I brought my first pair of skinny jeans at Trash and
Vaudeville during the early part of my senior year at Brooklyn Tech. My body
was razor thin (a sharp departure from what it is now-model skinny) and people
had repeated me told me that I’d be perfect for the skinny jeans look.
Naturally when I receive excellent advice, I tend to not listen for reasons
that range from petty to stupid and petty. Finally, I decided to take the plunge
and update my look to what I assumed was cool in the late 70’s by buying a pair
of skinny jeans. There was only one place to go for such an endeavor claimed my
mom, so she took me to Trash and Vaudeville. The place was amazing and opened
my eyes to the stores that existed outside of the Herald Square loop. I tried
on a pair of ultra-tight skinny jeans personally recommended by the fantastic
manager, Jimmy Webb, while my mom checked out leather short shorts (she did not
purchase them). I bought, or rather my mom bought me, the pants and a Debbie Harry
Blondie shirt which I still wear today. My wardrobe was updated and I was now known
as the kid who wore nothing but the tightest pants possible. Eventually I had
to get rid of the jeans because they were too tight, most likely due to them
being a pair of women’s super-skinny jeans (I should have realized they were
women’s pants when I couldn’t slip anything thicker than a MetroCard in the
pockets). It was the cocoon for an old Jason Thompson to go in and a new one to
emerge draped in quasi punk attire and full 70’s sleaze. Today I cringe at
wearing anything looser than skinny jeans (slim fit is pushing it). Trash and
Vaudeville opened my eyes to a world and culture I thought would be forever
relegated to old nostalgia tales. They and St Marks Place for that matter, are
classic New York City and the pride of getting to join in on that heritage are
forever imprinted on me.
Trash and Vaudeville is moving a block down the street after
40 years in St. Marks Place due to what can only be assumed as losing a battle
against the absurdly high rent prices which have nearly strangled all the
individuality out of this city. What will become of the old Trash and
Vaudeville spot? Will it lay haven to a Dunkin Donuts or Rite Aid or Duane
Reade because I’m positive there’s a law that mandates one of those on every
city block? Perhaps it’ll become another bank or just a series in failed
businesses. Who knows, but it surely won’t be the same. It’s a sad enterprise
walking down theses streets and seeing landmarks and eccentric institutions
become banal enterprises of nothing. Did the Palladium really need to become an
NYU dorm? How does that add to the cultural climate of the city? Is the future
of New York going to be a series of property battles between NYU and Columbia
because I see no evidence to suggest otherwise?
Change in a city isn’t necessarily a bad thing. New York is
unique as an old east coast city for the cavalier rate at which it tears down
and destroys historical landmarks and old buildings. Can you imagine the outcry
if Philadelphia had decided to tear down Independence Hall? Or Boston if they
had decided to get rid of the Old North Church? Those building would have been
long gone if they had been located anywhere north of Wall Street. That attitude
keeps New York thriving as a modern city. My problem is when we destroy landmarks
and replace it with mediocrity and banality. When developers and gentrifiers
invade neighborhoods and blatantly ignore and destroy what makes a place unique
and interesting. New York City is not for New Yorkers anymore. Trash and
Vaudeville’s relocation is just another example of the nail in that coffin.
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