Unemployed

Union Square has been a site for social and political activism since the 1800's. In 1861, after the fall of Fort Sumter, there was a patriotic rally with an estimated 250,000 people, considered the largest public gathering in North America up to that time. Since that time, Union Square has continued its role as a locus for protests and gatherings.
On Sunday, May 17, the Veggie Pride Parade ended in the north plaza - see here. At the same time, Reverend Billy appeared at the NYC Plastic Bag Protest. There were various activities - crafts, street theater, advocacy and petitioning. A number of characters were present such as the Plastic Bag Monster seen in the photo and No Impact Man.
I applaud the efforts being made here as reduction is the biggest key to this problem. As I wrote in White Christmas, substitution of disposable materials or recycling is not an effective solution with the volume of bags being used, which is why complete bans are being enacted worldwide.
In 2002, Bangladesh became the first country to ban plastic bags. Taiwan prohibits not only plastic bags, but also disposable plastic cups, plates, and cutlery used by fast food vendors (threats of fines have resulted in a 70% reduction in the use of plastic bags, and a 25% cut in landfill waste.) A number of African countries have banned plastic bags such as Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. London has banned giving out free bags, Ireland has levied a tax. Paris has banned them and plans to ban them nationwide by 2010. 

In 2007, San Francisco became the first US city to ban plastic bags. Other US cities have followed - Maui, Hawaii and Westport, Connecticut. New York City is considering its own initiative. The plastic bag problem has really hit critical mass and the list of countries, states and cities is constantly changing. I think the Plastic Bag Monster will be joining the ranks of the unemployed soon :)

Related Postings: The Plastic Infinite, Consumption, Picture New York, Reverend Billy, Union Square, Union Square Greenmarket, Metronome.

Book Wars

To me, the street life of New York City is one of its defining characteristics and what separates it from any other place in the world. With the growing domination of the retail sector by national and international retail chains, the character of the retail world has become decidedly less unique. Strolling down Broadway in SoHo is very much like strolling the suburban shopping mall - the only big difference is whether you want your mall shopping experience indoors or out. 

Street vendors often provide a food or product difficult to vend profitably in a retail store. For those of us who already spend too much time indoors, browsing a street vendor's wares is also a way to get more outdoor time. Admittedly, there is a plethora of chatchkas and tacky tourist memorabilia. Like anything else in New York, you must pick your battles and be selective - it is difficult to make any blanket characterizations of the merchandise on the streets. There is better or worse in nearly everything here - places like Canal Street are both bazaars and minefields.

One of the most worthwhile activities on the street is the sale of books. Here too, there are some vendors of some extremely poor quality magazines and books, where a cursory examination makes it clear that the primary operative is selling merchandise.

But there is a small world of street booksellers who are extremely literate and knowledgeable about books, often more so than a bookstore staff member. These vendors are people who are not criminals, drug addicts, derelicts or thieves. They acquire their books from estate sales, thrift shops, remainder bins, foundations, used bookstores or trash heaps. A perusal of the titles sold by Everett Shapiro at the tables on West 4th Street (in the photo) in the heart of the NYU "campus", will tell you that the selection here is quality - one that a serious reader can take seriously.

Everett was one of the featured characters in the independent film Bookwars, which won Best Documentary at the New York Underground Film Festival in 2000. The film was made by filmmaker Jason Rosette who was a NYU film school graduate and became a street bookseller himself. The 1999 book Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier also examines the world of the sidewalk booksellers.

Street booksellers (and sellers of art) are protected by the free speech provision of the First Amendment of the Constitution and are allowed to sell on the streets without a license. However, in spite of this, efforts were made during the Giuliani administration as part of his Quality of Life campaign to crack down. The effort was highly contentious and eventually the police backed off. The numbers of street booksellers has declined but there are still those who are passionate about books and they can still be found here and there ...

Photo Note: These are the tables of Everett, located on West 4th Street in front of NYU's Bobst Library.

Whole Earth Bakery

If you read the quote from my article on the Veggie Pride Parade, you know you will not find French chef Anthony Bourdain patronizing Whole Earth Bakery in the East Village. However, you will find a vibrant business at this historic shrine for veganism and vegetarianism, in business since 1978. This is the type of place New Yorkers have grown to expect, however it is hard to imagine a place like this, catering to such a niche clientele, existing anywhere else.

