New Yorkish writers, take note: Where Edith Wharton grew up on 23rd St., there is now a Starbucks.
On the one hand, I picture a quiet afternoon writing in this shop, imagining that Wharton once shared my same view of a (much changed) street.
And on the other…I’m envisioning a new walking tour for NYC: “Starbucks and the City.” In my fantasy (wherein the coffee giant would not sue), tourists would amble from identical looking shop to shop whilst a green-aproned guide lectured on what once stood there or who once lived in the building. In addition to excavating layers of city history, this would also highlight the loss of independently owned businesses in Manhattan as franchises and chains buy up all the real estate. Oh, to go back in time and visit that flower shop with its weird giant stuffed bears!
