What is the world coming to?

Just read this morning that the once dank Bowery home of CBGB has been turned into a designer boutique that sells $130 tee shirts. Not likely that a struggling muscian or fan of punk rock would be able to afford such a thing. Or with this recession anyone else for that matter.

Fashion designer John Varvatos’ menswear boutique has opened in the same spot where bands like the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads and Blondie helped spark a punk rebellion. The store echoes its past with aging graffiti, black walls, and flyers from the 1970s are preserved behind glass on one wall. The stage has been replaced by a tailoring shop encased with gold Alice Cooper records.

Nice touch

“I wanted to combine music, fashion, memorabilia and really make it like a cultural space,” Varvatos told "The New York Post" today.

He promised emerging artists will be welcomed there, and said he will host a fundraiser for young musicians next month. OK so we'll give him some credit there.

Robert Hollander, an East Village resident and activist, said the transformation of CBGB into an upscale boutique is a symptom of pervasive commercialism in what was once a gritty, browbeaten neighborhood.

“It’s kind of ironic because they’ve made this gesture to preserve a little bit of history but the reason CBGBs is gone is because places like this have opened up in the neighborhood,” Hollander told amNew York.

We hear ya...it is similar to what they are trying to do in Lowell...sort of.

CBGB closed in October 2006 after the owner, Hilly Kristal, lost a rent fight against the building’s landlord. Kristal died in August.