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You hear people say that NYC “isn’t the same” as it used to be. When would you say that NYC changed?

I’d say that a lot of changes started in 2009/early 2010s and culminated in 2015/2016. After that is when it really started feeling like a new era to me

–Virgin Megastore closed in 2009

–Circuit City closed in 2009

-The early 2010s is when I noticed bookstores start closing. Barnes and Noble across from Lincoln Center closed in 2011. All the Borders locations closed in 2011. I really liked the Penn Station and 57th St locations. The Barnes and Noble at 18th St and 5th Ave closed in 2014. I think there were only 4 Barnes and Noble locations left at one point, though 1-2 locations have opened in the past few years.

-2015 is when the fast food/casual places like Chick-Fil-A and Panda Express opened in NYC, and it has seemed that, in addition to the expansion of Shake Shack, Five Guys, Jersey Mike’s, Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Raising Cane’s, you’re bound to see at least one of those are in most neighborhoods these days. McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, KFC, Subway were the main fast food places I knew of prior to 2011. The McDonald’s at 34th and 10th was demolished and is now where BlackRock is

-In terms of art stores, Pearl Paint closed in 2014, Blick acquired Utrecht in 2013, Sam Flax closed in 2014, NY Central closed in 2016, Lee’s Art Shop closed in 2016

-Hurricane Sandy happened in 2012 and the South Street Seaport Pier 17 mall closed down (remember how it used to look?)

–Blockbuster closed in 2013

–RadioShack closed a lot of stores in 2015

-The Barclays Center opened in 2012 (it used to look like this before)

-The Times Square Toys R Us with the Ferris Wheel closed in 2015

-The original FAO Schwarz closed in 2015 (though it later reopened on a smaller scale)

-The Ziegfeld Theatre closed in 2016

–Mars 2112 closed in 2012

–Jim Hanley’s Universe on 33rd St across from the Empire State closed in 2013 (though it later moved to smaller locations, and now is officially closed)