I know the feeling..."Scenes from the Post-Print Apocalypse." [NYT]
The "Hell, No" show pokes the New Museum: "a gleaming confection with the retail allure of a shiny stack of hat boxes." [NYS]
"The Bowery becomes a nexus of shattered dreams" in Dirty Old Town, starring Billy Leroy.
Bill Cunningham says goodbye to decades of the wonderful, bohemian life above Carnegie Hall. [via Stupefaction]
Turning an Eames chair into a seat of vanishing NYC storefronts. [JKMP]
Staring into the Q-train yellow face of the Second Avenue Subway cutter. [IL]
"Dear Tweety Tweets," move over! [EVG]
Monday, May 3, 2010
Find a New City
This weekend, Patti Smith and Jonathan Lethem had a conversation in the Great Hall of the Cooper Union. Lethem asked the questions, Smith answered. They talked about books and music, mostly. Patti recalled working at the Argosy bookshop in 1967, which must have been before her stint at Scribner's, and about how she falsified her credentials as a book restorer just to get that job, because she loved books so much.
She talked about the wonders of paper--about books made of paper, some with velvet covers and gravures, and about her plans to write more books like Just Kids, about her early days in New York City, a time rich with memory.
She told Jonathan Lethem that she liked his sneakers. He said, quickly, apologetically, "They're not vintage," because, probably, when you're talking to Patti Smith, you want to be cool in the right ways. But Patti didn't care about vintage or not vintage. She said, "Doesn't matter, they're classic."
When she was done answering Lethem's questions, she picked up her guitar and sang a song about William Blake. Then she answered questions from the audience. One woman asked if it was still possible for a young artist to come to New York City and do what young artists did when Smith was starting out.
Patti recalled coming to New York without money, when it was "down and out," and you could get a cheap apartment and "build a whole community of transvestites," artists or writers, or whatever.
Today, she said, "New York has closed itself off to the young and the struggling. But there’s always other cities. I don’t know—Detroit, Poughkeepsie, Newark. You have to find the new place because New York City has been taken away from you. It’s still a great city, but it has closed itself off from the poor and creative burgeoning society. So my advice is: Find a new city."
You can listen to the whole conversation here.
She talked about the wonders of paper--about books made of paper, some with velvet covers and gravures, and about her plans to write more books like Just Kids, about her early days in New York City, a time rich with memory.
She told Jonathan Lethem that she liked his sneakers. He said, quickly, apologetically, "They're not vintage," because, probably, when you're talking to Patti Smith, you want to be cool in the right ways. But Patti didn't care about vintage or not vintage. She said, "Doesn't matter, they're classic."
When she was done answering Lethem's questions, she picked up her guitar and sang a song about William Blake. Then she answered questions from the audience. One woman asked if it was still possible for a young artist to come to New York City and do what young artists did when Smith was starting out.
Patti recalled coming to New York without money, when it was "down and out," and you could get a cheap apartment and "build a whole community of transvestites," artists or writers, or whatever.
Today, she said, "New York has closed itself off to the young and the struggling. But there’s always other cities. I don’t know—Detroit, Poughkeepsie, Newark. You have to find the new place because New York City has been taken away from you. It’s still a great city, but it has closed itself off from the poor and creative burgeoning society. So my advice is: Find a new city."
You can listen to the whole conversation here.
Friday, April 30, 2010
*Everyday Chatter
The Times visits Freddy's for a last call. Bloomberg's muscle wins again. [NYT]
The man who gave birth to the Anthora, the city's iconic Greek coffee cup, has died. Let's hope his cups don't vanish with him. [NYT]
Take a look at ABC No Rio Dinero. [EVG]
After the fire, 283 Grand comes down. [BB]
Patti Smith stopped by St. Mark's Books, made some recommendations. [SMB]
What's to become of the Limelight? This bus ad tells you everything you need to know about what to find there and who will be there:
The man who gave birth to the Anthora, the city's iconic Greek coffee cup, has died. Let's hope his cups don't vanish with him. [NYT]
Take a look at ABC No Rio Dinero. [EVG]
After the fire, 283 Grand comes down. [BB]
Patti Smith stopped by St. Mark's Books, made some recommendations. [SMB]
What's to become of the Limelight? This bus ad tells you everything you need to know about what to find there and who will be there:
Back to the Backside
If you were around last summer, you might recall the seasonal saga Notes from the Backside. Written by neighbors of the Cooper Square Hotel, they began with a megaphone and ended with the the hanging of an actual douchebag. In between, their poopy laundry lines made it to 1010 WINS and the New York Post.