Peter Silvestri and his mother Filomena started the bakery at 70 Spring Street; in 1991 they moved to their current location at 130 St. Marks Place. There are cakes, cookies and many other confections. In addition there are soups, salads and vegetarian pizza with whole grain crust.

To be fair, I believe the degree to which many individuals like the foods there is largely a function of how important dietary concerns are. It is tough to compare the baked goods here with fine French or Italian pastries. 

Veganism and other variants on vegetarianism have reached mainstream society but Whole Earth Bakery dates back to the days of late hippiedom and countercultural movements - back to the land and natural living. 

The bakery staved off the threat of eviction in 2006 and continues to live on. If you are in the area, drop in and be you own judge :)

Note: Filomena Silvestri died in 2006 at the age of 94. She is survived by three children, five grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Facts and Fiction

When someone looks like this, photographers take notice. However, how to proceed? I discussed the dilemma of shooting people at close range in my recent posting Walid Soroor - see here. 

I pointed this man out to a couple of friends who agreed this man's appearance was definitely out there and blog worthy. A suggestion was made to approach him directly and ask his permission. Legally, photos taken in public for non-advertising purposes do not require permission, but cooperation, when you get it, not only makes the process immensely more comfortable, but also leads to better photos and some nice side benefits. Like a name, biographical facts about a person, email address and possibly the raison d'etre for their extreme style.

Although wild speculation is a lot of fun, the person behind the surface is rarely what you imagine and often, the truth is more interesting than fiction. I am comfortable approaching strangers, however I do feel it requires a certain amount of "getting into character," like an actor, selling myself, and convincing the subject that I am a serious person and the photos will be used in a respectable manner.

In this case, a brief introduction along with a New York Daily Photo business card, sealed the deal and my subject said "fire away." I relayed the green light to my friend, photographer Bill Shatto, and the impromptu location photo shoot began.

I learned that our subject, Jim Vehap, was born on the Lower East Side, an authentic New Yorker, now living in Milwaukee with family. He is half Albanian and half Italian. His tattoos were done at the time of his 6-year stint in the Marines (Beirut 1983). The shirt was a bicycling jersey, the origin of the plaid shorts was not discussed. I suggested he might consider modeling - he said others had recommended he look into this. He asked how he might pursue this - Bill acquainted him with the Ross Report, a industry publication which includes listings for casting agents, studios, talent agencies and others in the film and TV business.

Jim works as a paralegal and had interest at one time in pursuing a masters degree in theology. Quite an amalgam of contrasts. Not the man I thought at all - another case of facts more interesting than fiction ...

Photo Note: Look closely here and you will find an assortment of piercings - nipple, navel and ears - and closeups of Jim's tattoos including ones reading Rare Breed and Rude Boy.

Related Postings of extreme New York City people: 

Related Postings: Out There, Spike, Narcissism Gone Wild, Superheroes, Snake Charmer, Circus Amok, Fashion Forward, Piercing Al Fresco.

Shag Carpeting

The phrase of choice when I grew up to describe extreme fun was having a blast. For a literal interpretation, head to the fountain in Washington Square Park, which was finally opened after being closed for one and a half years. It was perfect timing for some prematurely hot weather on a holiday weekend. It was a beach scene with all the accouterments including children with sand buckets. See more photos here.
The summer cooling method of choice when I grew up was the sprinkler. For those with no access to the beach or a home swimming pool, the announcement that our parents were going to set up and turn on the sprinkler in the yard was a cause for jubilation. In New York City, fire hydrants are officially made available - upon request, the fire department will put on a sprinkler head to a hydrant for neighborhood's children to cool off.
There are other fountains in Manhattan, but the one in Washington Square Park, located in a residential neighborhood with a history of permissiveness, beckons to be used as a water park. Adults, children (and the occasional dog) play in the water with street clothes. Personally, I do not approve of children playing in the fountain water - this is far from a sanitary environment, with all manner of fluids and solids. There has been some controversy about the situation - officially dogs are banned and signs stating such are soon to be posted. Tickets have been given out for the violation.
This whole environment brings to mind shag carpeting in cheap motels. You never know what's lurking beneath the surface - most likely there is some accumulation of bits of food, humans and other debris of unknown origin. Better not to look or think. The same applies to this fountain pool - who knows what's really in that soup - better not to think or look too deep, just like with shag carpeting :)

Fleet Week 2009

If you have been in New York City in the last few days, you may have seen an unusual number of sailors on the streets on New York. This is Fleet Week New York City 2009, an annual event since 1984. Fleet Week is a celebration of the sea services - a United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard tradition where active military ships dock in various major cities for one week.

