AA for Recession Victims

“Hi, my name is X, and I’ve been feeling a little bit screwed by the economy.”

“Hello, X.”

It’s not likely that such a formal introduction will take place when a support group for recession victim gathers this Thursday at 9 p.m. at the Odessa Cafe in Manhattan. But the group, a Meetup titled “WTF Now?“, does take its inspiration from other aspects of Alcoholics Anonymous, according to organizer Chrissy Rossettie.

“My boyfriend goes to AA and gets a lot out of it,” she says. “So I thought, ‘Why not have a support group for unemployed New Yorkers?’ If nothing else, I’m hoping that it will provide a forum for people to vent and blow off steam, and maybe feel a little less alone and lost.”…

Recessionwire Discount: Wine and Charcuterie Friday Night

Already hungry for Friday night? (We are.) This will really set your mouth watering: St. Francis Winery is having a wine-and-charcuterie pairing event in New York tomorrow night. It features the Sonoma winery’s Wild Oak wines and cured meats from Salumeria Biellese, which stocks top chefs, including meat-loving Mario Batali.

Plus, it’s educational, with a discussion of wine-making and meat-curing, in case you needed inspiration for that new career.

Recessionwire readers get $5 off the $35 ticket…

Is New York Less Affordable Than Ever?

The snarkists over at Gawker used the I Can’t Afford to Love NY tee-shirt to bash hipsters (and fair enough). When we saw it, we first wondered why it hadn’t made the rounds during the boom, when real estate prices were hitting the ozone layer, instead of now, when rental and sales prices are coming down.

Maybe this is why…

Retooling: Affordable Art Keeps Gallery Afloat

Provenance be damned. These days the most important thing for gallery owners to master is the art of survival.

The art market—like everything else—has been in contraction for more than a year. Galleries are closing, and many are struggling.

But Jessica L. Porter, owner of a small gallery in New York City, started her business in a recession-friendly fashion. And in the downturn, she has figured out a way to keep people buying art…

My Life in Tents

It turns out you can get a one-bedroom for under $500 in New York City—if you’re willing to sleep on the ground.

Our friends over at Brokelyn broke (ha ha) the story of three college grads who are camping out in a backyard in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Each dude is paying $100 a month to pitch his one-man tent on plywood slabs laid over the mud.

Their site is less Depression-era shantytown than nouveau poor adventure—it’s a “badass thing to do,” said Louis Frank, a 22-year-old NYU grad who works for a Manhattan bus tour company. Note to the inspired: his friend Simon Levy says the Tempurpedic mattress is key. Read more about their escapades with leaky tents, smelly feet and Craigslist here, or pop over just to check out their logo. The NY Post picked up the story this morning.

Tent cities have been springing up in other, warmer places, but this is a new one for New York. A few months ago, CNN.com reported that sales of camping gear were up. Maybe it’s not because everyone’s using their furlough for a vacation.

Recession Briefing 5.22

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

While consumers are cutting back on a lot of things because of the recession, they’re still plunking down big bucks for designer jeans. (LA Times)

“Sexual enhancement devices” and his-and-hers lubricants are flying off the shelves in supermarkets and drug-stores during the recession. (Advertising Age)

Malls, those ubiquitous shopping meccas that sprang up in the 1950s, are turning into ghost towns in the recession, with many struggling properties reduced to largely vacant shells. (Wall Street Journal)

Cold, Cold Art

Is the art market on the verge of an ice age?

Last week, the all-important contemporary art auctions were held in New York. The big houses raked in tens of millions of dollars—Sotheby’s hit $47 million in its May 12 evening sale, and Christie’s did $93 million the next night—and set a few records. But no matter how they tried to spin it, those sums were relatively skimpy. Christie’s brought in three times more last year, and the big lot at Sotheby’s, Jeff Koons’ Baroque Egg with Bow (Turquoise/Magenta), which had been shopped around for $20 million, sold for $5.5 million.

The problem isn’t just lack of enthusiastic buyers…

Art Show on a Shoestring

When Brooklyn artist Lara Allen scored a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Swing Space grant last year, she thought she had secured both a great gallery and up to $3,000 in funding for a meditation on myth and female power entitled I, Daughter of Kong.

Then the funding LMCC hoped to provide fell victim to the recession.

But instead of canceling the show, Allen brought new meaning to her original idea of an artistic collaboration. She began securing donations and soliciting not just creative work from artists, but contributions of time and labor. As a result, the show has gone on—and is, perhaps, even more creative that it would have been. It opened last week and runs through May 10…

Downturn Deals: Price Cuts on Haircuts

Clothes go on sale, cars go on sale, even food goes on sale. But when was the last time your hairstylist offered you a discount?

Well, maybe now. As a way to serve their communities (and, of course, bring in business) salons around the country are offering recession specials. In Los Angeles, some are offering donation-only services, or complimentary bang trims for current customers. In New York, a few deals are specifically targeted at people who have lost their jobs. Here are a few high-end spots trimming prices:

Bank of America, 6:55 p.m.

These days, bankers may be wankers, but at least you know they’re not going home early…