Saturday, September 21, 2013

Reader report: Jazz legend Giuseppi Logan jumped on East 9th Street



EVG reader Bayou talked with a bloodied Giuseppi Logan in Tompkins Square Park... The 78-year-old Logan, a familiar sight in the Park with his saxophone, said that he had been attacked earlier in the morning on East Ninth Street ... He said the assailant(s?) didn't take anything — because he didn't have anything... Bayou brought him bandages and a little something to eat... The soft-spoken Logan didn't provide any other details.

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For further reading in the Times from April 2012:
Giuseppi Logan’s Second Chance

24 comments:

shmnyc said...

It was only the other day an anonymous commenter said that "Light violence is a small price to pay for some color in the neighborhood." Of course, it's always someone else who does the paying.

Anonymous said...

What kind of cowardly, d*ckless f*ck attacks an old man like that!???

shmnyc, agreed. That commenter you referred to really made my blood boil. Clueless!

Jenny Adams said...

I don't understand what you mean by that comment about light violence ...

But this is really upsetting. I love seeing Logan and his sax. EV, let me know if you hear that we can help him out in some way. Medical bills or anything ...

THE NOTORIOUS L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N. said...

Absolutely disgusting. People who attack the elderly are on par with people who torture animals.

Anonymous said...

oh boy old school EV right you idiots?

JM said...

There are morons on both sides of the "old EV" thing. No reasonable person would condone violence as a prerequisite to the old vibe and lack of shop around here. The real golden age came in the 90s, when violence was gone but hypergentrification and the EV theme park had yet to open. Outsiders were afraid to come here due to the previous rep of danger, but that was old news and not the reality.

I like hearing the man play from my window. Real slimeballs who would attack an oldster. We can all agree on that.

Anonymous said...

Muckraking as usual SMDH.

Anonymous said...

It's insensitive for the commenter to take someone else's words, spoken in a general sense, and apply them to this attack. Shame on you!

Anonymous said...

@John M I agree. I moved to NYC summer of 95 and have lived in the same EV apartment ever since, on 6th between A and B. I remember people at the time were impressed that I lived in what was still often called Alphabet City--it gave me a slight thrill that people thought I was so daring, when the reality was that it felt like a true neighborhood that merged new and old in all the best ways. Now it seems to feel much more extreme at both ends--insane and nauseating gentrification coupled with what seems like more crusties/violence/assaults/poverty.

If I could afford to get out of the neighborhood, I would.




Victoria said...

Anon @ 4:47 PM Insensitive to whom?

Anonymous said...

Poor fella. They were getting so contributions for him at the 9th St. block fair. A friend got attacked in the park a few years ago. A gang of kids out wilding. The police like to sweep incidences like this under the rug.
Shame on the police and shame on those who cause harm!

moe said...

Just to agree on that 90's comment. The place was not yet sickening with these NYU brats, yet at the same time my motorcycle was not being stripped and for the most part people had stopped trying to climb into my window. Like baby bear said, that porridge was just right. You could still buy coke in the bodegas, yet you were very unlikely to have anyone try to rip you off for it on your way home. Those were the days!

Anonymous said...

Well let's hope they catch the **********s who did this. And soon!

Anonymous said...

Of course it's awful that anyone would hurt this harmless older fellow, and I hope whoever did it is quickly apprehended.
That said, I will add I am shocked to find out that this guy is a respected musician, I have heard him croaking out the same childish drivel for years, and while I am not a professional musician myself, i honestly thought this guy had found that beat up sax In the trash somewhere in his travels and figured out a few basic tunes, rather badly, in an effort to help his panhandling, why not, I admired his effort in that regard.
Well I guess I am the dummy, but come on.

Anonymous said...

SOME GUY GAVE GUISEPPI A NEW SAX

Anonymous said...

Uhm, I think that Giuseppi might be (understandably) trying to be a little stoic and save his pride. It looks to me like he had a bad fall and scrapped his head. It's very common with people of his age. I went through it with elderly parents - this kind of wound is very common. It's still a horrible thing to happen to such a wonderful old dude - a man that gives everyone a lot of joy. But let's put that vigilante shit on hold.

mk said...

@8:15 this is very true. I don't know if anyone on here remembers Jean-Jacques (he died in 2003 at 94 yrs old) who lived on 2nd btwn 4th and 5th. He was a trumpet player, also a lost, but important jazz musician. Anyway, oftentimes he would have a few too many cognacs, slip and fall, then claim he got jumped by a bunch of hoodlums. One time he pulled a knife on another customer in the bar after the guy touched his arm to say hello. Eventually we started walking him home every night, saved a bit drama.

shmnyc said...

Anonymous 8:15,
I think you're right. I thought the same thing, after seeing the photo a few times.

Anonymous said...

shmnyc,

I was that poster. And you don't understand sarcasm.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad that we have been able pinpoint the good "real" East Village to a five year period in the mid-to-late 90s.

Anonymous said...

shmnyc Your attempts at humor and sarcasm need a lot of work.

Anonymous said...

Oh...I see. Now because he says he was jumped, he wasn't because some of you think he wasn't-- you think he is making it up.

Wow. RIP, the heart.

moe said...

When I saw the photo of that cut on his head, and knowing his age, the tentative way he walks, and his admitted fondness for a sip now and then, I figured a stumble as the culprit as well, didn't mention my take so as not to get called out as all sorts of whatever nonsense and then feel the need to defend myself.
Ps you don't have to be a senior citizen to be prideful about injuries, I admit to romanticizing a few drunken injuries myself over the years. Much cooler to be limping following some wild beef than because I fell off a curb after a too long night in Sophie's.

shmnyc said...

Anonymous 12:00pm,
I can run rings around you, humor-wise. Sarcasm? No thanks. I don't indulge.