The event provides an opportunity for the citizens to meet Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, as well as for the military to explore New York City. 

Fleet Week, which runs from May 20-27, includes dozens of military demonstrations and displays throughout the week. But the big attraction is the public visitation of the participating ships. The ships are docked in Manhattan at Pier 88 and 90 and in Staten Island. Here is the official site with all the details.

This is a rare opportunity to board and tour these ships. If you are interested, get there early - the lines, particularly on Memorial Day, become hours long. See you there :)

Photo notes: The Upper photo was taken on the B train in Brooklyn. The collage shows the ships which will be docked during Fleet Week NYC 2009.

Storefront

As the world becomes more crowded and technology becomes more advanced, our spaces, places and things become smaller. Waste and efficiencies are critical issues, particularly in a city like New York.
Add our economic environment to the mix and one can see why lavish indulgence is nearly a mortal sin. So what better icons for our time than the Ipod Nano or a micro gallery like the Storefront for Art and Architecture?
Storefront was founded in 1982 by Kyong Park as a nonprofit organization committed to the advancement of innovative positions in architecture, art and design with a program of exhibitions, artists talks, film screenings, conferences and publications.
This place is easy to miss - it is not only small but also off the beaten path. Storefront is located in a unique triangular ground-level space on Kenmare Street at a nexus three very different cultural neighborhoods: Chinatown, Little Italy and Soho. The space is nearly 100 feet long and tapers from 20 feet to 3 feet. Its most striking feature is the unique exterior wall with articulating panels which are rotated to open the space to the street.

In 1993, Storefront commissioned a collaborative building project by artist Vito Acconci and architect Steven Holl. The project replaced the existing facade with a series of twelve panels that pivot vertically or horizontally to open the entire length of the gallery directly onto the street. The project blurs the boundary between interior and exterior and, by placing the panels in different configurations, creates a multitude of different possible facades. Now regarded as a contemporary architectural landmark, Storefront is visited by artists, architects and students from around the world.

The Storefront has received many accolades from the media and art community. See my posting here, Performance Z-A, a celebration of Storefront's 25th anniversary in 2007 which was set in the Ring Dome Pavilion ...

Butter and Ice Cream

Sunday was Veggie Pride Parade II. I wrote about this in 2008 - you can read about it here. I was a practicing vegetarian for decades and have experimented with numerous diets, so I am sympathetic to the cause. I was a raw foodist in the early 1970s, drinking gallons of carrot juice per week. I have a library of books on extreme dietary practices, many rarely encountered today: fruitarianism, macrobiotics, mucusless diets, liquidarianism, raw veganism and the ultimate in dietary deprivation - breatharianism (yes). 

I have a quote from chef Anthony Bourdain which I would like to share with you, which although quite extreme, does express the feelings of many non-vegetarians. For those of you who are vegetarians, I suggest you skip this section.

Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. 

To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. 

Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It's healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I've worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold. 

Oh, I'll accommodate them, I'll rummage around for something to feed them, for a 'vegetarian plate', if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine. 

— Anthony Bourdain

I can't say I embrace this statement, however it does point out one problem with most vegetarian diets - they are driven primarily by health concerns, ethics, religious beliefs or animal rights, philosophies which involve deprivation and do not revolve around the palate. This is why ultimately, most do not stay with diets like veganism for very long. The vegan movement has become quite trendy in recent years - read my article here.

Food is one of the most important parts of any culture and any dietary practices that restrict one from partaking in those foods will, for most, become intolerable over time. Gradually, more taboo foods are introduced. Semi-vegetarian diets attempt to straddle both sides of the aisle with variations like lacto, ovo, lacto ovo, pollo, pesco-vegetarianism and flexitarianism. 

