Former Rainbow Music shop will be a Chinese restaurant

There was a partial reveal yesterday at the under-renovation 130 First Ave., the former Rainbow Music just south of St. Mark's Place...

A worker confirmed to EVG correspondent Steven that a Chinese restaurant is opening here soon, though didn't provide further details...



Rainbow Music owner Bill "Birdman" Kasper retired and closed up his cluttered used-CD shop in September 2015.


[Rainbow Music photos from March 2014 by EVG reader Chris F.]

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Birdman of the East Village

Closing time: Portraits of 3 newly shuttered storefronts

Photographer Nick McManus is a group portrait artist who works on Impossible Project Polaroids for gallery exhibition here in New York City. This past weekend, he scheduled and shot group portraits of workers at Sounds on St. Mark's Place and Rainbow Music on First Avenue, which closed for good on Sunday. (The Sounds closing date is up in the air still.)

In addition, he visited the original location for Bicycle Habitat on Lafayette, which is closing today. (The shop is consolidating spaces after a large rent increase.)





"I felt it was important to give back to them after so many years of personally enjoying their music and bike services," said McManus, who has been regularly taking these group portraits at business closings.

In each case, he presents the owners with a copy of the portraits — "a physical souvenir of a place they'll miss dearly meant a lot to them."

I asked McManus what the mood was like as these owners were closing up their shops.

At Rainbow Music, owner Bill "Birdman" Kasper "was ready for this to happen. He will be selling CDs on the street in Greenpoint in the near future. The mood was something that could be described in the words of George Harrison, 'All Things Must Pass.'

Over at Bicycle Habitat, the co-owner Charlie McCorkell looked like he would miss his little desk in the back center of a store he's worked out of since 1978. Though they've expanded to four other locations, one of which is on the same block and will consolidate with the other one, the original high-ceilinged wood and iron interior of their original location will be missed as something he spent most of his adult life in and no place would ever equal it. At the moment of the portrait though, the mood was less somber and more work busy as he posed with a staff that knew they had a lot of moving and and clearing ahead of them so that the store would be completely out by [today] when Charlie had to turn over the keys."

You can find more of McManus's work via Instagram.

A reminder about Rainbow Music closing at the end of the month

In case you wanted one last look at the stacks of CDs, DVDs and cassettes at Rainbow Music… the store at 130 First Ave. near St. Mark's Place is closing on Sept. 30…





As previously reported, the proprietor, the Birdman, is retiring and closing his 17-year-old store.

More about the Birdman closing Rainbow Music on 1st Avenue this month

[Photo in March 2014 by EVG reader Chris F.]

As you may have heard, the Birdman, who works amid the stacks of used CDs, videos and cassettes at Rainbow Music, is retiring and closing his 17-year-old store at 130 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street at the end of the month.

The Times today has more about his decision.

“I don’t need the aggravation anymore, and this is aggravation,” he said, looking around at the clutter. “It kept me busy, but now I’m tired.”

And!

He estimates that he has crammed 250,000 CDs and perhaps 50,000 more video and audiocassettes into the small space. Just to enter the store, at 130 First Avenue ... seemed to risk setting off a cascading avalanche of thousands of plastic cases.

“The store is so jammed, people are amazed by it, but then they see I got good stuff,” he said. “I can dig out anything I want. The thing is, I just don’t want to dig anymore.”

To date, the Birdman has never revealed his name, not even for Jessie Auritt's 10-minute short about the store...

However, in the Times, he "reluctantly confirmed that his given name was Bill Kasper."

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Birdman of the East Village

You can read our Q-and-A with Auritt here.

Report: The Birdman of 1st Avenue is retiring, will close his shop next month

[Photo by Jessie Auritt]

Back in March 2014, we first heard that one of the neighborhood's more intriguing shopkeepers, a man known as the Birdman who works amid the stacks of used CDs, videos and cassettes at Rainbow Music, will be closing his store at 130 First Ave. in the coming months.

The Birdman told a reader that he had lost his lease here just south of St. Mark's Place. However, he has remained open for business.

Now, though, the Birdman says it's time to close up his shop, as Gothasmist is reporting this morning.

"I'm not being forced to retire, but I want to retire."

He plans to close at the end of September. So you have some time left to go test his ability to recall every obscure item in the wonderfully cluttered store. I'm going to see about that "License to Drive" Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.


[Photo in March 2014 by EVG reader Chris F.]

A few years back Jessie Auritt made a 10-minute short about the Birdman... which you can watch right here...

You can read our Q-and-A with Auritt here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Birdman of the East Village

More about the impending closure of Rainbow Music on First Avenue

As we first reported on Monday, Rainbow Music at 130 First Ave. will be closing later this year. The shop's eccentric owner, known only as the Birdman, is currently on a month-to-month lease … with plans to be out by the end of the year.

