Sophie's: The Bar That Started It All. Image: AHistoryOfNewYork.com.
Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing the anonymous blogger (aka ‘E.V.G.’) behind E.V. Grieve, a hyperlocal blog that covers the East Village neighborhood here in New York City. As we spoke, I found myself hearing echoes of that famous monologue from Arthur Miller’s classic play, ‘Death of Salesman,’ (about how attention must be paid to a man upon his death, even if he wasn’t a famous man or a rich man) and I couldn’t help but think about the monologue in the context of the East Village and all the changes its seen in the last half-century.
If you’re at all familiar with New York City, you know that it’s not only “The City That Never Sleeps,” but that it’s also a city that’s constantly in flux— perhaps the most reliably constant thing in New York is change itself. The East Village is no exception to this phenomenon, as Wikipedia notes:
The East Village […] was once generally considered to be part of the Lower East Side, but began to develop its own identity and culture in the 1960s, when many artists, musicians, students and hippies began to move into the area, attracted by cheap rents and the base of Beatniks that had lived there since the 1950s. The neighborhood has become a center of the counterculture in New York, and is known as the birthplace and historical home of many artistic movements, including punk rock and the Nuyorican literary movement. It has also been the site of protests and riots.
The East Village is still known for its diverse community, vibrant nightlife and artistic sensibility, although in recent decades gentrification has changed the character of the neighborhood somewhat.
What was once the epicenter of the counterculture movement has, like many parts of Manhattan, become increasingly gentrified. There are now fewer artists, higher rents and more college students and affluent young professionals in the East Village than there once were. Of course, there’s also less crime and many, many new vibrant businesses as well.
Whether you like it – or not – development happens in New York City. Neighborhoods grow, change, evolve and re-invent themselves. A resident of the East Village for roughly two decades, E.V.G. has seen a lot of changes: some for better, some for worse. On E.V. Greive, he’s documenting it all and, perhaps most importantly, paying attention. That’s why he’s a Blogger We Love.
We hope you find his reflections on hyperlocal blogging as fascinating as we did.
ON WHY HE CHOSE THE EAST VILLAGE
While he didn’t grow up in New York City, the East Village is the only New York City neighborhood E.V.G. has ever lived in:
I’ve been here for about 20 years. Some people might say, ‘hey, who are you to judge [development], you’ve only been here 20 years!’ I’m well aware of that, and there’s really nothing I can do about it. I got here as soon as I could! I think it’s [because of] my father, really – he had never lived here, but he was an Allen Ginsburg fan, and it really rubbed off on me— [the East Village] seemed like such a magical place.
ON WHY HE BECAME A HYPERLOCAL BLOGGER
“I started the blog after reading an item on Page Six – it said that Sophie’s was going out of business. [Before I read that], I was really just moving around in a blur. I wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on in the neighborhood. I wasn’t really noticing. But Sophie’s – that was the last straw. I was so pissed. I just thought, you know what, I’m going to start putting together all these [news] items about [Sophie’s], and then I was just going to go to the Sophie’s people and create this great time capsule about this great bar, this great place. So, that was the plan.”
ON THE EAST VILLAGE, THEN
I think we do make things better than they were—sometimes you only remember the good parts. It’s like High School. There’s a danger in romanticizing these things. Even Sophie’s – back when the bars would open at noon, and men would go there because they had no better things to do — they were waiting there to die. A lot of places along The Bowery were like that. Just ask someone who’s been to The Bowery in the late 1960’s: this was an awful place. It’s nice to look at these old vintage photos and say, ah, look at this great bar. But this was skid row. People were drinking themselves to death and it wasn’t anything to celebrate. But, at the same time, we don’t need to tear down the whole G*ddamn boulevard and build $2 million condos.
ON THE EAST VILLAGE, NOW
I think I like living here more now than I ever had before. I still think there’s a lot of energy here, now. Maybe a different kind of energy. There’s not that menacing undercurrent now—with [a lot of] the drug dealers [gone]. Sure, there was something cool about it [before], but it’s safer for my wife now. I don’t miss that [menacing energy].
ON THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF EAST VILLAGERS
These kids don’t care at all – I kinda feel that way. Some of the new generation living in the neighborhood… they don’t give a sh*t. They’ll throw up on your stoop, they’ll pee in your stairwell. So, I don’t necessarily see the respect as much as I did before. But I don’t hate NYU students. I speak to a lot of NYU students who love to live here.
ON DEVELOPING YOUR VOICE AS A BLOGGER
I don’t know, sometimes I take the attitude that we’re all in this together. I think it’s important to speak in a regular, everyday voice. I think people come to see you as a friend, as a trusted friend. I mean, how do you choose a movie to see? Do you go by the critics, or do you go by a friend’s recommendation? I personally always go by a friend’s recommendation. I think it’s important to be nice, too. You create more of a rapport with the readers that way. Sarcasm in small amounts is fine, but the world can only take so much. You have to be careful.
ON BLOGGING ANONYMOUSLY
It was never supposed to be about me. I like to think I’m pretty fair, I’m not just blasting people and taking pot shots. So I don’t fee like I’m hiding behind an anonymous pseudonym. Someone offered to send me a review copy of the new Keith Richards book, which I do want to read… but then someone would have my address. That would be awkward.
ON REPORTING AND BLOGGING REVENUE
I work in publishing. I like being a reporter, so it’s fun— it doesn’t seem like work to me. I started out in journalism, too, so cranking out a lot of copy on a short deadline [comes naturally to me]. I’m sort of in the volume business right now— though this isn’t a business. I don’t have any advertising. It doesn’t really matter to me. Even with good traffic, I could only make like $100 a month. It doesn’t really seem worth it, so it’s not a priority.
ON HOW TO WORK THE NEIGHBORHOOD BEAT AS A BLOGGER
Reach out to store owners here and there. It’s important to go to community meetings, too— you can’t always link to other people. You can’t always say, ‘Oh, Eater will be there,’ or ‘DNAInfo will be there.’ Sometimes you have to sit through the 9 hour meeting yourself.
ON GETTING BREAKING NEWS TIPS FROM READERS
There was this terrible fire on 14th Street at Avenue A – I was at work, stuck in an office. Someone from the scene kept sending me photos and providing a narrative of what was happening. Those breaking news stories are always really big.
ON BREAKING NEWS AND GETTING PICKED UP BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA
I got a lot of pick-up on Labor Day weekend. There’s this place called Diablo Royale, and I started getting all these emails about a ‘Boats n’ Hoes’ party they were having— it’s a reference to a movie with Will Farrell: they pretend they’re rich, famous rap stars. It’s funny— anyway, somebody who lives near there was sending me all these photos of 19-year-old NYU students waiting in line in really appalling, suburban outfits. It got picked up by Eater, Grubstreet and someone at The [Village] Voice, I think. It was just one of those things. A lot of people found that delicious. It’s kinda fun when you find out your blog is being linked to by crazy celebrity blogs in, like, Italy.
ON WHAT MAKES IT ALL POSSIBLE
I couldn’t do this website without the encouragement of so many people— people who are as passionate about the neighborhood as I am: people sending in tips and photos, people commenting and keeping the conversation going. I’m amazed, too, that people take the time to comment. The people that take the time— to me, that’s really the best thing. I really appreciate that passion and I certainly couldn’t do it without so many contributions. I’m really thankful for that. It really speaks to the passion of the neighborhood.
ON WHAT MAKES IT ALL WORTHWHILE
What makes it all worth it? [Interviews] like this. I really appreciate it. I know that sounds really corny, but it’s true.
