From boozy to bourgeois, the Bowery is a-changin’.
Bursting at its seams with boutique hotels and Gen Y niteries, the Bowery – the north-south street that runs from Chinatown’s Chatham Square to Astor Place – was once known for its drunkards, prostitutes and homeless.
“The big move is to go from alcohol and the Bowery Bums – the down-and out Lower East Side drug scene – into a club that has wheat grass and vegan foods,” says Bob Holman, owner of the Bowery Poetry Club.
Developers are buying out low-rent restaurant supply shops and erecting $2 to $12 million lofts along the Bowery. Small businesses priced out of the flashy neighborhood are packing up, opting for less expensive rents in the outer boroughs. Big biz and wealthy yuppies are moving in. Yet, some of the artists and original tenants are holding their ground.
The revival of the Bowery today mimics a similar one it experienced nearly 200 years ago. At the turn of the 19th Century, the best homes and theaters boasted a Bowery address. But the rich became bored after buying up the area and began departing as more immigrants moved in. After bank failures in the 1850s, the Bowery became a magnet for New York's underbelly: third-rate theaters and actors, alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, con artists, gamblers and drug dealers.
Bowery Bits:
- The Bowery got its name from Dutch settlers who built their farms or "bouwerij," along the road. They coined the cow path “The Bowery Road.”
- The Bowery was also called "Lampland," as many of its stores sell lighting fixtures retail and wholesale. The neighborhood is also known for its jewelry businesses and the assortment of restaurant supplies wholesalers.
- The Amato Opera, a 103-seat theater, celebrates its 60-year anniversary in 2008. Tickets are $35.
- The Whole Foods food court at Bowery and Houston Street is a popular singles-meeting place.
Trends on the Bowery:
- Fashion designers meet the wild wild west on the Bowery. Patricia Field's new shop at 302 Bowery and Marion's Continental monthly "fashion brunch" at 354 Bowery draw a chic crowd.
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| New Media Newsroom 2007A: In the Nabe 
Biz on the Bowery
Down Bowery Lane