You Know Things Are Getting Bad...

...When the cynical young keyboard-tappers at Gawker think the City is changing too fast and losing too many of its great places. Reporter Sheila McClear today wrote that the Gawker staff was "riled" today at finding our Florent's days were numbered. She then put together a death list of passed or passing monuments, including CBGBs, Astroland, the Fulton Fish Market and, uh, the Playpen.

Usually when the moans arise over the disappearance of some old bar or club, Gotham's 20-somethings tell the bitchin' old folks to clam up and move to Nebraska. When urban greenhorns begin to feel nostalgic, you really know something's deeply wrong with the direction in which NYC is headed.