Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

Editor's note: We originally had the following Out and About scheduled for Oct. 31. In the aftermath of the Superstorm Sandy, we suspended the column for two weeks...

By James Maher

Name: Tamara Hey
Occupation: Musician
Location: 9th Street Between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.
Time: 3:45 pm on Monday, Oct. 22

I’ve lived here since 1998, between 1st and A on 9th street.I’m from the Bronx and then I moved to the Upper East Side for five years. The Upper East Side was boring, so I came here.

Mostly when I’m out walking around it’s because I have a dog. As soon as I got a dog I learned a lot more about the neighborhood and met a lot more people. Sometimes I work at Puppy Love, Kitty Cat. I’ve got a Jack Russell terrier, who was made for killing rats. It’s a problem, because our block is filled with them. She’s killed a couple. At night, when we go for a walk, I have to pick her up and bring her a couple blocks away or she’ll kill more.

My husband and I are both musicians. He plays the piano. We have a baby grand piano in an under 700-square-foot apartment. I’m a singer and songwriter and I teach. I’m on my way to teach right now on the Upper East. I’ve played around the neighborhood. These days, I tend to play at Rockwood Music Hall. I do a kind of storytelling pop. I wrote a song called "Alphabet City" about the neighborhood:

Walking my dog down Avenue A

NYC on the first spring day

Everybody in their shorts and their shades

Tompkins Square Park on their rollerblades

Iced coffee to go from Pick Me Up Cafe

Walking my dog down Avenue A.

ABC ALPHABET CITY

ABC ALPHABET CITY

You're good to me,

ALPHABET CITY

ABC ALPHABET CITY

OH, ALPHABET CITY


Avenue B watching my laundry go 'round

Near the M9 bus stop to Chinatown

Horseshoe Bar, Lakeside Lounge

Saturday night bridge and tunnel crowd

Lucky me, I can just stay in

Or Avenue B and watch my laundry spin.


(Chorus)


Got a place in my heart for Avenue C

Where the C-note open mic used to be

Friday nights playing my guitar

Singing my songs for Ira at the bar

He'd give me a wink like I was a star

Avenue C, you got a place in my heart.


(Chorus)

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.