FYI CBGB

For a previous generation of fringe music fans, a once sordid spot on the Bowery became a world famous, punk rock mecca. CBGB’s was born, lived and died in just a few dozen years. Not much time by some measures. Enough time though for CBGB’s to become legendary. To clubbers who entered and enjoyed, the memories will live on.

A chic boutique will become the first of several upscale businesses to open on CBGB’s grave. The Bowery and the surrounding neighborhood are changing; supposedly for the better. That it’s happening isn’t news, really. Like a volcano periodically spewing out lava, rebuilding the land around, New York City too incessantly rebuilds the new over the old. Dig deep enough and you’ll see generational histories, one built on top of another.

If punk is old now, those who “lived” it are older. Punch an air hole in the lava, rockers. It’s your only chance to survive. Or lay still beneath a trendy boutique in what was once the center of your world.