Al-Karappi, the Great Frozen Eye of Tehran

Washington Square Park is still full of chess players, though many of their tables will be "relocated" as construction further alters/dominates the park. That's progress! This fellow arrived from another dimension, I believe -- he looked right through me! (click pic for enlargement)

World Trade Center -- Night

Thousands of tourists snap pics of the former World Trade Center site. Not many wait around to shoot the site (remains) at night. Too many eerie vibes, weird moods, empty streets. Is that fog rolling in from the east or the ghosts of 9/11?

Broadway's Beautiful Boys

Are we in Rome? Ancient Greece? No, it's Lower Broadway and the Beautiful Boys of the insurance company. I forget the exact address, but across from NYU and just down from Astor Place, these strapping Greco-Roman looking youths keep a close watch on Broadway from their 10th floor perch. The street level address is an insurance company, but something tells me this grand architecture was created by an early railroad or banking tycoon intent on leaving his firm stamp on the Village. Well done!

Meat: Style and Succulence

Near West 14th streeet, just around the corner from Stella McCartney and the Bodum store, meat hangs on hooks like literal lambs from the slaughter. This is the meatpacking district, former home to hardheaded pimps, street workers, and men of the meat (butchers). And they (the butchers) are still there in the mornings, working in the shadows of all the new construction, holding on to their turf and refrigerated trucks. But their domain is shrinking as rents soar. That's progress. Meantime, just look at that glorious slab of marbled nirvana!

Meatpacking Disco District

The West Village is constantly in flux. Near the river, where all the action takes place, a few old buildings sit empty (awaiting their fate) while others are demolished to make way for the future.

Here we have a beautiful old Hudson river pier with modern hotel construction looming in the background: a perfect example of the harbor's transition from dusty 1940s era port to modern conceptions built of glass and steel.

Ghosts of Greenwich Village, Pt. 3

There are some terrific new buildings going up New York, though they are, in my opinion, not as adventurous as those in Europe. Here, two landmark buildings near the Hudson are bookended by one of Philip Johnson's final glass and steel creations. One of the smaller buildings houses The Ear Inn, a favorite among locals, and one of the oldest bars in Manhattan.

Gentrification means...Poodles!

The Ear Inn. In a National Historic Landmark building, built on what used to be harbor's edge. The Ear Inn's sense of humor in certainly unique!

Finding Something Special

Lenny Cecere runs a small Greenwich Village institution called Something Special. Here, amid the bric-a-brac, percolating coffee, and candy for sale, the 82-year old Matt Lauer look-alike rents mailboxes, performs notary services and distributes sage wisdom and sly humor to the many folks who use Something Special as both local watering (or caffeine) hole and all-around hangout. The store sits on the street level floor of Lenny's landmark-designated building, and is particularly popular among SoHo's rich and famous who regard Lenny's mailboxes as their personal address away from home. The Beastie Boys, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Patti Smith, Famke Janssen and other showbiz notables can regularly be seen picking up their mail at Lenny's. Sarah Jessica Parker even served coffee in years past when her schedule in the city was less than sexy.

A typical day at Something Special finds Lenny holding court and serving coffee as fellow seniors -- like 'Philly' DeCicco and his brother Jimmy, who in the '70s were on a first name basis with Sullivan Street mobster Vinnie 'The Chin' Gigante and Frank Sinatra -- shoot the breeze, argue about the Mets and Yankees or pass a summer day watching the endless people parade that courses down Houston Street. Get Lenny talking and eventually he'll tell you about the huge cache of NOS tubes down in his basement. I have heard about this tube stash for years with no physical proof to back up the story. You see, after completing his army tour of duty in '45 and marrying Lucy Iannattone, Lenny trained at RCA's school for radio electronics at West 4th and 8th Avenue. He worked for Kodak as an electronics and machine maintenance technician for some 25 years during which time he began collecting radios. You own old radios, you gotta stock NOS tubes. I figured that the rumored tubes were all smashed and swept away but one day Lenny surprised me with a beautiful old Zenith tube radio from the '50s. Returning from the basement he unearthed more goodies: a crusty 1970s era Audiovox AM/FM tabletop, a nondescript '80s shortwave, a nifty looking RCA solid state and a truly space-age low profile WestClox model. Radio nut that I am, I grabbed the Windex and polished up these beauties, all of which worked wonderful, to the point where I almost expected to hear broadcasts from decades past emitting from the radios' ancient facades. Lenny still holds court, when you visit the Village, walk down to 51 MacDougal.

real Greenwich Village

So that first pic wasn't exactly the Village. I get carried away. Sue me. Here we go...

Today in Greenwich Village History

Welcome to the first installment of a photo blog I am very excited to bring to you, Greenwich Village Daily Photo. I hope to show you the history and unique beauty of this well travelled corner of New York City, and make you aware of its changing nature. Basically, the joint is dissapearing! Trump monstrosities, new yogurt joints, high priced condo palaces, bars, bars and more bars, yep, like Lenny Bruce once said, "Just sold America!"
But if you look closely and not at all too hard, you can still find remnants of the old Village as well as excellent represenatations of the wonderful curiosities that abound on practically every curb.

First up, one of a dying NYC breed, a real 50s styled Mahoney diner. The Cheyenne Diner, currently closed but awaiting transport down the river to nearby Red Hook. All say thank God! Located across from the back end of the Post Office on west 34th, the Cheyenne was a wonderful place to grab pancakes, turkey clubs, and burgers. But its owner plans to replace the joint with a high rise. But lucky NYers can still hike down to up and coming Red Hook to enjoy its new found hipster status. What a glorious chrome affair!
All the best, Ken Mac