Now, as warm, giddy, loudmouth weather descends upon the East Village, the Backsiders creep out of hibernation to report all about it.
One Backsider writes:
"This morning I wake up at 5:20 am--still dark out--to the sound of huge, heavy metal clanging. I get up and look outside and some guy at the hotel has a little lit workshop. He's installing these huge metal planters. At 5 am. I ask him to stop and remind him that he's not supposed to be out there till 10--according to their liquor license. And, to his credit, he does.
This is just a week after I hear some guys laughing on the patio at 11:30, a few feet from my bedroom window. They also claim to be working on the planters.
The planters were supposed to have been filled with 4-foot bamboo before they opened their patio for business this season, according to their liquor license. Right now their patrons can and do look in our windows and make eye contact with us.
We were thinking of this deterrent":
Now, as warm, giddy, loudmouth weather descends upon the East Village, the Backsiders creep out of hibernation to report all about it.
One Backsider writes:
"This morning I wake up at 5:20 am--still dark out--to the sound of huge, heavy metal clanging. I get up and look outside and some guy at the hotel has a little lit workshop. He's installing these huge metal planters. At 5 am. I ask him to stop and remind him that he's not supposed to be out there till 10--according to their liquor license. And, to his credit, he does.
This is just a week after I hear some guys laughing on the patio at 11:30, a few feet from my bedroom window. They also claim to be working on the planters.
The planters were supposed to have been filled with 4-foot bamboo before they opened their patio for business this season, according to their liquor license. Right now their patrons can and do look in our windows and make eye contact with us.
We were thinking of this deterrent":
Thursday, April 29, 2010
*Everyday Chatter
Bleecker = "Gold Coast for designer boutiques" as rents continue to skyrocket. [WSJ] via Curbed
Stacy Torres writes about the pain of losing St. Vincent's. [NYDN]
Goggla shows video of Fairey's latest, simultaneous mural going up at Wooster and Grand. [youtube]
Someone sticks a little sticker on the Houston Fairey:
Joe Sitt reveals plans to demolish pretty much everything in Coney Island and replace it with fast food joints. [NYO]
Take a look inside what's to go in Coney. [KC]
Are noisy EV bar owners finally shaking in their boots? [EVG]
Ray denied social security benefits. [NMNL]
Saying goodbye to Admiral's Row. [GVDP]
Stacy Torres writes about the pain of losing St. Vincent's. [NYDN]
Goggla shows video of Fairey's latest, simultaneous mural going up at Wooster and Grand. [youtube]
Someone sticks a little sticker on the Houston Fairey:
Joe Sitt reveals plans to demolish pretty much everything in Coney Island and replace it with fast food joints. [NYO]
Take a look inside what's to go in Coney. [KC]
Are noisy EV bar owners finally shaking in their boots? [EVG]
Ray denied social security benefits. [NMNL]
Saying goodbye to Admiral's Row. [GVDP]
Billy on The Wall
Billy Leroy is the owner of Billy’s Antiques and Props, on the Bowery since 1986, and still hanging on despite a recent doubling of the rent and a raid from the NYPD. As The Villager wrote, "CBGB may have closed, high-rise luxury co-ops are invading the area, the local American Apparel is attracting yuppies in droves. A Whole Foods mega-supermarket has opened on the other side of the street, but Billy’s is still hanging in there."
