Slow Death By Slurpee

Even as it cannibalizes its own past, New York remains steadfastly opposed to the “continuing corporatization” of rustic Manhattan. Yet the hopelessly provincial still cannot stop 7-Eleven from penetrating the moat:

For a swath of America, nothing says summer like a Slurpee from 7-Eleven.

But Manhattan has always been an island unto its own, so the imminent opening of a 7-Eleven on Park Ave. South and 23rd St. – the first in the borough in more than a decade – isn’t exactly being treated as the next big thing.

“I’d much rather have a coco gelato,” said model Kristine Szabo, strolling down Park Ave.

A 7-Eleven is an unlikely backdrop for her walk, but as she said yesterday, “Why not? There’s already everything else here. It’s a lost cause.”

The “lost cause” is the continuing corporatization of Manhattan, as mom-and-pop drugstores are replaced by Duane Reades and coffee shops have all become Starbucks.

For some, however, the Vermontization of Manhattan has no appeal:

. . . [N]ot everyone is so disdainful of the 7-Elevens.

Marcos Rodriguez, 23, of Corona, Queens, is a club promoter who’s happy a 7-Eleven’s coming to town, and not just because “they have everything.”

Does a 7-Eleven ruin the character of the city? “No,” he said. “These little newspaper stands and stuff, they ruin the character. Makes the street ugly.”