Thursday, Oct. 10 @ 7 pm
Bluestockings Books, 172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington
Reading + Discussion: Cathryn Swan’s "Tales of Washington Square Park (and a few other places)"
The official release for "Tales of Washington Square Park (and a few other places)," a book/zine written by Cathryn Swan, the editor of the Washington Square Park Blog, featuring some of her favorite stories from the blog. The event will feature a reading by Swan, conversation about the famous Greenwich Village park and more, and discussion of New York City’s privatization of public space.
Swan is the founder of the Washington Square Park Blog, an independent website which began in 2008, just as the park’s controversial redesign construction began. She also writes articles at the Huffington Post and is writing a book "The B-girl Guide to Living Your Life in Earth, Animal & People-friendly ways."
Why was the fountain moved 23 feet east to line up with the Arch at Fifth Avenue after 137 years in its previous location?
Did cars really run through the Arch?
Why did Henry James hate the Arch?
Answers to these questions and more!
From Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Jacobs, Bob Dylan to today, the park remains the heart of Greenwich Village. It is a constant reminder of the magical commons in the midst of the privatized city.
Find the event page here.
Name: Sally Young
Occupation: Mixed-Media Artist, Political Activist and
Preservationist, Photographer
Location: Sixth Street Community Garden
Time: 10:30 AM on Friday, Sept. 27
Part II (Read Part I here)
Beginning in 2005, we started to see a lot more redevelopment [in this neighborhood]. A huge glass hotel went up on the end of my street, the Cooper Square Hotel. We began to see the scaffolding go up around the buildings and then the buildings came down. That was when I started photographing like crazy, both on film and digitally. That was also around the same time the Cooper Union Hewitt building came down; I was photographing it every morning, photos that I eventually assembled in an accordion book.
I was looking at what was going on my block, East Fifth Street, and I noticed that there was a Federal house there, 35 Cooper Square, and it was still standing. I became very interested in Federal houses and the [older] architecture of New York.
In 2006, I set up a stand in front of my apartment building as part of the Art in Odd Places exhibit where I gave away my photo postcards. And I created a book with wooden pages that people could flip through to learn more about the architecture in the neighborhood. That is how I got my Deconstructing Bowery book together.
Eventually, I wrote a history of 35 Cooper Square from the time it was built in 1826, information that was used to help unsuccessfully landmark the structure, which was demolished in 2011. Even though there were major protests to save that building, the landmark proposal was rejected.
Another address I researched, 135 Bowery, which was built in 1817, had been slated for preservation and approved, but it was sold off to build “affordable” office space. In that case, just one council member had overturned the decision to preserve the building in order to provide the aforementioned offices, but the new owners lied, tore the building down, and immediately put the lot up for sale. In 2007, a group of other concerned citizens, myself included, formed the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors to preserve what’s left of the Bowery’s architecture.
I know that when artists come in, eventually gentrification follows, but today we’re talking hyper-gentrification. For instance, now there are areas on West Fourth Street that are so heavily congested with students that you can barely get through the block. I remember a few years ago before the big explosion of NYU, and there were signs up in the West Village that said, ‘Do you think this neighborhood is safe enough for NYU students?’ and I kind of wanted to flip that around and ask, ‘Do you think that the neighborhood is safe enough to withstand NYU development?’ I saw that question as a reversal, much before all of the redevelopment began happening.
The concerns of the newcomers today are far different from those waves of people who came to New York in past generations. We were involved with our community; most of today’s newcomers are not. We had rent strikes. We were committed. There were a lot of problems; there was a lot of crime. Most of those areas were just bombed out. We were under siege. All we could do then was work together. That’s around the time, in the early 1980s, when we stared creating the gardens like the Sixth and B Garden. While this is among the most protected of those green spaces in the neighborhood, others are still at risk.
In the 1980s, people bonded together, and that bond literally grew this neighborhood. Look at all these beautiful places that you can still enjoy. These days, newcomers moving to the neighborhood have slick, renovated apartments for which they pay a great deal. They’re often living with a bunch of people. But there are few among them who are actually fully invested in the East Village; instead they are in transition. They aren’t living here to put down roots. For years, I never saw a moving van on my block; now I see them all the time.