Filmmaker Jessie Auritt, who interviewed the Birdman for an engaging documentary short, stopped by the store yesterday. The Birdman said that he is on good terms with the landlord and is planning to stay open until at least September for now.

Which is almost enough time to sift through every stack in Rainbow Music.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Birdman of the East Village

Watch the Birdman of the East Village

Reader report: The fabulous Rainbow Music is closing this year in the East Village

Reader report: The fabulous Rainbow Music is closing this year in the East Village

[Photo by Jessie Auritt]

Word is spreading that one of the neighborhood's more intriguing shopkeepers, a man known as the Birdman who works amid the stacks of used CDs, videos and cassettes at Rainbow Music, will be closing his store at 130 First Ave. in the coming months.

According to the Birdman, his landlord sold the building here near St. Mark's Place a few weeks before the end of 2013, and the new owner decided not to renew the store's lease. Rainbow Music has been on a month-to-month lease ever since, and he plans to sell his inventory via Amazon.com when the storefront is finally closed, per EVG reader Chris F.

In addition to all the items in the visible part of the store, the Birdman estimates that he has an additional 50,000 items in the back that he also needs to catalog.

Here's how the store was looking yesterday...


[Photo by EVG reader Chris F.]

A few years back Jessie Auritt made a 10-minute short about the Birdman... which you can watch right here...

You can read our Q-and-A with Auritt here.

[Thanks to EVG reader Chris F. for the tip]

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Birdman of the East Village

Watch The Birdman of the East Village

The full version of Jessie Auritt's documentary short on the proprietor of Rainbow Music is now online. The nearly 10-minute video takes a look at one of the neighborhood's more intriguing shopkeepers, a man simply known as the Birdman who works amid the stacks of used CDs, videos and cassettes here at 130 First Ave.

Check it out.

The Birdman from Jessie Auritt on Vimeo.

You can read our Q-and-A with Auritt here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Birdman of the East Village

The Birdman of the East Village

[Photo by Jessie Auritt]

Thanks to a pile of crappy CDs, we now have a documentary short about one of the neighborhood's more intriguing shops — and shopkeepers.

A few years ago, Jessie Auritt lived on on St. Mark's Place. She had some used CDs to sell. She first tried the nearest CD store near her apartment — Rainbow Music at 130 First Ave., where the stacks of CDs, videos, cassettes and records are precariously stacked to the ceiling. The trip didn't go so well. The store's curmudgeonly owner thought her CDs weren't worth a thing.

However, that visit inspired Auritt, a filmmaker who now lives in Brooklyn, to make a short about the store's 70-year-old owner nicknamed The Birdman. She answered a few questions via email about her award-winning short, "The Birdman."

Tell us about the first time you went into the store.
Well actually, the first time I set foot in Rainbow Music was a few years back before I was even interested in making a documentary. I was attempting to sell some used CDs and Birdman told me he wasn’t interesting in buying any of them. He turned me away!

What compelled you to document the shop?
I was initially interested in making a documentary film about the changing nature of the music industry. I was curious about how all of the small independent music stores in the East Village were able to stay in business with illegal music downloading and people buying songs on the Internet. Rainbow Music was naturally the first place came to mind because it's so unique. After talking to Birdman, I instantly knew that I wanted to make a documentary about him and his store. He’s such a quirky and interesting character, I felt he deserved his own film.

What was his initial reaction to your request?
When I first asked Birdman if I could film him for my documentary, he told me that it was okay for me to film in the store but that he didn’t want his face shown on camera because he is a very private person. I shot and edited the film with the hopes that we would like it and change his mind. Luckily he did.

How do you think this store has been able to survive, not only with what's happening in the music biz, but also the local economy?
To be honest, I don’t think the store would survive if Birdman wasn’t so passionate about what he does. As he says in the film, "I don't need the money, but I like the work." Judging by the massive amounts of CDs that are crammed floor to ceiling in the store, I believe him.

What's your favorite thing about Rainbow Music?
Just the fact that it simply exists. I used to live in the East Village. Now every time I am in the neighborhood, I am astonished by how much it’s changed in only the last few years with new businesses cropping up everyday. I really appreciate unique mom-and-pop shops, which sadly are becoming few and far between. Hopefully Rainbow Music will be able to stick around for a long time to come.

"The Birdman" is just one of the documentary shorts that will screen tonight as part of Rooftop Films Summer Series. The films are shown at the New Design High School (formerly Open Road) at 350 Grand St. Find tickets and more details here.

Oh, and the Birdman's real name? Bill. He never divulged his last name.