Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Oval Essentials--a Bust?


Top: The lights are on at Oval Film, but aside from an American Leisure employee, no one is there. Below: Oval Lounge doesn't show much more life, either.



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The premiere week of the Oval Essentials has answered one question: Will the Essentials prove so popular that there won't be space to let in all members?

Judging by the extreme low turnouts on Monday and Tuesday, the answer is a resounding NO. Each time Stuy Town spies passed by an Essential, they saw minimal use, in many cases no use, with only a black-clad American Leisure employee standing around, doing nothing and looking very bored. The most used Essential was, no surprise, Oval Kids, but even there the action wasn't impressive. Oval Film was dead, and Oval Lounge almost dead, with, at one time, a lonely member or two playing billiards. Oval Study was occupied, now and then, by what looked like a couple of NY students, but empty otherwise.

Undoubtedly the weekends will generate more members making use of the Essentials, but if this type of attendance continues, watch for Tishman Speyer to change Oval Lounge to Oval Starbucks and Oval Film to Oval Blockbuster. At least some income, and movement, may be generated with such transformations.

Tishman Speyer has put in a lot of effort and money expenditure into these Essentials, of which they appear to take a special pride. But now the Essentials stand cold and basically abandoned, a sorry spectacle of a misbegotten plan.

1 comment:

Daniel said...

You all finally have a cause! Fight Fight Fight!