tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post8965590201846246113..comments2024-03-28T11:24:20.350-04:00Comments on EV Grieve: RIP Adam PurpleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-44872254184981995262016-01-22T17:48:07.236-05:002016-01-22T17:48:07.236-05:00Heroes ain't nothing but a sandwich
read it a...Heroes ain't nothing but a sandwich<br /><br />read it and weep<br /><br />http://thevillager.com/2016/01/21/all-purples-daughters/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-88770587626216895702015-09-23T03:11:33.735-04:002015-09-23T03:11:33.735-04:00i recall adam (and eve) both on bikes getting hors...i recall adam (and eve) both on bikes getting horseshit by bethstuda fountain in central park in the early 1970's. there appearance was a fixture of the city. fast forward to 1991 when the first ''rivington school sculpture garden'' on the corner of forsyth and crystie streets (which i started) got demolished by the city<br />because it was on squated land. adam had started fleshing out a second garden on forsyth between stanton and rivington after the first was bulldozed(why this has not been mentioned by any post death publicity is beyond me,nobody else remember this?). so a face off began with myself and other members of the rivington school because we wanted to squat on his squated lot. a comprimise was reached and the 100 foot diameter yin-yang circle garden adam had plotted out was divided by a scrap metal art fence that me and my friends welded up. so adam maybe got the yin half and rivington school got the yang half. adam was beyond holding any bad vibes and often hung out in the storefront club house of rivington school adjacent to our half of the lot<br />for the next several years.linua coraggiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17580634879452097398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-60804756651065156612015-09-18T12:14:57.493-04:002015-09-18T12:14:57.493-04:00Lots of love to Adam Purple. I lived in the nhd ba...Lots of love to Adam Purple. I lived in the nhd back in the 80s<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00895340553633434933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-89327606579343862732015-09-18T05:00:57.412-04:002015-09-18T05:00:57.412-04:003:11 am a tree would be really nice where can we s...3:11 am a tree would be really nice where can we start on this matter he was a real non yuppie New Yorker Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-83363852903789770952015-09-18T00:52:19.577-04:002015-09-18T00:52:19.577-04:00God bless you for trying to pretty up the place.
...God bless you for trying to pretty up the place. <br />You were truly adored.Stevin Azonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-69343500124339167822015-09-17T13:24:42.615-04:002015-09-17T13:24:42.615-04:00Actually, the purple foot prints were done by Geor...Actually, the purple foot prints were done by George, a committed environmentalist who considered Adam Purple his hero, using a drum with foot print shapes cut-outs filled with purple paint that he pushed, like a manual lawn mower.<br /><br />Adam was living with the Time's Up crew in Brooklyn -- a very appropriate place in NYC for a guy who survived in a building alone at 184 Forsythe Street without any utilities since his landlord and his neighbors abandoned it in the 1970s. (The site of the building was later taken by the NY Society for the Deaf in order to expand its existing building on Forsythe Street.) <br /><br />While living there, Adam gathered his own water for drinking + cooking, he kept warm with a wood stove and he even made his own garden soil with a combination of manure and sawdust!<br /><br />Seen for the past 4 decades on the LES in his purple tie-dyed clothes and long white beard, riding his bike and jiggling his bells to greet those he knew, Adam Purple was best known for his amazing "Garden of Eden" community garden that he created in a vacant, rubble-strewn lot behind his building along the adjacent street. <br /><br />Though there were plenty of other vacant city-owned lots in the area, in 1986, the city decided it HAD to bulldoze Adam's garden, under the excuse of building low-rise apartment buildings on the site. The shoddily-constructed cinder block prison cell-sized "housing" on the site of the garden created at the INSISTENCE of Marguarita Lopez, who claimed that the Garden of Eden was some sort of hippie haven for whitey that stood in the way of housing for Latinos and Blacks was a BETRAYAL of the entire community!! (Lopez later had no problem getting a huge loft in a city-owned building on East 11th Street for NOTHING!!)[Adam's story and more info on the Garden of Eden can be found on-line and in previous issues of The SHADOW.]<br /><br />I always enjoyed our long conversations whenever we ran into each other and wished I could have recorded Adam's words, his recollections and his history. He was fun, witty and extremely intelligent, always up on the latest current events.<br /><br />Adam would have been 85 on November 30.<br /><br />I will miss him dearly....chris flashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-1214002532928214692015-09-17T09:51:45.909-04:002015-09-17T09:51:45.909-04:00Sorry to hear this sad news. Sorry to hear this sad news. