Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Ken Mac Request

As regular GVDP readers know, I am not a group hug kind of guy. But today I am asking for your support. Tomorrow, Thursday, between 11:30 and 1:30 EST, I will be having surgery to remove a small tumor from my bladder. We caught it early and all signs are good. Please send prayers/positive thoughts my way during this time.
I am confident my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will deliver me and restore my health.
Thank you friends, and see you next week! --Ken Micallef

Sunday, July 26, 2009

New Jersey Balloon Fest, 2009

How was your weekend? Mine was up up and away......




Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Clover Delicatessen for Sandwiches that Please

An east side staple for many years, the Clover Deli (at 621 Second Avenue and 34th street) is an old school Murray Hill delicatessen of the original New York variety. Long may it reign.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Judson Memorial Church

By the mid 1800's Greenwich Village had the largest African American community in the City joined by German, French, Irish, immigrants and to the immediate south a majority of Italian immigrants. Earlier more affluent communities had begun an exodus from the adjacent neighborhoods to the south and east. Edward Judson observed that "the intelligent, well-to-do, and church going people withdraw from this part of the city." Washington Square and Judson Memorial stood at the intersection between the affluence of Fifth Avenue and the poverty of Lower Manhattan. The church building, erected in 1890, designed by architect Stanford White, and stained glass master John La Farge, features Renaissance influences wedded to a basic Italianate form. SculptorAugustus St. Gaudens designed a marble frieze in the baptistery.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Valeri Larko: Urban Landscapes

Leacy and I spent the weekend a few weekends back in Clinton, New Jersey, a historic town on the Delaware. An artist was displaying her renderings of New York's barren industrial wastelands at a small gallery. Unfortunately, I don't recall her name. Don't sue me!


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

West Village Police Patrol

A relic of turn of the century New York

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Hello Harry

Though closed for a while, Day O on Greenwich remains distinctly upbeat. Bravo!

Monday, July 13, 2009

an audience of 1

Berenice Abbott's Charles Lane 1938

Though I have been there a million times I always return to Charles Lane in the West Village. Now bookended by tall blue glass towers, Charles Lane still looks much the same today -- see below.

Meatpacking A Day in the Life

Meatpacking, a venerable NY occupation that goes back to the 1900s, is all but done in the trendy West Village. But a few lone holdouts remain amid the designer shops, hipster bars and fro-yo shops.


Sunday, July 12, 2009

Further into the Forest

Wildlife preserve, New Jersey...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Enchanted Forest

Ever wonder where GVDP goes on the weekend? Straight into the enchanted forest dear friends...

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Julius on Christopher


It’s been almost forty years since the Stonewall Riots, but the now-grizzled crowd at Julius around the corner has hardly budged. This West Village tavern is not only New York’s oldest gay bar, but one of its very oldest barrooms – it’s been in continuous operation since 1863. It’s ridden out Prohibition as a speakeasy, lured Broadway starlets downtown for its famous burgers, and played host to the Sip-In of 1966, when a group of gay men demanded bar service at a time when homosexuals could not legally assemble. Julius is a bit worse for the wear, however, and it doesn’t immediately seem like a gay scene (the bar is typically full of males and females); only a few back-room rainbow scarves set it apart from any other male-heavy, ramshackle sports bar. But the yellowing newspaper clippings and wall of signed head shots recall the bar’s storied past—as does the graying crowd, putting back bottles and four-dollar burgers from the grill in the corner. As trendier gay bars wash over the West Village, Julius soldiers on, unchanged. — Carey Jones/New York Magazine

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Joe Jr's closes its door

Joe Jr's, the 35 year old diner on 6th and 12th, closed on Sunday. Another nail in the coffin of solid joints for the working joe. A place to get a BLT at 2am , a chocolate shake or good hot coffee 24/7. Landlord wanted more than Joe could pay. So long Joe...paying my respects.
From Jeremiah's Vanishing New York: It happens. All over town, it happens that thriving businesses, shops and restaurants loved by many customers, are put out of business. These days, more often than not, they stay empty, their "For Rent" signs an exercise in futility. And another place that hummed with life becomes a black eye of blight on the streets. Maybe we'll find ourselves looking at art here, ironic installations on the meaning of cheeseburgers and community--instead of eating cheeseburgers and being connected to that community. And then it will be empty again--until it is turned into another bank, another fro-yo shop, another nothing.

Around Grand Central

From the upper level usually reserved for vehicle traffic but opened once a year to humans...




Monday, July 6, 2009

Morning Joe remains

Joe Jr.s, a venerable, fifty year old diner on 6th Avenue and 12th,, closed its doors this weekend. Landlord greed being the usual culprit. But the Mud Truck on Christopher and 7th remains, serving dark caffeinated brews to blurry eyed NYers every morning....

Friday, July 3, 2009

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

WATER SCARE

say "free water" and people run every which direction..

That's Art

Chelsea galleries feature profound works and pieces of utter befuddlement. Which is this?