In ancient times, "The Bowery" was a synonym for New York City's seedy, seething underworld. Today, the final remnants of Bowery poverty are, like any good metaphor, moving to Brooklyn and being replaced by a boutique hotel.

The New York Post reports that the Salvation Army's Chinatown shelter on The Bowery, which houses a shelter, soup kitchen, and community center, is being sold to Rich Guys for $30 million. The Rich Guys will put condos for Rich People and an Ace Hotel for Cool People in the space.

Poor People, who are neither Cool nor Rich, will now have to go to Brooklyn to get their Cheap Food and Poor Accommodations. Soon, the Cool and Rich people can stroll up the Bowery from the Ace Hotel, which used to be a homeless shelter, up to DBGB, a Cool restaurant with Good Food for Rich People, which used to be a Dirty Club with Loud Music for Poor People.

[Update: The Dirty Club actually became a Fancy Clothing Store for Rich People. The Cool Restaurant With Good Food for Rich People is named after the Dirty Club but is actually down the block from the Fancy Clothing Store.]

Things sure do change.

"Even the homeless are getting priced out of Manhattan," notes the Post. Boy oh boy.

[Photo of the Bowery in 1899—or is it Freemans today?: AP]