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Creative Class

Kingston, NY.2

A Different Spread

Wealthy New Yorkers fleeing COVID-19 set off a chain reaction of displacement and cultural loss in rural New York and other regions. Artists and the creative class might receive blame for the dramatic changes in their communities. However, artists seldom win in stories of gentrification.

Gowanus 2

Keeping Cities Weird

Recently, I visited “To Fast to Live, Too Young to Die,” an exhibit showcasing the graphic art of the early punk scenes in New York and London, at the Museum of Art and Design. The exhibit captured a raw, wild creative moment in New York.

(Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Yes, People Live in Lofts

When discussing my book, Left Bank of the Hudson: Jersey City and the Artists of 111 1st Street, at a public event or even among a handful of people, a fundamental question invariably arises: what might be done to retain–or better yet, draw–artists to a city undergoing development and gentrification?

An Afternoon in Greenwich Village: Fading Bohemia

Several weeks ago, I spent a Friday afternoon in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. Any casual devotee of the arts and literature understands the prominent position of Greenwich Village in the constellation of American bohemian. Authors, poets, playwrights, actors, and musicians began gravitating to the neighborhood before the Civil War with the opening of the Tenth…