Oh No! Not Our Soho!
NEWS THAT THE Sheraton hotel chain has just broken ground on a new 20-story hotel in Soho has led to, as should've been expected, a public outcry from the neighborhood's residents. That's no surprise-nobody likes to see some monstrous architectural nightmare thrown up next door.
1. Soho is a freewheeling, adventurous community of starving artists living on the edge in cold-water lofts. Opening a chain operation like a Sheraton here is a travesty that flies in the face of everything Soho represents.
One resident who holds this view and apparently still lives under the impression that it's 1975, told the Post, "It shouldn't be too much longer until Soho gets a mall."
Might we suggest that he and his delusional friends open their eyes and take a walk around the neighborhood? They'd realize toot sweet that Soho already is a shopping mall, and has been one for quite some time now.
Which leads to the next argument:
2. A Sheraton? That's so totally low-class. It'll cheapen all that we've created here. Where are we, the suburbs?
This is the view held by the equally delusional boutique owners and restaurateurs who've turned Soho into an exclusive, overpriced shopping mall. Their argument ignores the fact that it's tourists, not New Yorkers, who keep them afloat.
It's hateful whining, however you look at it.
We're not particularly fond of Sheratons or chain operations ourselves, but the smug, superior reactions from both sides leave us thinking the whole fucking neighborhood should be razed and turned into a Home Depot.