Gloria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

We awoke this morning with a dusting of snow coating much of the neighborhood. It seems to have done little, however, to soothe the spirits of many in the neighborhood who fear the passing of some local iconic institutions.

Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York offers long take on the temporary closure of Mars Bar and some then-and-now photos that show how much the neighborhood has changed during the past seven years.

“When people talk about how the city is ‘always changing,’ I tell them this story,” the post reads. “The story of a historic, culturally relevant neighborhood sold down the river, demolished to the roots, and rebuilt into an unrecognizable playground for people passing through with money to burn. All in less than a single decade.” There’s more on Mars Bar at The Wall Street Journal and EV Grieve.

In other neighborhood news, Grieve also has a look at how a local artist traced the oddly-shaped buildings at the intersection of Bowery and Houston to property lines of 19th century farmers.

And The Athenaeum has a photo of Allen Ginsberg taken on the roof of his East Village apartment by William Burroughs in the fall of 1953.