I love Pieces and Lord knows I love Marshall’s, but I wouldn’t mind a Gap, Steve Madden or Victoria Secrets somewhere on Lenox or 1-2-5. Talay is beautiful and Nectar is simply wonderful with their on point wine menu, but dang can a middle-browser like me just get a neighborhood bar with Guiness on tap, a healthy helping of barbecue wings, and a flat screen where I can watch the Celtics spank that L.A. booty?

Two years ago in Harlem I was able to go to Famous Fish or Taste of Seafood and order some of the best fried whiting Harlem has to offer and then if I felt like being fancy, I could’ve gone to Emperor’s Roe and feasted on Sevruga caviar (for the record even though I frequented ER I never felt fancy enough for caviar). And I guess one could say that’s fresh– high and low culture all within a 20-block radius, all in America’s Black Mecca. The thing is where does it leave a grrrl like me who just wants a sushi restaurant in Harlem? Some place where I can get a spicy tuna roll, a piece of Toro. That can’t be asking for too much, can it?

Gentrification in Harlem, I’m sure like in other urban, inner cities, involves conflict, displacement, renewal and tension. This I know, but what I wasn’t prepared for was the extreme in class positioning reflected so dramatically in the retail offerings (and most dramatically of course is in real estate). It’s either bargain basement Conway’s or Tracy Reese selling N (both on 116th St.); fried chicken wings and fries at New Dragon or 21-Spice Coconut Chicken and decadent pineapple rice at Ginger (also located on 116th). With all the takeout spots and lounges that are opening in Harlem, I’m wondering where do families with children go out for dinner? IHOP? Where can middle-of-the-roaders shop, chill and hang? Like Keanu, I feel like my only choices are either take the red pill or the blue pill, which totally sucks cause what I really want is some edamame and a cold Sapporo.