I have sat at many a dinner table or restaurant, only to nibble or eat side orders. A trip to France became, as one vegetarian observer put it, "avoiding the omelet." My diet now is more oriented towards health and less dogmatic.

The 2009 parade was not particularly large - I think at this point in time, the message falls on deaf ears. Most will not make the sacrifices to become vegetarian and many of the valuable contributions made by the vegetarian movement have been absorbed into mainstream culture. Large supermarkets now have an extensive line of natural food products - unthinkable 30 years ago. Successes like Whole Foods Market, the retailing natural foods international chain, demonstrate that peas have been given a chance but most still want butter and ice cream from time to time :)

About the Photo: There were some fun creative characters. Many important fruits and vegetables were represented: Join Our Bunch (banana costumes), Give Peas a Chance, Hail Seitan, Warning Hunters, Unicyclists Against Animal Abuse, Meatrix, Jolly Green Giant and a host of green.

Warm and Fuzzy

I have very strong memories of school as a child outside the city - carrying books, walking home, erasers with chalk dust, blackboards, recess, homeroom, the cafeteria, homework, lockers, report cards, being called on, tests, passing notes. As I got older there was the familiar sight and sounds of children in playgrounds with the familiar chatter and laughing.

I am sure many children growing up in New York City have many of these experiences, but for those of us without children, the world of children and school is virtually invisible. As I wrote in Mary Celeste (see here), schools and playgrounds do exist, but depending on where one lives and typical daily routines, most will never see them or children at play and even when you do, there is so much competing for your attention that everything is diluted.

So when you see a cardboard box being toted through the streets of NYC, you pay little attention. However, when you see it is being carried by a mother and her young daughter, you take notice. And when it is quiet at night and you hear faint squeaking coming from the box, you run after them because - could this be the sound of live animals?

Yes it was. I found mom and her girl with a box of young chicks - I was told it was part of a school project.

They were quite happy and eager to share their little bundle of joy and offered to let me handle one chick (and grab a couple of quick photos with my point and shoot). I believe this is the first time I actually picked a baby chick up - ironically, on the streets of Manhattan. I'm glad I stopped them. It was a warm and fuzzy experience and a nice way to end the day - a bit of fur now and then is cherished by the wisest men :)

Note: Once in May, 2008, I welcomed an entire school class on a field trip to my business. It was quite an outing - see Little Burnt Out here. There are a number of other posts on children here: Mary Celeste and Heart Warming.

Dance Parade 2009

Saturday was the 3rd annual Dance Parade. Many asked me the reason for the parade - they seemed perplexed. I answered "to celebrate dance." I'm not sure a parade needs more of a reason - perhaps so many are estranged from celebration and unmitigated fun that something of this nature grates against their being.
The parade started at 28th and Broadway and headed south, finishing in Tompkins Square park for the Dancefest from 3-7pm with continuous performances on stage. The other participants did plenty of milling and strutting along with numerous spontaneous performances.
Every imaginable type of dance was represented with broad ethnic diversity. There was Samba, belly dancing, swing, Korean traditional dance, Polynesian, Indian, Nepalese, Afro Latino, Mexican Folkloric, modern, tap, jazz, disco, ballet, plenty of hoop dancers and other creative works. Dance lessons were offered and after parties were thrown around the neighborhood.
The parade itself had many participants who were not really dancers but, true to New York City style, no one was policing or jurying marchers. Only the desire to be involved was required.
I thought one of the most striking ensembles was Shir Dance - see their website here. Four women did two living statue movement pieces - the colors and images were quite striking. You can see more images of them and others in my gallery of parade photos here ...

