Where Did the Korean Greengrocers Go

Over at the urban-policy magazine City Journal, writer Laura Vanderkam takes a fascinating look at the shifts in economics and immigration that led Koreans to dominate the greengrocer industry in New York City for a generation and then, almost as quickly, start to leave it behind. Read the full article here.

This brings to mind two related projects. First is Virginie-Alvine Perrette's little-seen 2008 documentary "Twilight Becomes Night," a look at the dwindling number of independent, neighborhood-oriented businesses in New York. Second is the more popular coffee table-sized book "Storefront: The Disappearing Face of New York," which photographs the same phenomenon, beautifully capturing some of the mom and pop shops remaining throughout New York's five boroughs. (It's a huge book, but also recently made available in a smaller format.