember Broadway in the 90's - Beauty and The Beast, Jellie's Last Jam, The Will Rogers Follies. It was a glorious time, and don't we all miss President Clinton?

Is it the SROs that keep this area from improving?

what's sro?

SRO refers to single room occupancy hotels -- which have complicated histories and impacts on neighborhoods.

And as for the trees, the City of New York will pay for trees and their plantings in neighborhoods throughout the 5 boros. To find out how to make a request you can search nyc.gov or call 311 to get more information about the program, or call the neighborhood's Community Board, which is Manhattan's Community Board 7 (also found by searching nyc.gov).

For now I guess I will walk north of 100th street on Bway.

Any other suggestions?