by JC Brotherhood
According to some here in town, Nyack’s own Cartesian axiom would be: “I Drink, therefore I am.” So, “anarchy” would not have been the word I’d have chosen; it indicates too noble an ideology.
Debauchery would be more accurate.
Who vets the thugs that provide this “great security and excellent crowd control” I am reading about? Where are they from and what credentials to they present to act as “security professionals”, WWF? Nah, WWF insists on better hair and costumes.
It’s been my experience that these guys are more often than not the cause and not the cure for the fights in Nyack. One common ploy is to let the Girlfriend through the door but deny the Boyfriend access because it’s “too crowded” (hmmmm). When the Girlfriend doesn’t return and the Boyfriend protests they dog trash him (three on one) and then drop the dime on him to O’town who graciously oblige them.
Nice work if you can get it.
People have been assaulted opening up for business early on at least one occasion by remnants of the night’s drunken mob. This is supposed to attract new business to Nyack?
One of my daughters frequently takes the early TZX bus and walks through the Village between 4;30 and 5:00. She’s often accosted on her way to work on Friday or Saturday mornings. I drive here when our schedules coincide.
Just as frequently I will arrive home from work at 3:30 or 4:00 AM to be treated to the sight of both men and women relieving themselves behind the mailbox on Franklin and Main.
Normally I politely render my High-beams to assist them in not anointing themselves in the process and am usually rewarded with the ubiquitous middle finger wave for my pains, whereupon they usually anoint all over themselves.
What a nice, attractive group of people we cater to at night.
So forgive me if I respectfully disagree with Ms. Olive’s assessment of the vital nature of Nyack’s nightlife. The state liquor authority has had its regulatory teeth pulled so it’s very rare to have a license revoked for cause these days. You have to be way beyond “visibly intoxicated” (read floored) to be denied service in Nyack.
Could one contributing factor for the empty shops on main St. be the former storeowners simply grew tired of paying exorbitant rents only to have to clean up the vomit in their doorways in the morning?
Specious comparisons to destinations like Provincetown or Greenwich Village notwithstanding Nyack has an acute identity crisis. There is a basic disconnect between how it sees itself and the reality of how others perceive it. It’s my observation that instead of moving away from it’s bad old days (I too was here briefly in the 70s) Nyack seems to be hell bent on re-living them.
Its going to take a lot more than Happy Hour promotions or loud music until 2am to revitalize the downtown. Nyack has to decide what it wants.
You can’t be a virgin during the day and a prostitute at night.
Apparently the nighttime persona pays better.
See also: Downtown Thrives – Minus The Anarchy (9/23), Anarchy In Nyack (9/20)
I have lived here for just over 25 years. What I can see is that our downtown has simply gone down. During the day, it looks dirty and is quite frankly, mostly filled with people that are unemployed hanging out in front of empty storefronts on extremely dirty sidewalks. At night of course, when the bars and restaurants are alive, that’s when you don’t see the “dirtiness” that is very evident in the sunshine. I hate to sound negative, but it really has become a village that is sadly hurting. It needs a major face lift and you need to expect more from your downtown in order to get more. If you accept its decline and what it brings, it will continue a fast track even further. The more junk you tolerate, the more comes in.
I agree with Eric on one point referring to the Antique shops.
Someone like Joe Christopher could not open a “Christopher’s” here in Nyack today. The arts and antiques base that was Nyack for years was predicated on cheap floor space. You had room to display an antique armoire for instance and not worry too much if your inventory didn’t turn over quite so fast as it needs to today.
People like Joe recognized Nyack as an opportunity to flee the exorbitant rents of Greenwich Village.
Well times change and it seems the rents have finally caught up with the Antiques dealers (Joe left for New Orleans years ago) and it seems the only endeavor capable of generating enough money per square ft. is selling booze.
This is the “single best use” doctrine that drives real estate and at least one intrepid broker made it his personal crusade to “bring Nyack up to Market Rate” some years back and has succeeded in tripling (and quadrupling) everybody’s rents in the process.
I’ve written before in these pages that while a rising tide may raise all boats, tides ebb as well as flood and regardless of how high the watermark is reached, low tide always smells like, well, low tide.
I wonder if anyone has taken the time to do the math on the amortization of lost revenue to a storefront sitting empty waiting for a tenant willing to pay “market rate” than if it maintained its occupancy and maybe (gasp) took a little less for a couple of years?
I guarantee you all you will get from our “Real Estate Professionals” will be crocodile tears.
I am glad that music has found a new niche in Nyack and hope that it continues just not at the expense of a balanced portfolio if you will of essential retail, entrepreneurial endeavors and services that the community needs to support as well.
I have owned my own business for most of my career. I would definitely “think again” about bringing a start-up business into Nyack today with regards to what happens here after hours. Guys who show up on my sets stinking like gin get sent home before they kill someone.
It sure smells like low tide in Nyack these days.
The village of Nyack does not receive any ‘revenue into the town coffers’ from bar business except through parking fees. All sales tax goes to the county and state. So we don’t get anything, but we’re expected to pay for the extra police protection, clean-up, etc etc.
John Gromada
Here’s a take on the Nyack nightlife scene from a rather unusual perspective.
Since I’m a middle-aged family guy-Nyack resident who doubles as a gigging musician, I’m one of the few 50+ year old men occasionally out at 2:00 AM (I’m writing this following a stint at Olives last night, yawning at my desk).
Yes, I’ve seen it all: rowdy drunks, loose women, general debauchery. And I ask: what else is new? Every bar scene in every bar town is the same. Alcohol is evil. It’s also fun, legal and ubiquitous. The police presence is quite adequate (does Nyack need more than 4 squad cars lined up?)
Here’s an unpleasant truth: the bar business in Nyack is probably the best business in town and it pumps a lot of revenue into town coffers. We’re basically “Hoboken –North”, at this point Nyack is much more a bar-town than a cutesy antiques town. Do you think those framing shops keep us afloat? Think again.
Eric Parker