July 25, 2006
MTA Wants to Make Fruit Stand "Honest"
A very interesting NY Sun story about the future of the "Honest Boy" fruit stand at the southeast corner of Broadway and Houston. Many people, including Gothamist, love the stand for fresh fruit at all times ($2 for a container of delicious, refreshing watermelon!), and now, Honest Boy's owner Pan Gi Lee and the MTA are meeting with the Landmarks Preservation Commission to propose turning the old stand into a "two-story glass, steel, and aluminum building." The Sun notes that the LPC had to be involved, because it's in a historic district, but this seems to follow the city's plans to glass-and-steel up newsstands and bus shelters. But some people are worried it'll become charmless. The Sun also has a little bit on the history of the corner:
The MTA owns the land — about 1,000 square feet — and leases it to Mr. Lee. The agency has encouraged the proprietor to fix up the place, according to [architect Tobias] Guggenheimer [who designed the proposed new design] and a source at the MTA.While we love the old stand, we did wish that Mr. Lee has air-conditioning during last week's heat wave. And since the MTA could turn the stand into something else, we're glad the agency is still interested in keeping it a fruit stand. Here's hoping for the best.In the last decade, the corner has exploded with foot and vehicular traffic, as well as billboards that now line the brick facades around one of the busiest shopping corners in the city.
In the mid-1980s, before SoHo transformed, community groups saved the previous operators, Louis and Carmen Arenas, from eviction. In 1992, following community protests, the MTA backed away from plans to clear the stand to erect an electrical substation. In 2000, the agency wanted to expand its parking lot and storage facility immediately to the east, threatening to squeeze out the fruit stand.
Just more than a year ago, Mr. Arenas became ill and transferred the lease to Mr. Lee, who operates several stores in Manhattan. Mr. Arenas is said to have paid $200 a month for the site.A source at the MTA would not say how much the current tenant pays, but he said it is "not significant."
Photograph from Annette Weintraub, who wrote about the fruit stand here
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You wish the stand had air-conditioning?? It's a fucking fruit stand! And, the heat wave wasn't even that bad. Stop being such a whiner. If you need air conditioning that bad, just go over to Whole Foods and don't come out until October - we'll all be grateful.
How can anyone buy fruit at this stand? At night bums and taxi drivers take dumps and piss all over to the left of the fruit stand in that little alcove area that's created from the edge of the fruit stand and the start of the subway entrance. Everytime I go near the refrigerator it reeks of pungent urine. Can you imagine eating fruit that's been baking in the sun and marinating in piss aroma? I will never buy fruit from that place. the only thing that's safe is probably to the most eastern right corner.
Gotta agree with JC - it's pretty charmless already. In addition to the fact that the place is covered in litter during off hours, surrounded by parking areas that are a true blight, and often stinks, I've seen rats and the homeless doing whatever they need to at this stand. Hell, a friend of mine once saw someone working at the stand in the middle of the morning shift exposing his erect... you get the idea. I used to pass this stand at least once a day at my old job and never once thought about buying anything there. Your perservation instincts are on overload - not every lean-to in the city has to be saved.
In the time I've lived here (few years), it's never occurred to me to buy ANYTHING there.
Generally, I'm hesitant to buy from shoddy-looking fruit stands in the first place -- but given the amount of traffic and all that, cars continually going by and sending exhaust directly into the place? Gack.
To boot, I agree with #2 and #3 as well -- the place just doesn't look clean whatsoever. I don't see why making it into a "modern" looking building would be a bad thing.
I thought I was the only one who would pass this stand by.
I lived in NYC all my life and never bought anything from this stand and never gave it a second thought.
The sidewalk is too narrow and crowded to do any fruit or veggie "shopping".
There's a refrigerator there now? I didn't know that. See what I mean?
Looks like the stand'a got to go...
an air conditioned fruit stand? Is that parallel to an air conditined motorcycle?
"I don't see why making it into a "modern" looking building would be a bad thing."
because the state using its monopoly on force to steal property is fundamentally, morally wrong?
just tossing that one out there.
Uh, dhex, did you actually read the article or the post above before you commented? It clearly states that these people rent the land from the MTA which is going to continue to lease the space out to the same or other commerical interests. The state cannot "steal" land it already owns.
Also, "fundementally, morally wrong"? Please, at times the state has seized land under various laws from private individuals only to turn it over to monied private individuals in corrupt land grabs. Other times, they take land and turn it into parks, schools and other civic boons.
In any case, this is another interesting example of New Yorkers being surprisingly protective of their surroundings. I guess we're more sentimental than the rest of the country thinks. After the destruction of Penn Station, it makes sense. But things have gotten a bit out of hand when, and I state again, we're rallying to protect a far from vaunted fruit stand that's a bit of a blight and home to vagrants, rats and public masterbators.
Balance, people. Gothamist is smarter than this.
There was this old mural that used to be to the left of the stand that read "fruta si, cancer no!"
I think the stand lost whatever charm it had when that mural was covered up.
It was this crude skull that looked like white w/house paint applied with anything other than a brush. The skull was X-ed out & there were more colorful & naively painted fruits next to it, clearly indicating that the fruit was more desirable. But the "fruta si, cancer no!" in huge black letters was of course the best part.
The fruit stand was threatened to be removed once because of some sort power generator that the MTA wanted to put there, I believe. And the "mural" went up in protest.
It deosn't seem that long ago - if you are an old schooler, I guess.
Does anyone else remember it?
For shame!