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CCSC Combats "Study Day"

From the November issue of The Blue and White, we bring you a piece about the growth of chain stores in Morningside Heights written by Lydia DePillis, James Downie, and Eliza Shapiro. Hard copies will be on the (nonexistent) racks on Monday!

chains"How many banks do you need on one block?" asked Morningside Heights Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell. The answer—judging by the Washington Mutual, Citibank, Chase, and Banco Popular, all of which are stationed on Broadway from 116th St. to 110th St.—is about one per block.

O'Donnell has lived in Morningside Heights for more than a decade, and has become increasingly concerned about what he calls the "drugstorization" and "bankization" of the neighborhood.

Lately, an increasing number of Morningside's independent businesses have closed or relocated and been replaced by chain outlets that you might find in Nolita or New Jersey, Staten Island or San Francisco. The Wrapp Factory is now Empanada Joe's. Casbah Rouge is now Chipotle. Kim's Video is now Ricky's. The bars Mona and Roadhouse are now Pourhouse, an offshoot of the original Village Pourhouse, located near NYU. Two years ago, the West End became Havana Central, which has branches in Times Square and Union Square.

The prevalence of chains cuts both ways: It can be a natural consequence of neighborhood development, as businesses and new franchise owners decide that the consumer base can support the outlet. Harlem crossed a threshold in 1999 when Starbucks opened a store on 125th St., and the growth of chains has spread to West Harlem and up to Hamilton Heights.


Various anti-colonial interests are currently gathered on Low Plaza in celebration of Decolonization Day, an anti-Colonial rejoinder to this most colonial of federal holidays. And if you think that sentence was redundant, today's event brings back that most recurring (and most annoying) of Columbianisms: poor planning! Come 1 PM, the decolonizers will have to share space with the Senior Class Council, which is giving you the opportunity to chuck pies at prominent soon-to-be graduates. "It is messed up," one SPEAK representative said of the scheduling mess-up--although as a table of Ba'hai students pointed out, Decolonization Day is all about co-existence. When Bwog asked why they thought it important to participate in today's events (which include a performance by rapper Hakim, from Channel Five), Makini Boothe, BC '08 replied that her faith believes in the oneness of everyone, and a "total transformation of human interaction."

So, to recap: pies, pie-related public humiliation, free food, critiques of Columbus Day and the western colonial attitudes it represents, rap music and spiritual harmony! Right now at Low! And the weather is still pleasantly (or disconcertingly) spring-like...

-ARR


Guy: I think I'm going to write my essay on the prompt that doesn't have to do with imperialism. I feel like that's all people talk about at Columbia.

Girl: Yeah, that and girls.

Guy: They're kinda the same thing.

Thanks tipster Anna Corke!

See also: Girls, Imperialism

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