The East Village no longer exists. It's the same thing that happened with Soho and the West Village. It's too complicated to get into here.....but this is America and nothing is free. I don't think it should be that way. It's so hard now to live in this city if you're not rich....not on a trust fund. With rents being what they are, it's impossible to live a laid back lifestyle here, and Non New Yorkers wonder why people here are so frazzled, so unfriendly, not looking strangers in the eye....well don't take it personally. In this town, a stranger could rob you or slit your throat, and we have bills rent lives counting on us....there's no time to waste.

But it shouldn't be that way, should it? Is this living? There's so little culture left. Rather, there is, but it's running against this current of really fascism. In the film JFK one of the characters talks about how fascism is coming back, and in the film Caberet there's the scene of the Nazis and people in the restaurant singing together.....and well, history repeats itself. It was like this in the 80s too and really the revolutionaries of the world have to face the fact that they're a minority. Why do people seem to accept the lousy bread crumbs thrown them, like women voting Republican or saying they're not feminist. I was shocked to hear about women, now, in 2006, who go to pimps or, well, don't get me started. But this phenomenon fascinates me. The cutting edge scene of the East Village is gone, but it's also CBs'....the punk scene needed to evolve with the changing times, stay united and fight this but they didn't. Maybe it was a conspiracy.Still, it's sad to see the East Village turning into the suburbs, pretty much.