The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1921-11-02
Bohemia's S Moving Day
BY FREDERICK J. HASkIN

NEW YORK, Nov. 2-Art is le.yins
| Greenwich Village in sad haste this
year. Studios, with huge north win
| dows and facades trimmed with oil
rose and pea green paint, are more
numerous than ever, but because they
can no longer ;fford it. Before the
invasion of the returning wealthy
bourgeoisie who once more choose tc
reside in the vicinity of Washington
Square, the artists must retreat-but
| where?
This is what they themselves ask
you. with a rather desperate air.
Where, indeed, can they find an mex.
pensive, down-at- the-heels neighbor-
hood into which they can infuse their
own careless and artistic atmosphere
without attracting a pursuing mob OF
rich, would-be Bohemians? For like
Mrs. Vanderbilt, the artists of Man
haitian suffer from too-great popular
ity. AS soon as they move into a
locality, get their easels and smocks
unpacksd, let tt cir boards grow, put
antique brass Hackers on their front
doors and pink borders around their
windows. Wall street brokers follow
suit. and rents RI !.
The rich grew weary and deserted
Greenwich Village more than half 4
century ago. Their great estate gave
place to rows of mid-Victorian dwell
ings, owned nd occupied by respect
able merchant families. When the
elevated trains started coming down
! Sixth avenue as far as Bleeker street
with the business in their wake, the
merch mt families moved on. Clerks
and small retailers tok over their
houses until in time the immigrants
came and crowded them out.
The neighborhood had set IN for a
period of rapid decay, such as that
which destroyed the once-lovely Third
Avenue, and property-owners of the
district had resigned themselves to
great pecuniary loss, when suddenly
New York artists discovered the possi
bilities of Washington Square.
They entered and took possession OF
the district, ousting the immigrants
remodeling the old-fashioned houses
and stables, lending a picturesque en-.
chantment to dingy garrets and base
iiiCLllS, anu CllSOui JllS CSIdbl1ol'
ment of cafes and boarding houses
catering to artistic taste. For several
years Greenwich Village really con
tanned an art colony of genuine dis.
tinction. Then it became famous
People spoke of it as the Latin Quarter
of America, and as such it began to
hold enormous attractions for the
curious.
Many astute persons who had settled
in the neighborhood to study art now
decided that it would be much more
profitable to open restaurants and so.
called art shops. Others went quietly
about buying leases. Some Of these
were uptown real estate brokers, who
laid their plans with deep sagacity.
They kept rents very low to attract
the artists, who unsuspectingly set to
work remodeling and decorating the
dilapidated homes they had leased.
Then, at the end of a year, the land
lords rented the premises at greatly
increased prices to uptown business
men.
Atmosphere Expensive.
Under this system. which has en-
riched so many landlords during the
past five years. true art could not sur
vive. Only rich and successful artists
can now afford to live in the village,
which has become one of the highest
priced sections in the city. Try hunt
ing an apartment there and you will
soon find out for yourself. Not a
single basement or garret, however
mean and inartistic, is to be had for
less than SIS month. Ten years ago,
when the village was at the height OF
its artistic glory, the best floor in
Washington Square South could be
rented for $40 month, while a room
overlooking the park cost $5. Today,
room without private bath land
also usually without steam heat or
electricity rents for $40 month, and
whole floor (two rooms) will cost
you S160.
The picturesque little stables in
Washington News, which once rented
for $50 and $40 a month, now bring
$4,000 a year, in addition to the cost
of necessary repairs, which must be
made by the tenant A we'll known
painter rented one of these places for
$4,000 four years ago. He succeed it,
installed new plumbing, built a new
fireplace and made other costly re-
pairs, with the result that the follow
ing year his rent was raised to $4,000.