Friday, September 17, 2010

New sidewalk shed at St. Brigid's brings an end to shelter for travelers

Last week, to meet the demands of the continued renovations, workers put in a new sidewalk shed on the Eighth Street side of St. Brigid's... the structure takes up most of the sidewalk now...



During August, before the expanded sidewalk shed, several travelers would camp out here at night ...



Last month, I spoke with several regular East Village travelers... they all told me that the NYPD had suddenly cracked down on them like never before... and, according to them, the police said that this area by the under-renovation church was OK for them to sleep... and that Tompkins Square Park was "strictly forbidden."

There was some talk of increased gang activity... with the travelers being the target of the violence...

By now, though, most of the travelers have already moved on as usual this time of the year... just a handful remain.... In any event, the new sidewalk shed would keep them from sleeping alongside St. Brigid's...

Meanwhile, I keep thinking about this image early one Friday morning in August... I was out around 6:30 a.m., and came across this young woman asleep on the front steps of an apartment building on Seventh Street... In my 10-second assessment, I could tell that she wasn't part of the travelers scene... and she also wasn't someone who got locked out of her apartment... She seemed so vulnerable ... I felt a little cheap for taking a photo... Still, I wonder what the story was...

11 comments:

VH McKenzie said...

She looks so young! Really tall maybe, but really young. Was she even wearing shoes?

I'm thinking maybe a teenager who stormed out of the house after an argument with her parents. You know, make them really worried and don't come home all night.

But then sleep on the front steps when she just couldn't fight the fight any longer.

dmbream said...

That last photo's as artistic as it is mysterious.

EV Grieve said...

She had no shoes, no noticeable possessions. And really short American Apparelish shorts. She was tall. Anyway, your theory makes sense, VH.

Mykola ( Mick) Dementiuk said...

She has shoes, blow it up and look closely. Look at other things too haha!

EV Grieve said...

Oh, crap — you're right Mick...she is wearing some sort of flats. My memory sucks. Along with my eyesight!

Minnie Romanovich said...

EV, this is one of the best photos I have seen on here. It's mysterious and heart-breaking at the same time.

Shot from any other angle, it could have been a voyeuristic image, but instead you captured the vulnerability and fragility of this woman so well. I commend you for that.

EV Grieve said...

Thanks, Minnie. I appreciate that. I hesitated taking the shot. But I'm glad I did. I'm curious if anyone may happen to recognize her...

Morgan Tsvangirai said...

Maybe just a rough night?

glamma said...

ahem uh yeah that was a rough night for me..

glamma said...

just kidding! lol

AWKWORD said...

amazing photo. so tragic. homelessness and politics of public space are issues about which i have always been intrigued, to say the least.