The Bleecker Street Mall Is Down to One Local Business

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Art gallery A Clean, Well-Lighted Place has shuttered on Bleecker Street after 36 years. As Jeremiah of Vanishing New York points out, that means the 22-year-old Arleen Bowman boutique is now the only business on Bleecker north of 10th that isn't part of a national chain.

It's unlikely that anyone but a national chain will replace the gallery, either, given the high cost of rents on the strip. The listing for the space calls the area "the Far West Village Gold Coast Retail Mecca" and lists "Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Michael Kors and INTERMIX" as desirable neighbors. Ironically, shortly before opening his Bleecker boutique in a building that had just sold for a record-breaking $34 million, Michael Kors listed the gallery as one of his favorite places in the West Village.
· A Clean, Well-Lighted Place [VNY]
· RackedWire: Michael Kors's Favorite Places [Racked NY]
· Bleecker Street Now Has the Third Most Expensive Retail Strip in NYC [RNY]