Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Tribeca, Elephant and Castle


'Yeah, I'm out that Brooklyn
Now I'm down in Tribeca
Right next to DeNiro
But I’ll be hood forever
I’m the new Sinatra
And since I made it here
I can make it anywhere
Yeah, they love me everywhere
I used to cop in Harlem
Hola my Dominicanos
Right there up on Broadway
Brought me back to that McDonalds
Took it to my stash spot
560 State street'

OK Jay-Z, enough. You see this isn't actually your Triangle below Canal Street. No, this is a new tower block being built at the Elephant and Castle. For some reason the developers have decided to call it after an 'aspirational' part of New York rather than something that bears any historical or geographical relation to the area it is located in. They've even branded it as New London, because of course everybody hates the Old London - that's why milllions of people choose to live here, and make there way here from all over the world.  Still Jay, there is a McDonalds not far away on the Walworth Road, more like Brooklyn than Tribeca some would say.

(Note this isn't a joke - Oakmayne really are marketing this development as 'Tribeca Square, New London'. Image from Southwark Notes Gentrification Top Trumps - afraid this isn't the only South London major development with no 'intermediate' or 'social rented' housing)

3 comments:

Zefrog said...

Am not sure the "new London" epithet comes from Oakmayne though. Apparently Metro Central Height was promoted like this at some point. I have no more details, infortunately.

THE RUINIST said...

The full horrid story is here:
http://southwarknotes.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/from-small-oakmaynes-giant-towers-will-grow/

Southwark Notes said...

@ Zefrog

You can see the Metro Central Heights brochure from 1997 here:
http://www.metrocentralheights.com/files/original%20MCH%20marketing%20brochure%201997.pdf

It's a scream!! So 90's. So much bullshit!

'London is happening! Crazy, Sexy, Cool!'