Monday, April 21, 2008
Graffiti and groceries
According to today's New York Post:
Graffiti arrests and complaints are skyrocketing as so called "taggers" treat city walls as their personal canvases, new police statistics reveal.
The NYPD recorded and unprecedented 81.5 percent surge in graffiti-related complaints from 2006 to 2007.
Unrelated, but in the Post:
NYU officials and an East Village grocer are working to settle a bitter rent dispute that's threatening the existence of one of the last affordable food stores in the neighborhood.
Negotiations between NYU and the Met Foodmarket - which occupies the ground floor of a university-owned building at 107 Second Ave. - came to an abrupt end earlier this month when the store was offered a three-year lease at triple the current rent, said owner Michael Schumacher.
City Councilwoman Rosie Menendez is mediating the dispute and yesterday, at a meeting in her First Avenue office, the two sides edged toward an agreement, Schumacher said.
"We had a very constructive meeting. Based on our conversation, they seem to want to sustain local businesses. I'm hopeful," he said.
Alicia Hurley, the NYU vice president for government and community affairs, said, "We're hopeful, as well. It is certainly our intention to keep him in the space."
[Image -- Sara Krulwich/The New York Times]
Sunday, April 20, 2008
"One definitely gets the impression time stands still at Sophie's"
Bank the Nine has posted his "Sophie's photo roundup, part five," where you'll find many other black-and-white shots like this one of Johnny.
Updated: con·de·scend·ing [kon-duh-sen-ding]
From the highlights-of-the-week in the Pulse section of today's New York Post:
Yes, CBGB is now a high-end clothing store -- boohoo, it's unfair, etc., etc. -- but the spirit of Bowery rock lives on at the Morrison Hotel gallery, which now occupies the former CB's Gallery space connected to the legendary concert venue. Thursday, the gallery opens its new exhibit "Rockers," which features 280 pieces from iconic photographer Bob Gruen's collection including up-close-and-personal snapshots of John Lennon, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and the punk bands who once rocked the room next door, including Sid Vicious. Opening night runs from 7 to 10 and entry is free.
Suggested rewrite:
The spirit of CBGB lives on at the Morrison Hotel gallery, which now occupies the former CB's Gallery space connected to the legendary concert venue.
Update: Check out the comments...Alex from NYC makes a good point on this item. Sid Vicious never played CBGB...
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Today is Record Store Day
Please support your local, independent record stores today. (More here.)
As the Times reports:
For a local music shopper with a memory of even just a few years, the East Village and the Lower East Side are quickly becoming a record-store graveyard. Across from Jammyland is the former home of Dance Tracks, a premier dance and electronic outlet, which closed late last year, as did Finyl Vinyl, on Sixth Street. Stooz on Seventh Street, Sonic Groove on Avenue B, Accidental on Avenue A, Wowsville on Second Avenue and Bate, an essential Latin store on Delancey Street — all gone, to say nothing of stores in other neighborhoods, like Midnight Records in Chelsea and NYCD on the Upper West Side.
“Rent is up, and sales are down,” Malcolm Allen of Jammyland said as he sold a few Jamaican-made 45s to a customer last weekend. “Not a good combination.”
Here's one to support.
EV Etc.: Page Six on the John Varvatos protest
With bold-faced names! That guy from the Garfield movies was there!
The revelers inside, who included Gina Gershon, Damien Fahey, Bobby Cannavale, Breckin Meyer and Jakob Dylan, ignored the demonstration, which continued for the duration of the party. The bash ended up raising $30,000 for Save the Music.
The whole piece is here.
Perhaps some credit Page Sixers for those who covered it...?
Friday, April 18, 2008
EV Grieve goes to the movies (not often, though): "If people don't like it now, they will"
I'm not one to go around recommending movies. But! There's an excellent documentary opening tonight at the Anthology Film Archives. My Name is Albert Ayler explores the free jazz saxophonist’s too-short life and legacy. It plays through Tuesday night.
I had a chance to see the film during its premiere at the Anthology Film Archives last November. It's directed by Swedish filmmaker Kasper Collin, who spoke about Ayler after the November screening. This is the result of nearly seven years of work. He built the film around various audio recordings of Ayler’s voice from interviews. Collin also found archival footage from Stockholm and New York featuring some scorching live performances. All this is rounded out by talking head interviews with friends, family and musicians who knew Ayler. Their stories are just a small part of the film, which humanizes the enigmatic musician who died in 1975. He was 34.
Oh, and that headline? Ever confident, Ayler always had this to say about his rather jarring brand of jazz, “If people don’t like it now, they will.”
Here's a little background on Ayler:
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