London’s Shoreditch turns into Williamsburg (circa 2005)

[editor]

We went for a walk around Brick Lane and Shoreditch on Monday night and I found it a tad depressing to see how the whole area had unimaginatively turned into a complete clone of New York's Lower East Side/Williamsburg.

Anyway, I had a bit of a rant here: http://www.urban75.org/blog/londons-shoreditch-turns-into-williamsburg-circa-2005

And there's more pics here:
http://www.urban75.org/london/london-brick-lane-east-end-walk.html

There was near identical graffiti, the same street art, the same kind of hipsters wandering about, and the same feeling that gentrification is mere inches away.

 

[scifisam]

I thought gentrification was already here, no inches to spare.

 

[rover07]

What was Shoreditch like a few years ago?

 

[Orang Utan]

nowt wrong with young people having fun and making their surrounding look nicer

 

[bluestreak]

it is, IME. i've lived, worked, and socialised on-and-off in the area since 1996 and it was irretrievably hipster by 2001 and gentrification was well under way by that time. rents have gone up disproportionately in the area since 1998. the modern hipster shops and graf are a commercial and mainstream imitation of the british wing of the same movement that was despoiling the LES. and don't forget that TH was way ahead in the gentrification stakes compared to Lambeth, and certain brixtonites were complaining of gentrification and "blow-ins" as long as i've been posting here - nearly a decade now. we're damn lucky you can only gentrify brixton so much, otherwise we'd be in the same situation.

your point about it looking like the LES / williamsburg is right, IME of the area from 5 years ago. you've been back there a fair few times since then so you've seen it evolve as well.

 

[Stobart Stopper]

I think the changes really started in about 1998/9. I remember Shoreditch back in the early 70's; my dad still had a few family members living around there. It was old tenement buildings and the Columbia Road when it was proper east end market selling crap. Broadway market was the same back then as well.

 

[Jon-of-arc]

Chicken bagels, £1.50. I really fancy one now.

 

[lang rabbie]

So the comparison is with Williamsburg long after it ceased to be interesting???

... is the new Williamsburg

When I was last in NYC this spring, and confined to Manhattan, the listings mags/NYT/word on the street all seemed to be saying that the Williamsburg thing was over {If indeed it ever comprised more than a few bars between the galleries before the real estate agents got wind of it}

Most of the artists were reputed to have moved to Berlin (Federal Republic of Germany, not Berlin, NJ) and various locations were suggested for the new home of the zeitgeist.

Astoria
Greenpoint
The Financial District
and even...
Jersey City!

Any views on whether Williamsburg is still worth exploring by day or night, and if not - where do impoverished artists now drink before going off to shiver in their garrets?

Alternatively, has the move of MOMA into Queens revitalised some areas in Long Island city that used to be pretty dead?

 

[editor]

So the comparison is with Williamsburg long after it ceased to be interesting???

I'm comparing it to the time just before the rezoning went through and all the last remaining squats were cleared.

We were staying in a semi squatted apartment on Berry Street in 2005 and there was still plenty of derelict buildings around, but when we went back the year after even the local cafe had been swept away, with as stream of 'realtors' opening up.

 

[pk]

I loved it between 1998 and 2000 - it was the place to be for parties in London then, all the way... nothing beat the 333 back then for good old-fashioned carnage for the more discerning punter...

 

[twistedAM]

I loved it between 1998 and 2000 - it was the place to be for parties in London then, all the way... nothing beat the 333 back then for good old-fashioned carnage for the more discerning punter...

There was very little else around the area at time too, maybe Plastic People but not much else. I vividly remember coming out of the 333 several times at whenever o'clock to be met by about 20-30 unlicenced cabbies. It's a bit of blur but there were pubs around that arae at the time that made Bradys feel like a Harvester.

 

[editor]

I used to work near there in the 80s and (adopts old man voice) it was a lot different back in those days, I can tell you. Oh yes, sirree.

There used to be a pub with a large and rather elderly stripper near Quaker Street, and I used to get dragged down there by my work colleagues for a few pints at lunch-time. She'd dump her vast baps in your lager in the hope of a tip.

It was 'orrible.

 

[Orang Utan]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0354012/

 

[pk]

There was very little else around the area at time too, maybe Plastic People but not much else. I vividly remember coming out of the 333 several times at whenever o'clock to be met by about 20-30 unlicenced cabbies. It's a bit of blur but there were pubs around that arae at the time that made Bradys feel like a Harvester.

Naaa, we ran the Docherty's shoe factory on Kingsland Road and had a big studio with garden sheds for chill-outs up towards Stoke Newington, by the "Free Reggie Kray" graffiti on the bridge - had 2 systems going on... it's all a bit of a blur now though... good times for sure.

 

[paolo]

I lived nearby around 1999-2001.

It was already turning then, but there a few good places.

Always preferred Mother, above, rather than the 333 itself. And the Bricklayers had it's moments.

Last time in Williamsburg was a brief moment in 2002, for the Warriors cycle run. Based on that quick glimpse, I'd have said Williamsburg (and the LES) was following London, not leading it.

 

[19sixtysix]

I miss the London Apprentice (now 333 old st). It was a dive but great for late night booze when pubs shut at 11..

 

[editor]

Last time in Williamsburg was a brief moment in 2002, for the Warriors cycle run. Based on that quick glimpse, I'd have said Williamsburg (and the LES) was following London, not leading it.

Nah. The whole hipster scene and the arty street graffiti is very much imported.

 

[discokermit]

used to be full of cockney cunts, now it's just full of cunts. boofuckinghoo.

 

[IMR]

The hipster scene in Shoreditch is not too different from what used to exist in Notting Hill/Ladbroke Grove, Kensington Market, Carnaby Street and Kings Road years ago. What's fashionable has moved from west London to a smallish area of east London.

