Kill Fee

I suppose it was bound to happen.

Last night, in Evergreen Video on Carmine St., I eavesdropped on another customer’s conversation, and then asked the clerk to confirm what I’d just heard, which was that my favorite video store was closing on June 30.

“Is it Netflix?” I asked, feeling remorse for having joined.

He shook his head. “The owner just wants to retire.”

Which seems reasonable, but still didn’t permit any gratifying indignation at The State of Things.

It’s not only the collective knowledge of the staff and the pleasure of flipping through all those laminated video covers (1940s Musicals, 1970s Comedies, etc.) that I’ll miss—it’s the unexpected stuff, like the episode of “Ready Steady Go!” in which Dusty Springfield introduces the sounds of Motown to a studio audience of eager British teens. Evergreen is also the only video store I know of that boasted a pioneering rock critic on its staff. The plain piece of paper on the door says simply “Paul Nelson, 1936-2006.”

I paid my late fee, picked up the next movie, and looked around. Same posters up, same catalogs scattered on the table, same used DVDs for sale, and in one corner, a stack of flattened cardboard to be turned into boxes.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 9:50 am and is filed under Motion Pictures, Music, NYC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.