From the first wave of immigration from Europe to lower Manhattan, through the rise of the Beats and avant-garde performance art in the mid-20th century, to the gentrification of recent years, the same building on East 7th Street has encapsulated one era after another after another.
The Parsonage, which takes from the worlds of jazz, classical, and "post-classical" music, makes its debut on April 7 from Sunnyside Records. The song cycle features libretto by cultural historian David Hajdu and music by eight composers: Darcy James Argue, Theo Bleckmann, Regina Carter, Ted Hearne, Kirk Nurock, Renee Rosnes, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Dan Tepfer.
McMillan now uses a wheelchair and walker as he rebuilds his balance and leg strength. He paces the living room of his garden apartment, back and forth from his couch to an exposed brick wall. He also walks along St. Mark's Place with the help of a home health aide who visits for a few hours each day.
And...
"I'm glad he's home,” said his niece Tennille McMillan, a designer who lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where rents are spiking. "It's been interesting to see how he saw what was going to happen before it was happening. In 2010, people thought he was exaggerating, but now we're here.'
She said she hopes he continues to speak out, "but he has to pay his rent."
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Bill's depiction of New York with his Proustian attention to detail creates a kind of visual mythology of the city. He gives equal attention to the bodies and lives of men he loved as to the landscape of taxis, automobiles and storefronts which inhabit his paintings, drawings and notes, interacting with the city through a distinctly erotic gaze. In centering the tangible and the visual Rice creates an ode to the city like a more "out" version of Whitman, using his memory and experience to construct a narrative of his surroundings.
I am interested in what happens around the corner of the surface. My paintings are not designed to be viewed only from the front. The edges are important, I like the feel of paint and canvas and paper. Ideally, I would like to invest the rectangle — the basic unit in any cityscape — with the sensuality, color, texture I find in the streets. — Bill Rice
Two boarders who were most definitely not involved in the theater arrived on April 3, 1902. Signing in as Mr. and Mrs. Harry Place, the couple were, in reality, Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, known to authorities as the outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's "Wild Bunch," Sundance Kid, and his wife, Etta Place.
"An expansive character-laden empty space houses echoes of history, romance, and former intrigue. Perhaps you can sense the presence of those who haven’t quite left. The purchase of this unique property is the foundation for a future that is alive & bright."
Shortly before then, he had taken out a $6.1 million mortgage against the properties to settle an inheritance dispute, pay legal fees and finance needed renovations. With the pandemic lockdown and a precipitous decline in revenue, that loan went into default and was purchased by Maverick Real Estate Partners about a year ago. The firm, according to court documents, has closed over 130 distressed debt transactions, with a total value of over $300 million.
The projected opening date is 6/5/2023. This is not a guarantee that the location will open on that date and is only an estimate of the time frame.
