It's four am and you need a Sparks and some calling cards...

Here in Brooklyn we are a continent of markets. Some nights it feels like Brooklyn has more bodegas than the sky has stars. That might just be light pollution but the bodega is our unpredictable borough's common denominator. Every corner has one, and everyone has a favorite. The bodega is a bootlegger, a dance floor, a grocer, a day care center, a domino hall. It is your only friend at five am when you need one more beer and a pack of smokes and your best friend at seven am when you've run out of toothpaste. New York's neon has historically been the beacon of the smutty midtown XXXs or peep shows. These days the city glows with mom and pop commerce, mostly Dominican. Dominican's own more than half a million bodegas in the five boroughs.

They live a risky business. Bodegas are often the target of violent crimes and violent economies. Today in the paper was a triumphant story about the survival of Moore Street Market. Moore Street, a kind of "house that bodegas built", is a unique community hub selling anything from haircuts to records to all Goya products under the blazing August sun. Knowing it is there has always provided me with a sense of relief even though up until today I had no idea it was in jeopardy. The vendors at Moore street will be signing a new five year lease and in and interesting turn of events new vendors will be limited to selling only food and agricultural products… What did the city want with Moore Street? To tear it down and build… Rental Apartments.

---

---

---