Please enjoy "It's Time for Christmas." (You can find more from him on SoundCloud.)
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
It's 'Time for Christmas' with the book man of Astor Place
Howl! Happening explores the history of street art and graffiti with 'City of Kings'
Photos and story by Daniel Efram
Howl! Happening is now showing "City of Kings: A History of New York City Graffiti," an ambitious and detailed two-part show put together by Eric Felisbret, Mariah Fox and Al Diaz (pictured above) that provides a timetable on the social, cultural and political news of the day about the rise of street art.
As one of the first-generation pioneers of graffiti as art, Diaz is uniquely qualified to bring the story together. Together with Fox and Felisbret, the trio has stitched together a triumphant tour-de-force exhibition, one that they hope other institutions around the country would like to show.
It takes work to assemble the original pioneers of graffiti in one room. And it takes a special group to bring together an essential and special show like this.
The "City of Kings" represents "the community and a collective creativity that would evolve into something huge," Diaz says.
Though Diaz has contributed to an extensive collection of books on graffiti, this one was designed to set itself apart. The team believes that the inclusion of important historical events makes it unique.
"It's important to make clear what was going on in the world at the time," Diaz says. "Current events serve as an anchor."
As graffiti is an American visual art form, it's imperative that a show and companion book like "New York City of Kings: A History of NYC Graffiti" exists. As time has passed, many first-generation graffiti pioneers have passed away. This show is helpful in describing its history respectfully, honoring as many of those who were there to make certain that this information can be passed along for generations to come.
"To have Al Diaz do this is important; it gives credibility because the writers respect him. He was there," says self-described next-generation artist Will Power. "And that [the team] brought in the actual writers, 'the pioneers,' to be involved with it while they are still here is also important. He did this from the heart because it’s important. If anyone could pull this off, it's Al."
Diaz and Felisbret are quick to credit Fox, an associate professor at New Mexico Highlands University, as the mastermind behind the "A History of New York City Graffiti" book (Howl! Arts), available in limited edition at the show.
"One of the goals of the show was to develop a graffiti curriculum," Fox says. "We want to educate people, illuminate how New York's expansive graffiti culture took root, and explain why it's so internationally influential."
"Al wanted a timeline, and he wanted to do an oral history," she continued. "Concurrently, we started working with Eric, and Eric is a really knowledgeable graffiti expert, and he came up with a core outline of important things to cover."
One of the show's essential components is the chronological timeline, expertly illuminated through the use of the NYC subway design elements, a nod to the idea that subway graffiti is its most pure form and to show historically where specific writers used to concentrate their work. But it's also an opportunity to include other milestones and terminology.
There's a lot of deeply rooted street art information in the "City of Kings" exhibition, and the visual familiarity of the subway is a brilliant way to connect the story. Following their lead, one can follow the graphics of their most used subway line and see what important graffiti history occurred along its route.
This expansive show has two distinctly unique components, one for each of the two Howl Happening locations (6 E. First St. until Jan. 15) and the second at Howl! Arts/Howl! Archive (250 Bowery until Jan. 29.
The First Street exhibit focuses on the chronological framing. At the same time, the 250 Bowery space is an art exhibition featuring canvases by graffiti artists such as Crime 79 and photographs by Henry Chalfant, Martha Cooper, David Gonzalez and others who helped document so much of the scene over the years.
"City of Kings" also includes an array of special events, including...
Both Howl! spaces are open Wednesday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details here.
Bang a gone: Stomp's long run on 2nd Avenue concludes in January
The closing is "due to declining ticket sales," a spokesperson for the production told The Hollywood Reporter.
Stomp debuted on Feb. 27, 1994, and has performed nearly 11,500 shows at the Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.
Show creators Steve McNicholas and Luke Cresswell told this to The Hollywood Reporter:
"We are so proud that the East Village and the Orpheum Theatre has been Stomp's home for so many wonderful years and want to thank our producers and our amazing cast, crew and front-of-house staff, all of whom have worked so hard for so long to make the show such a success. They have always given 100 percent to every audience, from the very beginning in 1994 to the post-lockdown audiences of 2022. We want to thank everyone involved for such an incredible New York run."