Billy also happened to hold the lease on the Houston Wall, where Deitch Projects has displayed murals by Os Gemeos and Shepard Fairey, along with a reproduction of a long-buried work by Keith Haring. Billy wrote in and let me know about his instrumental role in bringing the Haring back to life.
photo: Billy Leroy
He recalls: “In 2005 I was working on a project around the wall, a sorta cafe with Bistro tables, when I discovered through research that the wall had been Keith Haring’s first mural. I thought it would be cool to clear away the rotting bathtubs and wrought iron and recreate the mural.
I brought the whole project to Tony Goldman. Unfortunately the project fell through. A few years passed and Tony teamed up with Jeffery Deitch and the Keith Haring Foundation. Since I was renting the whole property, Tony had to get me to release The Wall from my lease. We made a deal and the new Wall started.
But there was one fly in the ointment. The OMNI mural was still up and OMNI had to be contacted. Fortunately, I knew him and explained that they where going to paint over his mural and do a 50th anniversary to Haring. He was not thrilled but I convinced him. So that’s how the last illegal mural was painted over, and the rest is history."
photo: Billy Leroy
"When the workers started scraping away the years of old paint, giant chips of florescent orange paint fell to the ground. I gathered them into a bucket--they were the original Keith Haring and I have a bucket full."
photo: Billy Leroy
"Am I happy about the new Wall? Yes, because the neighborhood has changed forever and we have to deal with the new people on the Bowery. But I am strong believer in the spirits and ghosts of the old Bowery and they will never leave! Just hang out in my shop at night and things can get pretty creepy."
Billy also happened to hold the lease on the Houston Wall, where Deitch Projects has displayed murals by Os Gemeos and Shepard Fairey, along with a reproduction of a long-buried work by Keith Haring. Billy wrote in and let me know about his instrumental role in bringing the Haring back to life.
photo: Billy Leroy
He recalls: “In 2005 I was working on a project around the wall, a sorta cafe with Bistro tables, when I discovered through research that the wall had been Keith Haring’s first mural. I thought it would be cool to clear away the rotting bathtubs and wrought iron and recreate the mural.
I brought the whole project to Tony Goldman. Unfortunately the project fell through. A few years passed and Tony teamed up with Jeffery Deitch and the Keith Haring Foundation. Since I was renting the whole property, Tony had to get me to release The Wall from my lease. We made a deal and the new Wall started.
But there was one fly in the ointment. The OMNI mural was still up and OMNI had to be contacted. Fortunately, I knew him and explained that they where going to paint over his mural and do a 50th anniversary to Haring. He was not thrilled but I convinced him. So that’s how the last illegal mural was painted over, and the rest is history."
photo: Billy Leroy
"When the workers started scraping away the years of old paint, giant chips of florescent orange paint fell to the ground. I gathered them into a bucket--they were the original Keith Haring and I have a bucket full."
photo: Billy Leroy
"Am I happy about the new Wall? Yes, because the neighborhood has changed forever and we have to deal with the new people on the Bowery. But I am strong believer in the spirits and ghosts of the old Bowery and they will never leave! Just hang out in my shop at night and things can get pretty creepy."
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
*Everyday Chatter
Sadly, the ginormous fingernails have vanished, without a word--going as mysteriously as they came:
Keep up with the yunnisphere as grueling narcissists are Tweeting Too Hard.
The Bowery gets more glass. [Curbed]
The Jane Ballroom rises from the dead. [Gothamist]
Who's your favorite New York poet? [P&W]
Woodside's "running whatsit." [LC]
Enjoy the guide to Landmarks Preservation. [EVG]
Fans of Joe Jr.'s keep hanging on. [BB]
Coney gets a new ride. [ATZ]
Keep up with the yunnisphere as grueling narcissists are Tweeting Too Hard.
The Bowery gets more glass. [Curbed]
The Jane Ballroom rises from the dead. [Gothamist]
Who's your favorite New York poet? [P&W]
Woodside's "running whatsit." [LC]
Enjoy the guide to Landmarks Preservation. [EVG]
Fans of Joe Jr.'s keep hanging on. [BB]
Coney gets a new ride. [ATZ]
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