The return of The Chillmaster!

Photo and text by Stacie Joy

Renovations continue at First Houses, the city's first public housing complex along Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street. 

Many tenants were relocated to other city properties with the option to return. 

One returning resident is none other than The Chillmaster, known for cranking classic R&B from his open window. 

One recent day, I was walking along Third Street when I heard Doug E Fresh's "The Show" in the distance. 

Could it be?

Sure enough, there was The Chillmaster, doing what he does best (chilling). 

He happily agreed to a photo through the window, sharing that he's been home for about a month and couldn’t be happier to be back.

You can read more about The Chillmaster in this 2011 EVG post.

Meanwhile, at the Chillmaster's

Somewhere on East Third Street...in progress.

Photos by Shawn Chittle.

The Chillmaster immortalized on Google Street View

Via Shawn Chittle. For more on the Chillmaster, please visit Marty After Dark.

The Chillmaster

[Photo taken Wednesday by Bobby Williams]

For further reading: Marty After Dark

Back to the Chillmaster's

Last week, Marty Wombacher visited the legendary home of the Chillmaster on East Third Street in the First Houses. (You can read about that here.) This past Sunday, he returned — with friends. Catch the action here.

Bob Arihood was there too to capture the moment(s). See his photos at Neither More Nor Less.

[Photo by Marty Wombacher]

Paying the Chillmaster a visit on East Third Street

On April 5, we reprinted an item about some ongoing maintenance issues at First Houses, the first public housing complex in the United States on East Third Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.

And the whole comments thread turned into a discussion on the fellow who lives in a ground-floor apartment here who seems to enjoy his music (classic R&B and soul) and his drinking. We followed that up with another post on the apartment. Turns out the fellow has many fans. Not to mention a nickname — the Chillmaster.

Per a reader in the comments: "I pass this guy all the time ... I would love to hear his story."

Well, thanks to EV Grieve regular Marty Wombacher, now we do know more of this story. For his Marty After Dark blog, Marty paid the Chillmaster a visit on Friday night. (This had been pre-arranged.)

You can read the whole thing at Marty After Dark. But a few highlights. He has a "Chillmaster Chill Easy Chair" that vibrates and has a heat control.

He grew up in Harlem... he's retired... and he has lived in this apartment for eight years.

And he likes Hennessey.

Marty even printed out the EV Grieve post with all the Chillmaster comments...

By the way, Marty paid a visit to the Chillmaster with Kate from One Folded Sunset. You can read her post on the night here.

Marty's reaction via email: "Classic fucking New York night!"

[All photos via Marty After Dark. Reposted with permission]