Collaboration with Devin Minnihan, Danielle Berger
Canal Street:
Chapter 1: Gentrifying
When most New Yorkers think of Canal Street, they are typically reminded by the immense traffic, busy sidewalks, waves of counterfeit vendors and tourist shops with merchandise flooding out the door. Now go back roughly a half century to the 1970s. During this time New York City was seen as the epicenter of the art world and Canal street was no exception. It was considered as “a mecca of art and industrial supplies” and provided many local artists with the materials they needed at affordable costs.
Once the 1980’s came this all changed for your local artist. Wall Street traders started to create what would continue to be a large accumulation of wealth and prices all over the city started to skyrocket. This caused artists to flee Canal Street, and head east to Brooklyn and the Lower East Side. This left Canal Street exhausted of its creativity, teeming with traffic, and destined to turn into a tourist trap.
Although ever since 2010, Canal has seen an increase in upscale shops, events, and renters. Rent has actually been on the rise on Canal Street, with rent prices coming as close to ninety percent of prices found in Soho, one of the cities most expensive neighborhoods.
Even though Canal lacks the atmosphere of a fancy boutique, its traffic is certainly enticing to high end shops such as Foundrae, a jewelry store, and R.W Guild, an upscale resource for furniture, decorative accessories, lighting, tableware & textiles. Plus, it even has a cafe open to the public.
Chapter 2: Commercialized
Even with the recent gentrification of Canal Street, it still remains one of the most unpleasantly commercialized spots in New York. Although nothing will ever top Times Square, Canal’s wide girth and multiple subway lines has created immense amounts of both car and foot traffic for the seven lane street.
This traffic has made it too expensive for ma and pa shops and too hectic to house the entrance of a pleasant shop. Therefore, tourist shops and street vendors began to set up shop. Catching those visiting New York and giving them a cheap version of the SoHo shopping experience.
Chapter 3: A Future Arts District
“Over the past few years, Canal Street has been rediscovered as a platform for exploring and creating new works of art.” This is a quote from a creative director at the Body of Work exhibit, which was featured under On Canal, a new collective of storefronts that feature art exhibits and pop-up shops. When we asked him what he thought about the future of Canal as an arts district, he was adamant in stating that the art scene on Canal hasn’t this as prominent since the 70s. This sudden desire for culture can be attributed to Landlords Phillip Chong Jr. of HRCE, who has been behind Canal Street Market, a new location that offers a hang out spot with food, shopping, and community events such as ceramics. The market has turned into a gem of Canal street and has a large variety of artistic events year round.
Chapter 4: SoHo’s Influence
Serving as an intersection of three of New York’s most prominent neighborhoods, Canal Street is subject to a variety of cultural influences. One neighborhood in particular whose aesthetic has noticeably brushed off on the street in SoHo.
Although walking downtown from SoHo one might see boutiques turn into tourist shops, and cafés into Dunkin’ Donuts, one can still find the downtown liveliness. The street is also home to New York’s first national bank, whose architecture is reflective of the former post office turned Apple store in SoHo. The bank has also been turned into a store front for Le Board, a new type of department store that offers a place for community interactions along with a shopping experience. You can also find the very same cast-iron architecture that SoHo is famous for on Canal Street.
Stores typically found in SoHo are starting to emerge onto Canal as well. Nike has had multiple pop-up shops on Canal and the sneaker and streetwear consignment shop, Stadium Goods, has opened up a location with entrances on both Canal and Howard Street.
Chapter 5: Multicultural
If you were to take a walk downtown on the Hudson River, take a left on Canal, and head towards the Manhattan bridge, you would end up immersing yourself into a variety of different experiences and scenery. This diversity can be largely attributed to Chinatown, one of the three neighborhoods glued together by Canal Street. Although the west side of Canal can be an irritating tourist trap to the local New Yorker, it makes up for it with the character of Chinatown. Famous for it restraunts, fresh produce, and tchotchkes, the culture of Chinatown visibly bleeds into Canal Street. It can even be seen in the advertisements, as they start to translate into Cantonese as soon as you past Broadway.
