Englishman on MacDougal

An Englishman In New York is currently being filmed on my charming block, and stars John Hurt as Quentin Crisp. Cynthia Nixon and Swoosie Kurtz too!  Enjoy these '70s era cars being used in the film.  Ahhh, the Kodak moments.         

9/11 Tribute or chance to party?

From moving tribute...


To Star Trek sci-fi surreal scape

…to a swell champagne party for those well heeled suits with passes…see the tents on the left?

9/11 Tribute in Light

Photographed from the 55th floor of the Chase Manhattan Building, two blocks from Ground Zero.

Tribute in Light

A second pic from my roof, up close..

Miss Your Lips

Am I overdoing this NYC street art thing? I dunno. I guess I see it as renegade protest against the encroaching corporate control dominating seemingly every public space in the city. Washington Square Park turns over its fountain to the multimillionaire Tisch family. The Mayor ignores local zoning laws so Donald Trump can build his 28 floor tower on Varrick Street. Condo blocks and chain stores going up all over town, while small businesses close. Meanwhile, Ground Zero is still a big hole in the ground. Enjoy the art! This is one crazy corner..

Popeye & West Village Urban Etiquette Signs

I've stood all I can stand and I can't stand no more!

From Weehawken Street, New York's "smallest" street...


Says who?

Grand Central eagle

Another shot from New York's Summer Streets weekend free for all!

Old Minetta Tavern

The Minetta Tavern on MacDougal is undergoing major renovation by a new owner. Word has it that he is keeping the interior intact, and only changing the menu -- a good thing. A long time hangout for the '50s beats and then the '60s NYC showbiz and literary crowd, Minetta Tavern is classic Greenwich Village. One things for sure, the photos that lined Minetta's walls are already gone, packed up and relocated with the old owner. So here they are, photographed during Christmas, 07. The beautiful Eva Marie Saint, fresh from her role in On The Waterfront.

Soupy Sales and Minetta's owner.
Joe Gould, Joseph Mitchell.

Old New York rulers...Party time..!

ever feel like this?

One nation indivisible?

America is becoming an increasingly strange place. Was the gov't behind 9/11? Is Bush bought off by the oil industry? Does American industry care only for shareholders, not Americans? Is America smart enough to elect Obama, someone who inspires rather than a backwards looking senior citizen? Something's gotta give. A sampling of more political street art.

Seaport ruin

Much of South Street Seaport is being developed for the well heeled and the tourists. Chain stores and walking tours fill old streets that were once dominiated by fishermen and the Mob. But on some streets hulks of the old buildings remain, ghosts of the past like this ancient column bordering a Front Street storefront.

Brooklyn Bridge 2

Straight up!

Directly below the bridge, looking at the arch.

A view from the Brooklyn side.

Wires, wires, wires...

East Village Synagogue = Condos

Wanna live like an old rabbi in one the East Village's most beautiful buildings (on 6th street)? Then just drop a few million and this condo conversion is yours! One of the oldest synagogues in the East Village, "Chez Syn" (formerly the Anshei Meseritz synagogue) sports park views, close access to trendy restaurants and clubs, and even a jacuzzi on what was once the synagogue's altar! Talk about Holy Water! ! Move fast, this property won't last for long! In fact, the community is fighting its demolition. --NothingIsSacredDevelopers.com (this is no joke: http://thevillager.com/villager_277/thedevelopers.html)

Brooklyn Bridge & Obama

The country that can still produce a speaker as powerful and inspiring as Barack Obama is also the country that built this incredible bridge which spans the east river between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Heck, Barack and the Brooklyn Bridge make me proud to be an American!

Roger Federer rages

Every year, I go to the U.S. Open with my old friend Frank. We take some pics. We sneak into into Arthur Ashe stadium to see the big guns play. We eat the $12 hamburgers. I always buy the $10 napsack. We'll do it again next year.

New York Street Art

A rich cornucopia of art and hi jinx on the Bowery, the last stand some might say.

2010 = 1984?

I was down on Bowery, doing my usual thing, taking pics of 200 year old buildings scheduled to be pounded into dust to make way for cold new condos when an Aryan looking model in a TSE ad caught my eye. Snapping away, I was surprised when this elderly Chinese lady spun around and stared at me with her mouth agape. Caption anyone? The contrast is striking don't you think? I can't tell if she is eating something, she looks as tired and worn out as the Bowery itself. Soon, she'll be displaced by the model in the ad and those of his ilk who are turning the former skid row neighborhood into one of the City's new monied playgrounds.

Street Art

I know some people hate graffiti, but in New York street artists typically turn abandoned walls into works of art -- it's more than graffiti. It's the voice of the people! This weird computer stencil over a New York City subway map used to be on the abandoned tenement at 43 MacDougal Street. I like the 1s and 0s, and the very clever computer and joystick design.