Today, in the second installment of the Second Annual Curbed Awards, we tour the NYC neighborhoods that brought us so much joy in 2005 — and ask for your help in choosing the 'hood that best defined the city this year. Here's hoping that 2006 is full of more hot new developments, passionate community debate, and drunk reader emails. A very happy New Year to one and all. See you on the other side.
Most Absurd Neighborhood Narrative
3) Hell's Kitchen vs. Kips Bay poop wars
2) Astoria fast-food conspiracy
1) Anything, everything to do with Dumbo
Three Moments of Hipster Despair
3) Hipsters flock to the Upper East Side
2) Starbucks on Delancey Street
1) Subway in Williamsburg (Not that there wasn't a fight)
Best Curbed Celebrity
3) The Fizzbows. Moving to the suburbs never looked so hot. (Will The Fizzbows be back in this space in 2006? Signs point to yes!)
2) The Renters. Moving to the City never looked like such a pain in the ass.
1) Jake Bronstein (right). Love him or not, the man knows how to live.
Best Reader Rant (non-Dumbo)
"Dont go to east side trading company. i know its old news but i went there tonight and asked the bartender if cool people wnet there. he asked what cool people were. i said not abunch of fucking losers like this. that place sucks balls HUGE. milk and honey made a mistake no one will ever go there exfcept stupid analayst assistants from murray hill. fuck those people. really, LOTUS has a better crowd then these assholes."
Best Reader Rant (Dumbo)
"If somebody wants quiet, they should try Northern Michigan." And much more here.
Best Dumbo Thing
3) Scarano's Jetsons Rooftop. Distracting Brooklyn drivers from Jehovah since 2005.
2) J Condo. Some call this 33-story tower-to-be an icon, some call it bullshit. We just call it good copy.
1) 70 Washington. Speaking of good copy, Two Trees' 70 Washington is why the good Lord invented unlimited bandwidth. We will always remember 2005 as the year the tenants moved in and started bathing in some good old fashioned luxury.
Neighborhood Concepts That Didn't Quite Catch On
3) Murray Hill hipsters
2) Hot-tubbing it on the Upper East Side
1) "Roosevelt Island"
Crazy Structure Threatening a Neighborhood
3) BLUE. Towering blue-hued condos to bring "pixilated" lifestyle to the LES. How will the intoxicated newcomer ever fit in?
2) Finger Building. Developer flips the bird at Billyburg, but ends up insulting the Dept. of Buildings instead.
1) NYU dorm at St. Ann's Church site. From the heart of one massive NYC landowner to the belly of another. Denizens of Below 14th remain in denial that it's all the university's campus, they're just living there.
Neighborhood That Won't Stop Believing
Long Island City. Mix together hookers, $1 PBRs, smokestacks, overpriced condos, and the Zagat seal of approval, and what do you get? No idea. Never been.
Fighting the Man Award
3) The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
2) South Park Slope Community Group
1) Develop Don't Destroy's Daniel Goldstein
Three Development Hotspots for 2006
3) West Side Rail Yards. Whatever happens, we're still going to tailgate. Who's with us?
2) High Line. Pristine urban playground, or just a sweet place for teenagers to smoke weed?
1) Madison Square Park. Lofts would be nice—or methadone clinics. Either way.
Best New Microneighborhood Name
3) ViVa. This recent West Harlem vintage has hints of Elvis and Italy, with the occasional zest of 6-inch wounds thrown in for character.
2) RAMBO. Philly's own Italian Stallion meets DUMBO's ugly stepsister and a champion is born. (Save some of that for the sequel!)
1) Little Chitaly. Know how everyone says Little Italy is entirely surrounded by Chinatown? Well, think of this mashup as a little slice of revenge with extra cheese.
Lost Neighborhood Landmarks
4) Howard Johnson's. Leaving a gaping hole in the fried clam strip market.
3) Astor Place Cube. We totally knew you'd come back.
2) 2 Columbus Circle. Never has such a hideously ugly building fought so hard. Godspeed, little lollipop.
1) Grace Church Trees. Not shady, dudes. So not shady.
Absurdist Art Project of the Year
3) The Gates. Billowing fabric fills Central Park. Photobloggers swarm the scene to create the same dozen photos ad infinitum. Flickr crashes.
2) Floating Island (above). Fails to pack the same visceral punch of its orange/saffron/whatever-colored predecessor, but inspires a hilarious meta-moment.
1) Sculpture for Living. And you thought the temporary art projects sparked pretty violent reactions. This one's not going anywhere soon.
The Curbed Cup
Neighborhood of the Year, 2005
Last year, Curbed awarded the coveted Curbed Cup to Fort Greene. This year, because the race is so tight—an honor just to be nominated, really—we're opening it up to a reader vote. After the jump, vote on the NYC neighborhood of the year, keeping in mind that we're looking for the neighborhood that, for better or for worse, most defined New York City in 2005.
Voting closes at noon on New Year's Day, following which we'll announce the winner. Meantime, join the krazy Curbed commenters as we seek your opinion of which neighborhoods will be the places to be (and the places to buy) in 2006.
After the jump, sweet poll action.