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-14307386935267733002015-09-17T08:27:38.133-04:002015-09-17T08:27:38.133-04:00Oh, that wonderful garden...RIP.Oh, that wonderful garden...RIP.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-83549346620384483402015-09-17T03:11:43.614-04:002015-09-17T03:11:43.614-04:00I think a tree would be a fine way to remember h...I think a tree would be a fine way to remember him for he was a true New Yorker who had PRIDE... RIPAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-37718754655685263992015-09-16T21:03:43.319-04:002015-09-16T21:03:43.319-04:00Huge loss for the neighborhood.Huge loss for the neighborhood.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-41870947667707725122015-09-16T20:16:45.704-04:002015-09-16T20:16:45.704-04:00Adam Purple was a true original. A gardener, a rec...Adam Purple was a true original. A gardener, a recycler (well ahead of his time), a community activist, and an anarchist. I got to know him in the late 80s, and used to see him on his bike on Ave. A and on 1st Ave. The last time I saw him was on 1st Ave. and 10th St. two or three years ago. As an anarchist, he was the opposite in spirit and commitment of the socialist would-be totalitarian Margarita Lopez, who never made a dime that wasn't pilfered from a net tax payer.<br /><br />RIP Adam Purple.<br />Mosaic Man a k a Jim Power lives on to carry on Adam's work in his own way. <br /><br />Bill the libertarian anarchistAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-7058716218788737882015-09-16T19:48:37.456-04:002015-09-16T19:48:37.456-04:00Yes! I always wondered he made those purple foot p...Yes! I always wondered he made those purple foot prints and learned from john Joseph's that purple made those foot prints that ultimately lead you to a gardenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-35200902576434403662015-09-16T17:31:12.541-04:002015-09-16T17:31:12.541-04:00I grew up in the EV from 77 on.. and I would see t...I grew up in the EV from 77 on.. and I would see this dude pretty much every day! In Washington Square, Around Houston Street, St Marks, you name it.. you could always see the Purple Guy scooting around with a purpose! He was a fixture of my NYC experience, in fact I even saw him ride by on his bike just this past Sunday. What a shame to lose another REAL part of Old New York. There will never be another man quite as Purple as Adam Purple. Rest In Peace mister Purple Man, although I never actually met you, you were a part of my NYC, and you will be missed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-70702457419090013332015-09-16T16:35:17.020-04:002015-09-16T16:35:17.020-04:00Every time I saw Adam with his white beard he remi...Every time I saw Adam with his white beard he reminded me of Santa. But his gifts were so much greater than anything Santa could ever put underneath a Christmas tree. His gift to all was showing us how one person could make the world a better place if we just care enough to make the effort. He was a free spirit whose spirit is truly free now. Adam had a life well lived which was a life worthy of living. We were lucky to have him here for so many years. Great job, Adam, you made us all proud to be East Villagers.Giovannihttp://urbanmyths.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-2296303628153527552015-09-16T15:45:42.711-04:002015-09-16T15:45:42.711-04:00Adam was part of the ecosystem of the East Village...Adam was part of the ecosystem of the East Village and Lower East Side. He will be missed.Jean Standishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-744824097889536112015-09-16T15:10:13.211-04:002015-09-16T15:10:13.211-04:00@The REAL Gojira: Thanks for clearing that up, b/...@The REAL Gojira: Thanks for clearing that up, b/c I couldn't imagine that you didn't know about Adam & his wife! What fixtures they were at a certain time in our EV history!<br /><br />He was ahead of his time - which must have been so frustrating. I've always felt that his garden should have been treasured & protected by NYC as much as Central Park is.<br /><br />All that work - back-breaking work - to improve that area in such a spectacular way. His commitment was astonishing, and it was done for the greater good, not just for his own ego.<br /><br />It's horrible to remember how callously that garden was destroyed. I think NYC was (among other things) embarrassed that this one man could do something so extraordinary, while the city could hardly keep itself together.<br /><br />For those too young to remember him, Mr. Purple personified something essential that is now sadly lost: a neighborhood that was so much more interesting, so much more tolerant, and far more diverse than the boozy-frat-boy, chain-store-and-bank "culture" we have these days. The closest to him that I can think of today would be Jim "Mosaic Man" Power, who is out there making his neighborhood a better & more beautiful place, on his own time & on his own dime.