WG News wrote a great piece about the signaling shift to corporate franchises claiming their stake in New York City’s most loved and hated neighborhood.  Topping the article off with a fitting Mae West quote:

Esther Bell, owner of the Union Avenue cocktails ‘n coffee joint named after Bushwick-born bombshell Mae West, is a dame that knows the ropes, and, according to Mae: “A dame that knows the ropes isn’t likely to get tied up.”