well, no, i don’t ‘sneak’ into ‘toys in babeland’, but i do occasionally go there in a decidedly un-sneaky way.
who can say no to a gynocentric, feminist sex-shop? even if i were a eunuch i would go into ‘toys in babeland’ just to look at the crazy vibrators.
i’ve heard a few men express frustration with their gender when confronted with the myriad remarkable sex-toys that exist for women. but you should see some of the crazy vibrators. they’re crazy.
the block on which teany resides is so interesting. there’s another cute cafe called ‘paul’s boutique’ (which is actually situated on the location where the ‘paul’s boutique’ record cover was shot), a psychic with a cute puppie, ‘toys in babeland’, participant inc art gallery, what used to be a sake bar but will soon re-open as who know’s what, a bangladeshi deli, a real estate office, and cute teany, my pride and joy.
i try to support the neighborhood, and it’s fairly easy when there are so many interesting things in the neighborhood. and around the corner there’s old faithful max fish, and summer phoenix is opening a little boutique on ludlowe between stanton and rivington, and there’s the rivington arms gallery, as owned by bryce marden’s daughter mirabelle, and the cool but overpriced furniture at las venus (where i did buy a lot of furniture when it was cool but not so expensive…), and breakbeat science, and bauhaus, and suba, and rookie, and so on and so on and so on and too many shops and bars and restaurants and clubs and galleries to name.
the gentrification in the lower east side might be offensive to some people, what with elevated rents, but the l.e.s has managed to retain a lot of it’s original character and inhabitants. and anyone who complains about gentrification should keep in mind that the ‘old’ l.e.s was a place where kids would get mugged walking to school and senior citizens were routinely brutalized and people were selling crack on the corner and so on. so gentrification might not be without it’s liabilities, but if one of the by-products of gentrification is a decrease in crime for thepeople who live in the neighborhood, then gentrification can’t be all bad, can it?
ok, so that’s me waxing rhapsodic about the lower east side. and there’s the pickle man on orchard between broome and grand. and the tenement museum.
and tien garden (the l.e.s’s true vegan restaurant…), and tg-170, and again i could go on and on. i’m happy to live and work in the lower east side. in time it might become so gentrified that we all have to run screaming, but for now it’s a really nice place to live and work.
at least that’s my opinion.
and i love teany.
but i’ve said that before.
but i still love it.
moby