Target opens in the East Village with polarizing faux-urbanism

The East Village outpost of Target opened in lower Manhattan this weekend and kicked off the festivities by draping a vinyl facade of long-gone East Village institutions down a stretch of the street. The installation concocted Target-ized versions of long-gone cultural institutions, including riffs on CBGB, the Village Voice, a local laundromat, and more, drawing the ire of preservationists.

THIS #davidstarkdesign team for the win this morning at a CBGB’s inspired throwback — part of the perfect, #Target East Village “block,” created to celebrate the opening of their new store on 14th Street between Avenues A and B. We are ALWAYS honored to be part of the @Target team! A special call out to our “battle of the bands” winners: @allisansalazar @dartwodeetwo @lrusso92 @sarahrylei @msusiem and Lesley (who’s not on instagram!). You guys rock. Literally. . . #davidstark #event #events #eventdesign #eventdesigner #eventplanner #eventplanning #design #decor #transformation #eventprofs #eventprof

A post shared by David Stark Design (@david_stark_design) on Jul 21, 2018 at 10:00am PDT

The 27,000-square-foot Target is a smaller, “urban” offshoot at the base of the Beyer Blinder Belle-designed luxury EVGB (“East Village’s Greatest Building”) tower at the intersection of 14^th Street and Avenue A. The kiosks around EVGB’s base were all throwbacks to the neighborhood’s punk 1970s past and included a wrapping reminiscent of the tenement buildings that existed before Extell developed EVGB.

The online responses were, predictably, divided. Preservationists viewed the stunt akin to a facadectomy and accused Target of appropriating the area’s past to promote a gentrifying store. On the other side, most of the visitors this weekend seemed happy to snag free swag the “TRGT”, fake pizza places, and “palm readers”.

Target co-opts the soul of CBGB in Extell’s dead-eyed luxe monster on Ave A. The zombification of the East Village continues. #neoliberalism #gentrification #NewYorkIsDead https://t.co/dd1NfJDCnm

— Jeremiah Moss (@jeremoss) July 21, 2018

No no no no. 😭😭😭😭
What corporate dunce came up with this obscenity ??!!!
Wrong wrong wrong!
Joey Ramone is rolling in his grave (and not in a cool way). https://t.co/aBG75NudiI https://t.co/aBG75NudiI

— cindy scaife (@cindybscaife) July 23, 2018

before you get mad at Target, remember that CBGB’s rebranded itself as a fashion brand in 2006 after the location closed. you dont see ABC No Rio doing anything of the sort in the midst of rebuilding

— 🐊Eric Nelson 🐊 (@waityourarobot) July 23, 2018

Jeremiah Moss of Vanishing New York was particularly scathing in his assessment, calling it a “Potemkin Village from Hell” and decrying the commodification of his formative experiences. Still, this kind of thing happens regularly, as facades and nods to an area’s past are frequently appropriated in the marketing for whatever comes next, whether it be an addition or wholesale replacement.