Occupancy: Immediate
APPROXIMATE SIZE:
Retail Space total:
700sq – Ground Floor
400sq — Basement
RENT:
$10,000 Per Month
CEILING HEIGHT
Ground Floor - 11ft
FRONTAGE:
20ft on Avenue A
It’s hard to believe we have been here on the Lower East side for over 16 years. First on the corner of Allen and Stanton and for the last 11 years here at 154 ludlow. We were hoping to announce our new location, but we can’t do that at this time. Steve and I are continuing our search for a new home for the club. We will keep you informed of our progress.
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The story of Hilly’s historic club is, of course, well-trodden, but likely unknown by many more familiar with the famous logo than the fact that it’s the place The Ramones were first given a platform. CBGB misses the opportunity to educate. But its biggest sin, unlike many who performed there, is that it also misses the opportunity to entertain.
The film is a poorly written, clumsily acted mess.
Yet, in the end, it did my heart good to see it. I thrilled to every fast reference to long-lost and beloved acts like the Mumps, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and the Tuff Darts. More, it was warming to see any depiction of the obliterated New York of old, no matter how vaguely rendered. If, in the end, the movie gets nowhere near its core mission of bringing back punk’s essential passion, it delivers its putrid outlines with loving accuracy.
• "CBGB really really sucks shit."
• "Fortunately, I can’t imagine CBGB finding an audience willing to spend a dime on this glob of pustulating spit."
• "From a hectoring, shrewish Patti Smith ... to a pathetically sexless Iggy Pop or Lou Reed, looking like a cross between Eminem and the Pillsbury Doughboy, or the tight-ass actress playing Debbie Harry with absolutely no feel for the delightfully clunky, self-aware, sex-kitten charm of the Bowery’s platinum blondie, this movie manages to suck all of the rock ‘n’ roll magic out of every single performer it supposedly celebrates."
"It's virtually impossible to capture a Hollywood version of punk," said Handsome Dick Manitoba, the frontman for the original punk band the Dictators and the owner of a punk bar, Manitoba’s, in the East Village who also works as a satellite-radio D.J. "The only way to do it is with a documentary."
~Approximately $1300 per month or $325 per week ~This is an unfurnished "Single Room Occupancy" apartment (SRO). ~This is a SMALL, Private studio without a kitchen ~Heat, Hot Water, and Electricity are Included ~Private Bath ~This Unit Does NOT Have a Kitchen ~NOT FURNISHED ~No Pets Please ~Minimum lease of 3 months.
The owners are working with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development to ensure that their project meets all requirements for the city’s affordable housing program ... Upon completion, 80 percent of the units will be rented at market rate, while the other 20 percent will be based on New York City area incomes.
Community Board 3 Office - 59 East 4th Street (btwn 2nd Ave & Bowery)
For 10 years, the Gas Station, with its towering sculpture built from discards ranging from a 1970 Plymouth Valiant to department store mannequins to television sets, has been a symbol of the Lower East Side's Bohemian ways and artistic resolve.
In addition to providing child care, Miss Curry fed the poor in the neighborhood and often gave her own clothing or shoes to those without. She organized cooking, sewing and child care classes for the mothers. She organized meetings to help families with their problems, and helped to steer parents towards sobriety and economic responsibility.
• Street co-naming requests will be heard by the CB 3 Transportation Committee. If the request is approved by the committee, the application will be voted on by the full Board for final approval. If approved, the request will be forwarded to the City Council office for Council approval. Co-naming requests will be placed on the committee agenda twice a year to correspond to the two yearly City Council votes. These dates will be determined as needed by determining the Council hearings.
• Prospective honorees should have a minimum of 15 years community involvement for individuals and should have demonstrated an extraordinary and consistent voluntary commitment and dedication to the community. Individual prospective honorees must be deceased. Exceptions may be made however for individuals who have died under infamous circumstances of crime, accident, disease, social circumstance or if the death itself leads to a greater awareness of the cause of death and a concerted effort to address that problem.
The 24-hour bakery [offers] a full menu of flaky pies stuffed with fillings like mince meat, Philly cheesesteak and tandoori vegetable.
