Watching Manhattan (and other movies) in downtown Manhattan

Downtown Express has the story on Movie Nights On The Elevated Acre, which happen every Tuesday in August. Starting tonight. As the paper reports: "The Elevated Acre is a rooftop plaza offering stunning views of the East River, the Brooklyn Heights Esplanade, Red Hook, and the old Ferry Terminal. A seven-leveled concrete amphitheater with a sloping, lushly landscaped garden, the Acre, like the selection of movies screened this summer, is imaginatively conceived."

The schedule:

Tonight: On the Town

Aug. 12: Manhattan

Aug. 19: Stanley Kubrick's Killer's Kiss

Aug. 26: Imitation of Life

An EV Grieve reminder

I'll be doing a little writing over at Curbed.com this week.

Tonight: Captured at Webster Hall

[Image by Clayton Patterson]

Clayton Patterson is the artist and documentarian who has been chronicling the changes in the Lower East Side since he first set up shop here in the early 1980s. Some of his 100,000 photos and 10,000 hours worth of footage went into Captured, which plays tonight at Webster Hall.

Here's a trailer for the film:



Also, Patterson, who grew up in Canada, was featured in yesterday's Toronto Globe and Mail.

Patterson never had much trouble gaining access to the sort of people who might normally be suspicious of a camera in their midst - drug dealers and users, gang members, others on the margins of society - in part because he shoots without judgment. But Captured shows that newcomers to the neighbourhood -- like developers putting up $3-million condos on the Bowery -- are suspicious of his camera.

Previously on EV Grieve:
“When I go out my door now, I don’t see anyone I know. I see the loss of a community.”

Wishing you a happy National Underwear Day

As the National Underwear Day Web site says:

Since its inception in 2003, National Underwear Day has been received by the media and the public with great enthusiasm. In the past, we've invaded Times Square each August with scores of gorgeous models to run what started out as a renegade sidewalk fashion show and later became one of the most highly-anticipated fashion events of the year.

This year, to commemorate the sixth anniversary, we're bringing the celebration indoors to the glamorous Espace venue, where a growing crowd of National Underwear Day loyalists, including media and international tastemakers, will enjoy an evening cocktail party atmosphere and a full-fledged fashion show.

You heard it. Full-fledged!

[Photo of Becks from the High Line via the High Line blog]

Looking across at Manhattan in 1939

The Manhattan skyline looms overs the tenements of the Red Hook housing project in the Brooklyn borough of New York in 1939. (AP Photo)

Had to go to Times Square today -- please send help

Yankee Stadium: "Priced out of the game"

Post sports radio/TV scribe Phil Mushnick wonders why Yankee Stadium will be demolished after this season:

"It's being destroyed because it, too, has been priced out of the game. It's being knocked down for a new ballpark with fewer but far more expensive seats; eliminated so it can be replaced by a stadium with more luxury boxes and costlier come-ons for corporations and the mindlessly wealthy."

The Times revisits the wind farmers of East 11th Street

The Times had a piece yesterday on the "group of young architects who, in the 70s, took over a five-story tenement that didn’t rely on the city’s electrical grid. They lived at 519 East 11th Street, and they got their power from the wind."

[Image D. Gorton/The New York Times, 1977]

A note from our publisher, EV Grieve

Good morning.

Last week, I received an invitation to serve as a guest writer at curves.com. Being a fan of women-only health clubs, I enthusiastically agreed. When I showed up for duty (in Spandex, no less), I discovered the week-long guest stint was with CURBED.com. Oh! Well, that's even better. So, during this week, I'll be doing a little writing over there. I'll also be here. And, of course, I'll continue leaving "first!!" comments at Hollywood Tuna.

A little light reading on the bus

Wigshelf

On Ludlow Street. Alongside Katz's.

Speaking of Ludlow Street

I've loved this block from day one. Sure, this has been well-documented, but it's just hard to walk down the street anymore without getting upset.