Thursday, August 27, 2015

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

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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 27, 2015 at 11:10 AM

    You feel lost in time from the first step in - what a treasure we are losing - so sad..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Laura Goggin PhotographyAugust 27, 2015 at 11:40 AM

    I love that space. It's like being inside a brain.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 27, 2015 at 12:04 PM

    i love music and still buy many cds, but i just couldn't take that store. stuff stacked in piles on the floor and rickety tables, couldn't move or see any of the buried titles without risking knocking everything over, and honestly the selection was really mainstream for the most part. and not cheap, either.

    sorry to loose the birdman, glad he's going out on his own terms, but can't see this making any difference in my cd shopping.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousAugust 27, 2015 at 12:12 PM

    Birdman is a very charming man. Everyone who cares about the East Village should meet him and buy some CD's or DVD's before he closes.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousAugust 27, 2015 at 12:20 PM

    I never found anything good there. Too much of a mess to logically crawl through them all.

    ReplyDelete
  6. MakeoutAugust 27, 2015 at 12:44 PM

    Grab the "Colors" soundtrack for me Greive!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousAugust 28, 2015 at 7:32 AM

    What is the CD you want is at the bottom of a stack?

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousAugust 31, 2015 at 8:35 AM

    He knows every cd he has, knows where they are located, and gets the ones on the bottom of the stack or in obscure places. He's a trooper!

    ReplyDelete

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