The Death of Kitsch

Kitsch, where are you going now that we need you most? Waikiki Wally's is the latest casualty in the death of kitsch, which is similar, but still an altogether different beast than the much-prophesied death of irony several years ago. As the East Village blog EV Grieve points out, Wally's on 2nd Street is the latest gimcrack body to litter the local landscape, following Love Saves the Day and Old Devil Moon. Looks like someone ought to hold a candlelight vigil on 14th Street outside Otto's Shrunken Head posthaste.

Wally's, which was a sister to Lucky Cheng's (long rumored to be picking up stakes and heading to Times Square itself), brand of worship to the tiki gods may have been a bit more contrived than those other recently shuttered bastions of garish sentimentality, but somehow  the mismatched bar staff teaching ukulele-loving patrons to spit fire at 3 a.m. fit right into the neighborhood.

Tacky charm's days may be numbered. The signs are all around. "Hairspray" has closed, "Cry-Baby" failed to gain momentum and John Waters is on a Chinatown bus back to Baltimore.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us