Lower East Side’s Extra Place draws extra scorn

Veterans of the 1970s punk scene on the Lower East Side might prefer being sedated to the prospect of snazzy new retail on a once empty alley where the Ramones hung out. Now called Extra Place, the cobblestone pedestrian mall (featured in last month’s issue of The Real Deal) was the site of a Ramones photo shoot in 1976. The developers of the nearby Avalon Bay plan to install six to eight retailers in spaces of about 200 to 600 square feet. There won’t be any chains, but that’s not enough to assuage critics. “If that alley could talk, it’s seen it all,” said Cheetah Chrome, a guitarist for The Dead Boys, regulars at the now-shuttered CBGB. “All of Manhattan has lost its soul to money lords.” This week, the Bruce Willis-backed Bowery Wine Co. opens on East First Street, between the Bowery and Second Avenue, across the street from Extra Place.