Youtube user "bobertbach" posted this 1989 film of the man online and wrote:
"This man ran a bike repair shop in the abandon NW corner of C & 7th in the late 80's. When he needed to straighten out a bike frame he would wait for a bus to stop across the street & stick it under its' tire. I can remember him arguing with a bus driver. He was eventually evicted by developers. It is currently Zum Schneider."
There's also a dog in the film, sleeping soundly on the hood of a car. Bobertbach writes, "The dog, 'Hank' was owned by actor Mark Boone Jr. who was a bartender at Vazaks in the mid to late 80's. It was stranger than paradise."
Excellent find, Jeremiah!
ReplyDeleteGosh, what a treasure to find, the picture of Hank. And I remember the bike repair guy very well too. In 1987/88, I lived on East 7th Street between C and D, so I used to see those guys all the time. I loved Hank very much. Sometimes he hung out in front of the bar there, in the doorway, but very often he hung out on cars just like in that picture. I don't remember how I knew his name was Hank, but Hank was a guy everybody in the neighborhood knew. He had a real style all his own, he reminded me of Mickey Rourke the way he was in the Pope of Greenwich Village, or Buke the Puke (that's my pet name for C. Bukowski) and I always said, "Hey, Hank," when I passed him. Usually he was snoozin, so he didn't often acknowledge me, but once in a while he would. He would look me in the eye and bang his tail on the hood of the car twice, and when that happened, I was elated. It was a little like saying, "Hey" to Joey Ramone out on the street and having him say, "Hey" back. It just felt good. At that same time, there was an infamous laundromat on East 7th Street, and I was so innocent in some ways, that I used to actually do laundry in there. And the dope dealer who ran the joint was so sweet to me, I remember. He hung out on the steps in front of the place as cool as Hank, and when I would come with my laundry bag, he'd get up and hold the door for me. I could go on and on, but I shall leave off here, and thank you again for the picture of dear old Hank.
ReplyDeleteRomy, thanks for sharing your memory of Hank!
ReplyDeleteHank was such a big muffin - I forgot about him until now. Thanks!
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