Death of A(nother) Neighborhood?

I've been living in "Grey Box" since 1997 - that's the area between Gramercy Park and Murray Hill with no name. When I moved in it was pretty much a shite-hole. People sleeping in the foyer, by-the-hour hotels down the block, drug fronts, goat meat wholesalers, ladies of the night, The Sunflower was a greasy spoon dive diner, and all the bars were either Irish pubs or completely non-descript (aside from The Rodeo). It was pretty dire, but I thought it was swell. I'm not going to romanticize and tell you it was great, but it was what it was. And slowly over the years, and seemingly in hyper speed the past year it has turned into...

THE UPPER EAST SIDE (insert shrieks and screams of terror here)

There are now 10 "Sex and the City"/frat bars within the three blocks North of my street, not counting an 11th - a wine bar opening in the very near future (Cavatappo). Here are photos of the offenders, and some of my least favorite public houses in town. And I live among them all. Sigh...