Per press reports, the show has won the Olivier for best choreography, an OBIE award, a Drama Desk award for unique theater experience and a Legend of Off-Broadway award.
You can still see Stomp elsewhere as its North American and European tours will continue.
No word on what production might be next for the Orpheum, which is reportedly owned by Liberty Theatres, a subsidiary of Reading International, who also own Minetta Lane Theatre.
According to Cinema Treasures: "The site on which the Orpheum stands is alleged to have been a concert garden as early as the 1880s and, as such, to be one of the oldest continuously operating places of gathering for entertainment events in New York City."
In the 1980s, the Orpheum was well-known for Off-Broadway productions such as Little Shop of Horrors in 1982, Sandra Bernhard's Without You I'm Nothing in 1988, Eric Bogosian's Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll in 1990, John Leguizamo's Mambo Mouth in 1991, and David Mamet's Oleanna in 1992.
A Panera To-Go is opening on University Place
The to-go space differs from the other Panera locations, like the one that closed on Union Square East this past August.
Panera announced the new concept last month. According to Nation's Restaurant News, these smaller café formats "lean into off-premises dining."
The second store format is entirely new, will be 40% smaller than the average Panera café at 2,000 square feet and will be designed toward to go-customers with dedicated shelves for rapid pickup, a digital menu, tracking screen technology with detailed order statuses, and very limited seating.
Panera To-Go joins a coming-soon Serafina Express next door... in the building that replaced the old Bowlmor Lanes (RIP 2014).
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Saifee for the holidays
DA-hosted East Village gun buyback nets 16 firearms this past Saturday
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
The event occurred at Gethsemane Garden Baptist Church on Seventh Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. Participants could receive a $200 bank card and an iPad for handguns or assault rifles; a $25 bank card for rifles, shotguns or airguns — and no questions asked.
The guns exchanged — after an inspection — featured 10 semiautomatic weapons, five revolvers and one derringer. Officials said that more than 25% of the semiautomatic weapons were "defaced" with the serial number obscured.
"Every gun off the streets is potentially a life saved," Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said after the exchange.
Bragg was also later joined by State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, who said they were pleased to partner with the DA's office and the efforts to create safer streets.
... and a soundbite from the event...
The city serves notice to more abandoned East Village curbside dining structures
In other abandoned curbside dining news, the DOT also served notice (on Nov. 27) to the currently closed Cloister Cafe on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue... (thanks to EVG reader Craig Sloane for these photos...)
That abandoned space (seen below last week) has been removed...
The city started issuing warnings about abandoned (or deficient) curbside dining spaces back in August.
As for the future of outdoor dining, Curbed noted earlier this fall:
The improvisational process that birthed streeteries is over, and the government is approaching a consensus on how to make them permanent. While those rules are still being written, a few outcomes seem likely. Rickety plywood sheds will come down — eventually; it could take a while — and be replaced in many cases by more up-to-code structures. And New York will continue to allow restaurants to commandeer an astounding amount of public pavement.
Sacco has apparently gone out of business on 11th Street
The specialty shop has been closed since earlier this fall... Yelp and Google both list this as a closure.
Sacco's, which debuted in June, offered house-made sandwiches, a frittata of the day, fresh bread, and other grocery staples.
It was a nice spot... and there was some local history. Proprietor Vincent Caprio told us that the place was named after his grandfather, who had a butcher shop back in 1900 on the same block.
Thanks to Steven for the photo.
Monday, December 5, 2022
Monday's parting shot
Photo by Stacie Joy
Depending on who you ask, the area is/was closed because of drug activity or a broken pipe.
Hello again: Sidewalk on the NW corner of 2nd Avenue and 9th Street returns to view
Hopefully, this is for keeps now. Workers removed the sidewalk bridge in April 2021 ... only to return one week later.
The corner space (Starbucks until April 2019) is being renovated for a fast-casual restaurant called Balkan Streat.
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