There Goes the Neighborhood

"Some years ago, when Elizabeth Street began to change, I began to avoid it," blogs Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. "I used to go out of my way just to walk on it... In 1998 Bella's Luncheonette became Cafe Habana. And then a shop opened. It blared ear-splitting music and expelled obnoxious people who stepped over the Italian ladies peeling potatoes on the sidewalk... [Today], Elizabeth Street will break your heart." It sure will. Our new offices—which someone surely paid out the snout for—are located on Elizabeth Street. A high-end men's shaving store just opened up down the block—and then there's the fancy Public next door (try the kangaroo meat!) It's possible that a 150-person niche media company setting up shop is the apotheosis of the gentrification of this "Nolita" street—a made-up neighborhood name that the Little fuggin' Italy locals hate, by the way.