<br /><br />Rest in Peace, Mr. Purple - you fulfilled your mission brilliantly, and you left this planet better for your having been here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-8391335806994821382015-09-16T14:46:28.073-04:002015-09-16T14:46:28.073-04:00Oh, sigh. Adam Purple, Jim Power (thankfully still...Oh, sigh. Adam Purple, Jim Power (thankfully still around), Quentin Crisp...I can see them all. I'm generally not the nostalgic type, but this is making me feel old and sad. I could really, really go for a falafel at Habib's right now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-8212192165488654292015-09-16T13:14:21.034-04:002015-09-16T13:14:21.034-04:00I just want to point out that in Lincoln Anderson&...I just want to point out that in Lincoln Anderson's obit for Adam Purple in The Villager Newspaper there is an old quote from former East Village councilperson and Bloomberg HPD executive Margarita Lopez about how she would like to tear down Adam's garden with her own hands. This is a good example of how some politicians become sellouts when they get elected and then get high paying jobs in City Government for selling out. I used to respect her but lost that respect many years ago.<br />john penleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06546048103371918505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-3433988594001804342015-09-16T13:07:28.398-04:002015-09-16T13:07:28.398-04:00One of the things I remember about Adam Purple and...One of the things I remember about Adam Purple and the Obits have touched on it but have not gone into detail about it and that is that he was recycling things in large quantities before most people had even thought about doing it or even called it recycling. He was a true Pioneer in this respect. I remember that after he was evicted from his Forsyth Street building the word got around that there was a party there and people could come and take anything they wanted. I went and was amazed at all the different things he had in the building and it was seperated into different rooms. There was a room packed with magazines, a room with bike and other spare parts , a room with bottles, plates, eating utensils and on and on. It was pretty amazing and things were orderly and separated but there was a massive amount of stuff he had collected over the years and people were blown away and took a lot of the things but it must have been very sad for him to lose his Garden and his building and all the things he had collected over many years. One thing for sure there will never be another New Yorker like him. Too bad because he was a visionary and a creative genius. His Garden was like no Garden I have ever seen before and he used organic garden techniques before any of us had even heard the phrase Organic Gardening used. Adios, Adam and the cosmos must be spinning faster because you are part of it now.<br />john penleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06546048103371918505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-66874425728618148822015-09-16T12:45:22.581-04:002015-09-16T12:45:22.581-04:00can we organize to do something for him? a plaque ...can we organize to do something for him? a plaque or something more appropriate?Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10531757975199135297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-22319549085898217292015-09-16T12:28:29.679-04:002015-09-16T12:28:29.679-04:00General Zen....another Planet Warrior done gone.
W...General Zen....another Planet Warrior done gone.<br />When they tore down Eden, the news rippled across America, breaking hearts as it went.<br /><br /><br />Still does.<br /><br />Rest In Rhythm Poyyypulll.DrBOPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07179469265158025584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-19958590774680301202015-09-16T12:25:33.501-04:002015-09-16T12:25:33.501-04:00Two things:
1) Anon. 7:54 - yes, those were Adam&...Two things:<br /><br />1) Anon. 7:54 - yes, those were Adam's footprints; I saw him once at night with a wood foot and a bucket of purple paint as he very carefully made a path with them that led the way to his garden while it was still extant. The prints were around for years after it was destroyed, and it always made me sad to see them, because I knew their purpose had been negated by some paper-pusher in city government.<br /><br />2) The Gojira at 11:35 is the fraudulent one, my doppelganger who, for reasons still unknown to me, has decided it is necessary to try and co-opt my user name and try to pass him/herself off as me. I hope you know how pathetic that makes you, G2 - and trust me, if you had lived in the EV as long as I have made it clear I've been here, there is no way you would not know who Adam Purple was.Gojiranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-66547277355840426192015-09-16T11:47:51.364-04:002015-09-16T11:47:51.364-04:00I'm so sad to hear this. Mr Purple was a grea...I'm so sad to hear this. Mr Purple was a great inspiration to me he will be sorely missed. I hope his spirit inspires others to follow in his - purple - footsteps. Laura Goggin Photographyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15517481509431547970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-48662394743587745912015-09-16T11:23:43.592-04:002015-09-16T11:23:43.592-04:00Bye bye Adam
Bye bye Adam<br />Rhetorichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13173981808144113576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-822033410534877602015-09-16T10:51:15.382-04:002015-09-16T10:51:15.382-04:00Sorry to hear he passed away. But how inspiring to...Sorry to hear he passed away. But how inspiring to know this 84-year-old man was still able to bike around the city. And he didn't die in a hospital or a nursing home. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com