Stefan Zweig, writing in 1924 about Paris:
On the Boul’Mich the banks (as everywhere) have replaced the cafés.It’s like reading Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, with one small local business after another replaced by Citibank.
“The Cathedral of Chartres,” in Journeys , trans. Will Stone (London: Hesperus Press, 2011).
Related reading
All OCA Stefan Zweig posts (Pinboard)
[Journeys was recently reissued by Pushkin Press. The Boul’Mich is the Boulevard Saint-Michel.]
And on Boul Mich (the Chicago version) both the cafes and banks have been replaced by global luxury retailers. Plus, oddly enough, a Walgreen’s.
ReplyDeleteCapitalOne recently opened a cafe in Hyde Park.
ReplyDeleteAnd in BYC, the ubiquitous Duane Reade (same company as Walgreen’s), though the number of DRs has dropped.
ReplyDeleteThe pattern — raises rent, forced out tenant, wait for big name to bite — is destroying real city life.
In NYC. Dang phone.
ReplyDelete