The Local: A Record of Harlem’s Change

Harlem’s most ubiquitous activist and resident Cassandra, Sikhulu Shange, has been warning against the perils of gentrification and the displacement of small businesses in the community for decades. He became living proof of his most dire prophesies this summer when he was forced to close his iconic music store on 125th Street, the Record Shack, Read More

The Local: McCondos in Bay Ridge

It’s been over three years since the city passed a contextual rezoning of Bay Ridge to limit "out-of-character development" in the low-rise neighborhood, but tensions between nostalgic residents and developers who continue to squeeze three- and four-story apartment buildings into plots once occupied by single-family homes show no signs of abating.

The "Green Church" Read More

The Local: Dorrian’s Gay!

Not since Zack Morris has a name been so often associated with the word preppy than Dorrian’s Red Hand, an unabashedly anti-hip bar on 84th Street and Second Avenue.

Dorrian’s became notorious during the investigation that led to the conviction of so-called "preppy killer" Robert Chambers, a Dorrian’s patron, in 1988. But, for Read More

The Local: From 5-0 to 311

On July 22, just a couple of weeks shy of the 20-year anniversary of the Tompkins Square Park riots, the Parks Department opened a $150,000 dog run, complete with a canine paddling pool, in what was once a refuge for the homeless and all manner of fringe groups.

The inauguration of a sleeker, odorless, more Read More

The Local: On Wall Street, Cautious Fatalism

Wall Street was swarming with camera-toting, fanny-pack-sporting tourists last Friday afternoon, but few of them dared venture past the doorman standing sentry outside the pristinely intimidating Hermes boutique on Broad Street.

Inside, a woman from Abu Dhabi, wearing a black abaya accented by a diamond-encrusted, Chanel wristwatch and an oversized, patent-leather bag emblazoned with Read More

The Local: Homeless Feel Economy's Downturn

Mike Fleming, a 29-year-old Ohio native who has been living on the streets since 2003, had his 15 minutes of fame a few months ago when he discovered the building schematics for the Freedom Tower while sifting through a trashcan on Houston Street.

A couple months later, Mr. Fleming again finds himself facing the Read More