"Hopscotch" replaces "Alt"

I wondered what happened to Alt Coffee, that East Village oasis of dive coffeeshop and pinball I discovered in March.

This is what happened.

Now, I'm a hypocrite because I like gentrified neighborhoods. In fact, Adam and I were hanging out with his friend Dan a few weeks ago, talking about Portland, and Dan mentioned a neighborhood that was just beginning to gentrify.

"I don't know," Adam said. "We tend to like neighborhoods that are on the fourth or fifth wave of gentrification."

And admittedly, it's true. I like cleaner, more upscale places.

But Alt felt different. Okay, it was a place where punks shot up in the bathroom. It was a little rough around the edges. But to yank all that and turn it into Totland -- dude, come on. Like there aren't enough places like that in New York these days?