Your article (Freewheelin’ to fame – the untold story of Bob Dylan’s iconic VW van, 24 March) begins: “New York City’s Greenwich Village has always been a magnet for outsiders, artists and poets.” That sentence cries out for an update. Greenwich Village used to be a magnet for such people.
I’m a writer, my wife is a singer-songwriter, and we’ve lived in the area for well over 30 years. Yes, some of us have been fortunate enough to weather the changes that have made this neighbourhood (as well as much of Manhattan) unaffordable to most. But I can now report that the Village has become a magnet for bankers, brokers and trust-fund tragedies.
If a young Bob Dylan were coming to New York today, he’d be lucky to find an affordable place in the Bronx or Staten Island.
Robert Rosen
New York City, US
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