Aug 7, 05 10:54 AM
The World Turned Upside Down.
It was bound to happen: a Starbucks on the L.E.S.
A couple of weeks ago I went down to the Jennifer Convertibles store on the corner of Delancey and Allen Streets to look into a sofabed. It was closed, with planks, dust, and other construction detritus within. Yesterday, coming back from Duane Reade, I passed the place and found--though the store is still way incomplete--a green Starbucks awning over the door.
Now, I'm pretty pro-Starbucks (my allegedly anti-Starbucks song is actually about the impotence of rage against pop culture). On tour, I'm there every day getting my fix--I look up the closest locations on the website the moment I check into the hotel in the town I'm playing--and usually avoid local indie coffee, as variations in dosage might prove disastrous to my mood (I do prefer local coffee, though, if I can get a really good, reliable recommendation from a fellow addict).
But the Lower East Side? Scandalous. They sidestepped a chunk of the controversy by putting the place on Delancey Street, which is a swath of big-brand stores--McDonalds, Chase Bank, Subway, Taco Bell, KFC (the one from "Sunkeneyed," naturally), Duane Reade, et al. Still. Now there's a Starbucks within walking distance of Teany, Paul's Boutique, the Pink Pony, the Cake Shop, Sugar Sweet Sunshine, Lotus--all the local groovy-people hangs.
Inevitable? Probably. I love Teany and the Pink Pony--the former is basically my living room, and the latter I'm in so often with friends that Dougie Bowne and I call it "the Office"--but doubtless on some hectic morning when I'm headed to the airport, I'll get my iced triple grande soy latte at the Starbucks.
