Whoa. Sorry for the rough reintroduction of reality here. You may have noticed that we're back on the street, senses assaulted -- as it will be for guests of The Bowery Hotel if they venture a block north. This is looking north toward Cooper's Foundation Building. This NE corner is still, incredibly, occupied by a ratty, little, four story tenement. Someone is (I believe) still renting a third floor apartment. I have seen lights on that floor in the evenings, when I walk by. But the ground floor was gutted six months ago, and a new glass box hotel is being built around the old building. A neighbor told me in jubilant, anti-gentrification terms of the legal battle that has resulted in this bizarre stalemate. I have to get the story straight again, and will update it here. At a certain point, the building was incorporated into the hotel. It's now (2015) The Standard Hotel, and the first floor of the old building serves as the front desk, with acces to its restaurant and its walled garden.

Jim Markowich