I grew up in that area– on Jane St., at the border of the West Village and the Meatpacking District, and it’s sad for me to visit home now that the neighborhood has changed so much. Not in a good way.

The gentrifying forces of designer boutiques, expensive hotels and fancy restaurants that cater to visitors has displaced virtually all the native businesses, owned by locals, that were there when I grew up– the most recent casualty being the amazing French diner Florent, where my parents used to go to in the wee hours when they were residents at St. Vincent’s and where I used to go on my home from parties. But also lost are the hardware stores, bakeries, delis, family restaurants and supermarkets that catered to locals. Now that most everyone but the wealthiest residents has been displaced by speculative real estate prices of the last decade, there is painfully little business left that caters to the needs of the community.