[A] longtime friend and neighbor of Brigham’s, who did not want to be named, did not believe she was drunk and said she only spent the night away from her sublet because she forgot her keys at the Virginia wedding. “She wasn’t a drinker,” said the friend. “She was building a career after a bad marriage. ... She was happy.”
As he drove into the city from La Guardia Airport they talked by phone, first at 9:25 and then at 9:30, he said. Shortly afterward, her body was found by a 19-year-old neighbor, at the foot of the stairway. She was dressed entirely in white, with the contents of a large, clothing-stuffed weekend bag around her, according to interviews he gave NBC News and other outlets. Her father arrived just after the ambulance left the building.
“It’s just devastating, it’s so unspeakably difficult,” he said. “I’ve received 100 e-mails, and almost to a person everyone says I don’t know what to say. And I don’t either, in a way. It’s just devastating to lose such a beautiful creature.”
She's spent most of her summer in Tompkins Square Park chasing pigeons, avoiding aggressive terrier mix types (she's learned the hard way) and generally becoming part of the local cafe society. The photos here are of her favorite local haunts. (She'd rather not say precisely which establishments she frequents as she doesn't want the health department cracking down on her favorite places simply for having the temerity to serve a dog.)
She can report that she's not terribly fond of Mexican food (too spicy!) and loves, loves, loves, sautéed mushrooms. She's also exploring a run for a Community Board seat but isn't really prepared to talk about that just yet.
Darin Rubell, co-owner of downtown Manhattan watering holes GalleryBar and Ella, and partners Mark Trzupek (former manager of Life Café 983) and chef David Rotter (Norwood), have taken over the cafe from Kathy Kirkpatrick.
Although Rubell and company plan on changing the name to just 983 (a play on the café’s address which is 983 Flushing Avenue) refreshing the food and bar menus and some cosmetic changes, they plan to retain the overall character of the space which is affectionately known as “Bushwick’s Living Room.”
The closing of Life Café 983 is the end of an era, as the influential Life brand will no longer have a presence in New York City. The original East Village location at East 10th Street and Avenue B, where playwright Jonathan Larson wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning “Rent,” closed in 2011. Rubell, who hoped to also take over the East Village space and is opening new restaurant with Rotter this fall, sees the Bushwick location as an opportunity to continue to serve the needs of this exciting neighborhood.
The daughter of prominent investment banker found, throat slashed on Lower East Side. Who killed Carlisle Brigham-Champalimaud? EWN at 5PM.
— NJ Burkett (@njburkett7) August 27, 2012
There was so much blood around Brigham’s neck when her body was found at 10:33 a.m. that investigators initially theorized she’d been slashed.
But they later said it appeared to be just a tragic accident, during which she shattered her chin on a step of the first-floor stairwell in the building.
For 10 years, the Gas Station, with its towering sculpture built from discards ranging from a 1970 Plymouth Valiant to department store mannequins to television sets, has been a symbol of the Lower East Side's Bohemian ways and artistic resolve.
