“McHattan” is a blend of “Manhattan” and “McDonald’s.” The “Mc” prefix has been applied to many words, such as “McJob.” “McHattan” probably means that Manhattan is being overrun with McDonald’s and Starbucks franchises, becoming a generic piece of real estate.
The Village Voice (an alternative newspaper) placed a “WELCOME TO McHATTAN” billboard at Bowery and Kenmare Streets in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 2008, coining and/or popularizing the term.
Under the radar, above the deck
Saturday, April 5, 2008
LES sen, what?!
(...)
Now, I play soccer down there, so I’m not exactly oblivious to the ongoing gentrification. The Village Voice sign atop a building on Bowery and Kenmare says it all: “Welcome to McHattan.” A previous sign read, “Where have all the crack whores gone?”
asdlabs
April 30, 2008
Welcome To McHattan
I spotted this billboard for the Village Voice walking down Delancey Street, after finishing my walk over the Williamsburg Bridge (and no I don’t live in Williamsburg, so kiss my non-hipster boo-tay). I guess gentrificationville wouldn’t fit on the billboard (I’m talking to you Blue)!
Toronto Star
A Picture and a Thousand Words
May 11, 2008 04:30 AM
Ryan Bigge
Special to the Star
(...)
Sante’s Low Life is being replaced by Lush Life, the title of the new novel about the “new” Lower East Side by Richard Price (the author of Clockers and a writer for The Wire). Price is not the only person to remark on the shift: New promotional billboards for The Village Voice read “Welcome to McHattan.”
flickr
Welcome to McHattan
Uploaded on May 19, 2008
by hragvartanian
Gothamist.com
May 20, 2008
The LES: from Dangerous to Endangered
(...)
The LES is turning into a gateway to McHattan (the Village Voice even states as much on a billboard that looms above the ‘nabe), but who will defend its honor and grasp onto the old charm that places like Libation have destroyed?
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
•“I read old books because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•“I study old buildings because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•“Due to personal reasons, I’m still going to be fluffy this summer” (4/18)
•“Do not honk at me. My life is worthless. I will kill us both” (bumper sticker) (4/18)
•Entry in progress—BP16 (4/18)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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