Report: East Village musician Jesse Malin paralyzed from the waist down after spinal stroke

Photo by Katrina del Mar via Sweet Relief 

East Village-based singer-songwriter Jesse Malin was left paralyzed from the waist down after suffering an extremely rare spinal stroke in early May, according to published reports. 

Rolling Stone was first to report about this: 

Gathered with friends to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of Howie Pyro, Malin's former D Generation bandmate and best friend, he felt a burning pain in his lumbar region that slowly migrated down his hips, through his thighs, and into his heels. 

He collapsed onto the floor of the restaurant, unable to walk. "Everybody was standing above me like in 'Rosemary's Baby,' saying all these different things, and I was there not knowing what was going on with my body," Malin says during a phone call from his room at an NYU rehab facility. 

The stroke occurred on May 4. He described what his life has been like since then:

"This is the hardest six weeks that I've ever had," he says. "I'm told that they don’t really understand it, and they're not sure of the chances. The reports from the doctors have been tough, and there's moments in the day where you want to cry, and where you're scared. But I keep saying to myself that I can make this happen. I can recover my body." 

After a two-week stint at Mount Sinai, Malin was transferred to an NYU facility. 

His days consist of three rounds of physical therapy and rehabilitation, with the short-term goal of teaching him how to move his body without the use of his legs and do daily tasks. When he's discharged later this month, he'll be in a wheelchair and have to relocate from his current walk-up apartment to a new ADA-compliant one with an elevator. It won't be cheap. 

David Bason, Malin's manager, and a group of friends launched a campaign via the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to raise money for the singer's care and recovery. Find more details here. 

Malin, a Queens native and longtime East Village resident, is a partner in several local establishments, including Niagara, 96 Tears and the Bowery Electric.

It's Xmas time

 

East Village-based singer-songwriter Jesse Malin has released a new video for "Xmas, etc.," a re-recording of the song that appeared on his debut LP, The Fine Art of Self Destruction ... that record will be expanded and reissued in celebration of its 20th anniversary early next year. (Read more about that here.) 

You can catch Malin and his band at Webster Hall on March 25, 2023.

96 Tears debuts on Avenue A as a tribute to Howie Pyro

96 Tears debuted this past week at 110 Avenue A at Seventh Street... the establishment next door to sister bar Niagara takes over from Tompkins Square Bar. 

Owners Jesse Malin and Johnny T (whose other local ventures include 2A and Bowery Electric) as well as well as Jonathan Toubin have dedicated the space to the late Howie Pyro. Pyro, the prolific musician, producer and DJ, died in May from complications from COVID-19-related pneumonia following a liver transplant. He was 61. 

Here's more about the venue via the 96 Tears site:

"96 Tears" is of course the ? and The Mysterians distinctive #1 hit that was covered by everybody from Big Maybelle, Jimmy Ruffin, and Aretha Franklin to The Modern Lovers, Suicide, and The Stranglers. The DNA of so many revolutionary minimalist sounds that evolved across generations since its release, the original classic recording is also the first song ever referred to in print as "punk music" (by Dave Marsh in a 1971 issue of CREEM). 

While these dimensions of the song's journey are at the heart of what 96 Tears is all about, the bar took its name from a tattoo across the neck of Howie Pyro...  Howie's tragic death in May, and his friends' subsequent focus on his remarkable life and how he lived it, was the inspiration for 96 Tears.

Pyro was also well-known for his extensive collection of music-related memorabilia, which will be featured at 96 Tears...

The walls and shelves of the 96 Tears bar realize Howie's dream as they're adorned with his original posters, tchotchkes, and other extraordinary artifacts like the original promotional fruit company ashtray he discovered Andy Warhol lifted for The Velvet Underground & Nico LP cover ...  the "Free Sid Vicious" shirt that punk's original poster child left at Howie's apartment before his legendary demise ... a gold record the Ramones presented to Howie for their debut LP, a Dead Boys bass case that became his own, and an unimaginable array of other authentic subcultural wonders from across the edges of the 20th Century sub terrain that found their way into Howie's orbit.

The bar is open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., with a 4 a.m. close on weekends. You can check out their food menu (similar to the one at Tompkins Square Bar) here.

'State' of grace

 

East Village-based singer-songwriter (and bar owner!) Jesse Malin releases his next record, Sad and Beautiful World, on Sept. 24. 

The video here is for the single "State of the Art." (Relix has more on the song and video here.)

New York state of mind

Here's "Addicted," the first single off Jesse Malin's new record "New York Before The War" ... out this week. And look for him at the Bowery Ballroom on April 11.