Name: Rineke
Occupation: Retired, 'Many Things'
Location: East Houston
Time: 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 11
I’m from Amsterdam. I moved to the city in 1991. Love brought me. I married my husband on New Year's Eve that year and we’re still married. Originally he’s from Philadelphia and he lived here.
He lived on 11th Street, next to an empty building that used to be The Ritz. Then Webster Hall opened. Things changed. The main ballroom, the techno was next to our kitchen. When they were really having a party the things that hold your pots on my stove would [vibrate]. When you sat on the toilet you could feel the vibrations in the water pipes.
If you can’t fight them, join them. So I went to work there as a receptionist. There were so many interesting people, weird people, wonderful people, but it was clear we needed to move because I couldn’t live like that. We had friends who wanted to buy something instead of paying rent, so I looked for a year and a half until we found something that we could afford and that was this house.
We bought it in 1994. It was an interesting period of time. My husband and the other person had [9-5] jobs, so they went to work. My husband was sometimes terrorized when he went to work because he had to wear a suit. But for women people were polite and respectful.
I came home once and I [noticed] a cleaver leaning against the front door. I thought, ‘that’s weird. I know if you have a fish head that’s not so good news if you find that.’ So I called the police and asked, ‘What does it mean if you find a cleaver leaning against your home?’ They asked me, ‘Do you want to be connected to lost and found?’ ‘No, I just want to find out if it means anything.’ ‘Oh, well hold on to it for a week because it might be evidence. If we don’t come back to you, just throw it away.’ The first year was full of these weird things.
I worked at the Amato Opera, but it’s closed now. It was funny because I was teaching arts and my husband retired. I wanted to do something and I discovered only then that there was this opera theater and they needed help in the costume department. I always made the costumes for school plays and we did Shakespeare. They said that I could come and help.
So the first season I did things and little projects and after the first season, the owner Anthony Amato asked, ‘Can you take over the costume department?’ I was scared to hell. When I started I didn’t like opera that much, but he changed that. When you’re exposed to something so intensely, you either run away or you develop a love for it. I worked until they closed in 2009.
Anthony was 89, I think, when he actually closed. He hoped his family could take over but it went different from what he imagined. There was nobody who really… it was impossible. He did everything, the auditions, the rehearsals, kept an eye on the finances, the scheduling, plus he would do the lights. He would install a new show every five weeks. He would direct; he was really amazing. Nobody can do that.
He wanted to help educate young singers. He was like a platform for young singers to experience and do a full opera. The big opera houses — you only get a chance when you are already there, but how do you get the experience? And sometimes people made it big and would happily come back to him and do a role, do a whole opera just for fun. That was a wonderful period.
Anthony was a short man, slightly taller than I am, but he was grand in everything he was doing. I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to work with somebody like that. It was such an inspiration. He was very old. Who still works from early morning to late at night with all the things he was doing? He had a passion.
The funny thing is that everybody wants a long life but nobody wants to grow old. He was an old man but he kept doing what he wanted to do. He just went for it. That was inspiring to see that you don’t have to become a boring person. His energy… I’m jealous.
On Thursday May 14, Switzerland Tourism invites New Yorkers to experience the fun and freedom of bicycling in honor of Bike-to-Work Week. From 12:01 am to 11:59 pm, Citi Bike day-passes will be available for free at any Citi Bike station kiosk. This is the first time a partner has provided a free day of Citi Bike passes.
What makes Switzerland the perfect partner for Citi Bike? Easy: Switzerland offers 5,600 miles of cycling routes and 2,800 miles of biking trails as part of a program called SwitzerlandMobility. Switzerland is the place to go for anyone who wants to swap NYC's high-rise buildings for stunning mountain scenery and city bike lanes for well-marked cycling and mountain bike routes which crisscross a land full of surprises.
To ride New York City free on May 14 from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM, riders just need to swipe a credit card and select the 24-Hour Access Pass option. No promo code is needed. A $101 security hold may be placed on the card. Standard overtime fees apply to trips that last longer than 30 minutes.
Vito Schnabel is pleased to announce the opening of First Show / Last Show, a group exhibition at 190 Bowery on May 16, 2015. Featured artists include Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, Jeff Elrod, Ron Gorchov, Mark Grotjahn, Harmony Korine, and Julian Schnabel.
“The artists included in First Show / Last Show are seven of my favorite painters. I have had the privilege of living with some of their works and have long wanted to show them together. There are very few artists whose work immediately conveys its significance, like each of these seven. They represent three generations of great American contemporary art, ranging in age from 35 to 85.
I grew up in New York City, walking by the former Germania Bank countless times. I always wanted to go inside, thinking it might be a perfect place for an exhibition. This is the first time this 1899 landmark building will be open to the public since the bank closed in 1966 and it became a private residence.
A 28-year-old East Village woman leaving Union Square Park was struck by a man who she said had been sitting across from her on a bench in Union Square moments earlier, a law-enforcement official said.
She told police that the suspect had been smoking Newport cigarettes, the official said. The woman said that as she left the park, she was hit on the head from behind by the man with a hammer.
The city says a decision on an exact location must wait until the end of the summer, when a long-delayed construction project on East Houston Street is expected to be completed. In the meantime, the city’s Department of Transportation has agreed to set up a temporary taxi stand on the west side of Avenue A, just above East Houston.
