[Photos from Saturday]
On the previous post about Gelarto, the new gelato shop at 145 Avenue A, Nigel, one of the shop's proprietors, left several comments.
For starters, he's interested in receiving input about the 9/11 mural on the Ninth Street side of the building (read more about the mural here) ...
Per Nigel:
We would love to do something with the 9/11 mural that has now been graffitied over on our black wall and it would be great to get some local feedback or suggestions for this. What would everyone like to see — the same but cleaned up, or a new 9/11 commemorative mural?
Meanwhile, he apologized that the shop will be closed for a few days.
"We are moving things around a little in the store, ready for our proper official opening (no more test runs), with full menu and all staff up to speed. I will post on this blog when I am 100% certain of the opening day and we will advertise in the area, but I hope you will all be able to make it as it will be a great opportunity to try our gelato for free. I look forward to meeting you all."
These flyers arrived on the storefront yesterday...
[Photo by Steven]
Previously on EV Grieve:
The 9/11 mural on 9th and A
21 comments:
I would urge the proprietors to clean the mural up, not paint over it. As far as I know, it is the last of the spontaneous tributes that sprang up in the days immediately following that horrific day, and it was painted out of shock, grief, love, and a desire to memorialize the loss of so many of our fellow humans, as well as a pair of iconic buildings. Anything painted now, no matter how much care and respect was taken, would not have the same sense of immediacy and presence, it would just be a rendering of the Towers. As it is, the mural is a tangible link to 9-11, and it would be a real loss to lose it. (I think its value can also be seen in how the image has been tagged around, but not over.) So my vote is to leave it as is, and just clean up the borders. But I certainly applaud Nigel's concern, and thank him and the other owner (s) for their outreach.
Hey, that's cool of this dude to be communicating with the locals. I say, LEAVE the mural for sure. It's pretty iconic for those of us that have been around. It's got a good, classic look to it and re-doing it wouldn't make sense. You can just clean up the graffiti that's around it and touch it up. Re-doing it would take away the history. Thanks for not painting over it. That's respectful.
The very idea that it needs to be touched up is a slap in the face.
Nobody is saying to paint over the mural, but there is also a lot of unsightly black space around it with grafitti. They can restore the mural and repaint the rest of the wall with new artwork. I like the idea of adding a tribute to the things we have lost right here in the East Village to help remember our past.
I agree with Gojira - keep the memorial but clean it up.
Nigel - we came by the shop this past Sunday and loved the gelato. The strawberries and cream and salted caramel were awesome. Good luck to you!
Leave the 9/11 tribute..
It might be worth considering getting some thoughts/feedback from someone like Andre Trenier, who does great monthly work on the role-down gate for Mikey Likes It.
Community, I think its perfect the way it is. No changes or updates, please! I'm still upset the 911 mural from 14th and avenue A, between Muzarella and Dion was painted over.
It's about us. Just clean up the boarder. Thanks.
Yeah those garbage cans really make me want to linger and remember 9/11. Clean it up, maybe add some color and a new border and get rid of the garbage cans.
Maybe the black space can be filled with names of the people that lived or worked in the neighborhood whose lives were lost during the attack? It would be nice to see my friends' names up there when I walk by.
Save the original mural please. I live on the block and was here during that time.
First of all, thanks for asking. I like that you are trying to be a part of the community! I think you should see if you can get a pro from Tats Cru or another street art outfit to clean it up. It's a shame that people have tagged over it. I think it should be preserved. If you could ask the landlord to move those garbage cans, that would be a plus, but I don't know how much control you have over that.
I live on the block and pass this everyday. It was just recently tagged with the crap around it. Some asshole sprayed the bottom. Would be nice if they can clean it up a bit otherwise it is only a matter of time before someone tags it again
Gelato was amazing, cant wait for this place to open!
Preserve the mural if I'm right it's been there since the attacks. Possible clean up but preservation a MUST!
Please preserve/restore it. I like IzF's idea of adding to it the names of people from the area who perished. That might discourage future taggers hitting the border. & move the cans or build one of those metal housing contraptions to store them in. thanks, and looking forward to trying your gelato. (gotta remember my lactaid pills...)
They should cover it with something more contemporary. There is certainly no shortage of artists in this neighborhood.
Welcome to the EV Nigel! I see people taking photos of this wall and the Doc Holliday's mural across the street all the time. It's part of 9th Street.
Thank you for asking; I say clean it up and leave it as is. There are buildings all over NYC for artists to create something "more contemporary" (whatever that means).
I had read other posts about your shop. The negative posts probably have more to do with your landlord Icon Realty. Best of luck!
Clean it up, spray over the original memorial with anti graffiti lacquer so if anyone else tags it, you can clean it off easily. Putting something in the black spaces is a good idea otherwise it is just a tempting blank spot for taggers
Hi again East Village friends.
Our attempt to rejuvenate the mural outside our store hit a problem after our landlords unexpectedly fixed the trashcans to the wall. The artist we had hired was then unable to incorporate them in his work so the painting was never properly finished and has now it has been subjected to vandalism again.
The space is crying out to be used for the benefit of everyone in the East village while I completely understand the importance of preserving the current 9/11 mural to so many EV residents. My suggestion is to place a permanent memorial on the wall incorporating pictures of the original mural with a description, and if there is room, names of many of the local residents who perished on that terrible day (I'm not sure how we would find those out, nor how we establish what specific area qualifies as local without risking offence to those outside that area)?
We could then make the remaining wall space available to local and international artists who have the necessary skills to incorporate the trashcans in their work. This could be on a rotating basis and changed every three months. The paintings will undoubtedly be 'tagged' eventually, but at least it will then be painted over quarterly. It may also encourage East village tourism as the number of people stopping to photograph the tile mosaic on the street corner is surprising.
I welcome your feedback as always and would like to take the opportunity to wish you a happy Christmas and New Year.
Nigel, Gelarto.
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