 

[hipipol]

Lived at 1 Spital Sq in 92/93
Whores would shag their punters against my door, found 30 used johnnies draped on the fence one morning then turned the corner to see Naomi Campbell doing an underwear shoot on the steps of Deavers House.
Pussy Posse squatted one of the old of the old fruit shops/wharehouses in the old market, had some good parties, New Years was cool, got in for free cos I was a "local" ie lived less than 100 yeards away, appeared at the magistrates hearing for a new pub in a suit and tie proclaiming the need for a quiet bar, The White Horse on Folgate Street, now called the Water Poet, suppose I helped to destroy the place, but all the other locals were pretty scary.
All Nations up Kingsland Road, bass bins to die for was the place dubwise - buying really nice Afghani puff from Asian boys - fuck all open on Sunday - Old Street was Junky Central, seeing shit bands at the Princess on Paul St when it was squatted

To outsiders it looked like a complete shit hole, but I liked it.

started going well wrong in the late 90s


Its been fucked for a while

 

[ChrisFilter]

I'd always been lead to believe that Williamsburg followed Shoreditch. And by Yanks n' all.

The Shoreditch Twat was in circulation at least a decade ago.

 

[editor]

I'd always been lead to believe that Williamsburg followed Shoreditch. And by Yanks n' all.

The Shoreditch Twat was all about the new media invasion. I'm going on about the physical look of the place, and that's what'e been imported into Shoreditch, with an identical style of graffiti.

 

[iROBOT]

i used to go to the Bass Cleff quite a bit, late 80's which later became The Blue Note which was alright (wanker doorman) now it's Blue and totally shite and even worse doormen. I get dragged there by my City working cousins, which says it all really.

 

[Cowley]

The hipster scene in Shoreditch is not too different from what used to exist in Notting Hill/Ladbroke Grove, Kensington Market, Carnaby Street and Kings Road years ago. What's fashionable has moved from west London to a smallish area of east London.

West London (Ladbroke Grove/Notting Hill) is still very fashionable IMHO, it's just a lot more mature than East London & obviously a lot more expensive. It's pretty much a premier area but still has that urban feel to it or at least Ladbroke/Goldborne area does.

I suppose folks have different opinions of what's trendy.

 

[marty21]

I worked near there in 1989/90 - wasn't hipster friendly at all then -

 

[ska invita]

Nah. The whole hipster scene and the arty street graffiti is very much imported.

this is what sticks in my throat about the london hipster scene, is that it seems to be imported wholesale from NY - not that ive ever been to NY - but i gather it is. Fixy bikes used by NY couriers etc etc. The thing about Britain (London) is we dont need to import scenes wholesale, theres a long proud history of coming up with our own.

You could argue punk came from the US, house/rave came from the US, Teddy Boys (rock and roll) came from the US, mods (etc) - of course the US is a big influence - but we make it our own and develop it beyond what it was into genuinely new forms. Hipsterism just seems mass, non-local, and a product of globalised trends which eminate from US city situations. Or maybe not - maybe it is particularly british in flavour - i cant really compare tbh - doesnt seem to be from the outside looking in.

Re the graffiti, theres a lot of commissioned pieces around, not least the massive Disney Tron one up. Corporate graffiti -whatever next. Considering vandalism-rooted-graff shop Chrome & BLack is round the corner Im surprised no ones done a cock and balls on it - perhaps a sign of the times. the majority of the pieces are increasingly huge, requiring scaffold i would have thought, and a shit load of paint (expensive). THeres money behind a lot of it i reckon.

thing is, in a way the gentrification was inevitable - shoreditch is in Zone 1 - bound to have got eaten up one day, as long as London has money swishing around it. if it wasnt hipsters it wouldve been bankers

used to be full of cockney cunts, now it's just full of cunts. boofuckinghoo.

hee hee

Lived at 1 Spital Sq in 92/93
Whores would shag their punters against my door, found 30 used johnnies draped on the fence one morning then turned the corner to see Naomi Campbell doing an underwear shoot on the steps of Deavers House.

first time i ever saw a prostitute as a kid was on commercial street - one of those memories that stays with you.

 

[editor]

One of the saddest things for me was that despite the current economic climate, the student cuts, and all the other shit that's going on right now, I couldn't find a single piece of political graffiti anywhere.

 

[Stigmata]

I remember seeing some uninspired Cameron/Osborne stuff on Curtain Road (I think). But yeah, there's not much.

 

[sir.clip]

The cuts aint deep enough to effect young people yet. When kids cant afford Nike & Iphones, Then the graffiti will follow & maybe be of a political angle.
Most of the graff around town says nothing, much like the british comidians of the day.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

Lived at 1 Spital Sq in 92/93
Whores would shag their punters against my door, found 30 used johnnies draped on the fence one morning then turned the corner to see Naomi Campbell doing an underwear shoot on the steps of Deavers House.
Pussy Posse squatted one of the old of the old fruit shops/wharehouses in the old market, had some good parties, New Years was cool, got in for free cos I was a "local" ie lived less than 100 yeards away, appeared at the magistrates hearing for a new pub in a suit and tie proclaiming the need for a quiet bar, The White Horse on Folgate Street, now called the Water Poet, suppose I helped to destroy the place, but all the other locals were pretty scary.
All Nations up Kingsland Road, bass bins to die for was the place dubwise - buying really nice Afghani puff from Asian boys - fuck all open on Sunday - Old Street was Junky Central, seeing shit bands at the Princess on Paul St when it was squatted

To outsiders it looked like a complete shit hole, but I liked it.

started going well wrong in the late 90s


Its been fucked for a while

The All Nations Club wasn't on Kingsland Road, it was on London Fields.