> NOW,it's like a fricking ghost town. There are no real
> restaurants down there, (if any at all), clubs, no I mean
> clubs, not bars acting like clubs. I'ts boring. The only
> REAL pizza /restaurant place was Marnielli's on State St.
> EVEN they smarted and moved to the North side!!
>
> Boscovs, please. He'll be gone in 2-3 years. I'm amazed that
> Citidel is staying put. Give it time. I'm really annoyed
> because it should'nt be this way. Someone said "radio is
> great in Binghamton", I wouldn't say great, maybe ok.
>
> My *evaluation* was strictly my personal observance, my
> opinion.
This is a small area, but there is nothing unique about the decline of Bingo's Downtown, its the same way in downtowns all over the country... just look at Main Street in JC & The Ave in Endicott for examples of emptiness. One can't just pass through on a visit and claim to know it... compare store fronts downtown from 2000 to now and I think you'd be suprised to see some growth, slowly but surely... The area's biggest event every month now is First Friday, join that once and you'll have a whole new appreciation for the changes happening.
Downtown is the arts center, the new Art Theatre will open at the depot project, it hosts all of our big events & national touring shows, plus it has the arena & stadium, now with 3 pro sports (hockey, baseball & arena football). The opening of the new billard hall, and the coming virtual arcade, new transportation terminal and downtown campuses of BU & BCC will only help things.
I miss Marnielli's too, but they outgrew the space in like 1990, moved to South Bridge, then the family divorced, she kept M's and he opened Anthony's on opposite edges of downtown. M's was torn down last winter and the new formal Grande just opened there... Southbridge has some other great food... Number 5, Yanni's, Hole in the Wall, Pat Mitchell's & the BBQ at Thirsty's is excellent plus some other coffee, deli & fast food places. Despite the loss of M's, downtown STILL has plenty of REAL restaurants that are packed all the time. Little Venice, Lost Dog, Maro's, and J. Michaels (down under/next to Citadel) are some my favs, Buffy's has some of the best Mex around, long time staples are still around in the Olde World Deli, Argo, Portfolios, Greenery, & Parlor City Cafe (The Ritz), for the best overnight munchies nothing beats Pepe's and their 1.50 meatball special. Grotta Azzura still has its student and work pizza specials. Raymo's 2, Uncle Tony's, and Tom & Marty's all offer up killer burgers, wings and sandwiches, add in 2 sub shops, 3 fast pizza places, a chocolate/ice cream parlor, plus an indian restaurant, a chinese restaurant, 3 coffee cafes and the best lunch in upstate at Zazoo's and thats more food in 3 1/2 blocks than any place in our area.
It's also the home of night entertainment, granted being a small community thats not saying much, but contrary to your statement about clubs, it does have Empire, which is as close to a "club" in the City fashion you'll find in the twin tiers, offering three unique settings (dance with multiple bars, live music concert bar, and the new 21+ wiskey bar) on multiple levels. Pariso (aka old Escape/Eclipse) seems to be growing in popularity with BU students and the 18 to party crowd if you don't mind police outside. Flashbacks/Boca Joes offers up two different types of dancing atmosphere, classic dance and modern/hip-hop. Sports Bar has multiple rooms including a game room and dance area and is a haven for the NYC kids from BU. Then there is 3 irish pubs (Player's, Patty's & Dillenger's), 4 smaller dance bars (Skyline, The Rat, JT's and Ghetto aka Ranells), 2 gay bars (Merlin's & Squiggy's), and a teen dance club (Escape).
Sure it needs work, there are only 6 clothing stores downtown today, but thats better than the 2 it had in 2000 (including Boscov's). With the entire State-Court corner either just recently redeveloped or in the process (O'Neill Building) it leaves the old Derby Fashion Building and the old McClain's as the the last two major buildings of redevelopment in the immediate blocks of downtown.
The city is tearing up and putting in new sidewalks, roads, lightening all over to brighten things up, it looks like mother nature threw up downtown with all the planters and new trees, lots of people walk along the new river walks... It has plenty of parking free and metered, it doesn't have a cancer plume, its got plenty of great filled loft space, what more can they do to change the image for people who never even give it a chance?
I mean I drive through JC and Endicott and see the same worn out look everywhere but I still go there too.