Verdant Oasis

Frequent users of Washington Square Park have been eagerly awaiting its reopening. It has been closed for one and one half years - since November 2007. The renovations were a contentious battle - I wrote about it in Jeopardy. There were lawsuits and fighting over the big stuff and the little stuff too: size of the plaza, moving the fountain, height of fences, width of walkways, removal of mounds, trees, grass, plants - no stone was left unturned.
The reconstruction is being done in phases - the first (approximately 2/3rds of the park) is the largest and includes the fountain and plaza area. So its reopening has been highly awaited, particularly by local habitues like myself and a number of friends.
In the last few weeks the fountain has been tested - I have chanced upon it twice. Yesterday morning I took a photo through a hole in the chainlink fence.
The entire renovation process has been less transparent to the community than many would have liked and its reopening is mired in secrecy. Even at this late date, no one appears to know the date of its reopening. There are speculations and rumors. Some say it will first open uneventfully with an official celebration later. Surprising, being that this is a relatively major event.
Historically, the park has been a center for cultural activity - music, chess, scrabble, art, street performing, skateboarding, filming, parades, marches, protests, rallies, concerts and a myriad of events both regular and spontaneous. Numerous local eccentrics. And, of course, still plenty of drug dealing. The park also serves as New York University's de facto campus, so students are abundant.
It seems certain that the park will open within the next week or so. Keep an ear to the ground or an eye to this website. When it opens, visit soon - everything is green, beautiful and immaculate. I see it outside my window now - a verdant oasis awaits you ...

Related postings: Out There,  Hawk Fest, Evening Arch, Twelve Tribes Arrive, New York Nymph,  Bluegrass Reunion, Cloud Appreciation, I Am Legend, Birds Sing at Night, Rats Gone Wild, Piercing Al Fresco, Police Riot Concert, Artiste Extraordinaire, Comfort and Joy, Livid, Flash of Light, Delivery,  Conflux, Dog Run, Sounds of Summer, Krishna, Spring Madness, Back to Boyhood, Hookah, Lockout, Danger and Caution, Obama, YouTube Meetup, Dachshund Octoberfest, Music Speaks for Itself, Park Night, Petanque, Washington Square North, Nested Embraces, Left Bank New York, 

Not Going Anywhere

This is the first time I have seen wrestling in a park in New York City. I found it an appropriate metaphor - living in New York City is often a contact sport and in many respects we do wrestle our way through life here. Much of my life seems to be finding ways to navigate the shoals, looking for ways to soften the blows of the city. There are great conveniences living here - the depth and breadth of products, food, entertainment and culture is perhaps unequaled. However, it does come at a price and the population density both giveth and taketh away. A New Yorker I know, born and bred in Brooklyn, once said that New York City was the punishment for living. A bit harsh perhaps. She now lives in California.
Why do New Yorkers do it? What type of people would want to live here and bear the slings and arrows and fight their way through daily life? Perhaps the individual's T-Shirt in the photo "psych ward" offers a possible answer.
I am reminded of a business owner who was asked the question "Do you ever think of selling your business?" to which he answered "Every day." For those of us who are business owners, this is stating the obvious. I might speculate that on a similar note, I have often been asked, in response to my whining about some aspect of the city, particularly real estate costs and lack of space, "Do you every think of moving out of the city?" My answer is, I would guess, the same as that of many fellow residents - "All the time."
The number of times that I have "planned" to move from the city, fantasized or looked at homes all over the planet are innumerable. Most residents I know speak of moving with a smugness about how easy it would be and often with an assuredness of how they will be doing this soon. I remember a Brooklyn resident who had returned from Santa Barbara, California. He was on a rant about why there was no good reason not to move there immediately. Except that he would not.
But all this is just retelling the obvious and although some move away and others retire elsewhere, the biggest obvious fact to many of us here about these whiners and malcontents is that like most dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers, they are not going anywhere ...

White Castle

Not so long ago you had to make a pilgrimage to find a fast food restaurant. In 1970, there were no McDonalds in Manhattan. When I first moved here to attend university, a group of us traveled to the Bronx to have the White Castle experience - eating those little square inexpensive hamburgers (known as sliders - officially Slyders) was the perfect novel activity for a college student. White Castle was an alien experience - something more akin to the suburbs or outer boroughs. It's white porcelain enamel exterior with crenelated roofline resembled a medieval castle (said to be modeled after the Chicago Water Tower.)
The protective romantic attachment that some had surrounding White Castle has all the earmarks of the New York City landmark institution - like egg creams or Coney Island. Perhaps its length of time in the city (there has been a White Castle in Bayside Queens since 1932) and the fact that it predates any other fast food chains here, gives it a false sense of being a New York original like Nedick's or Nathan's. And New Yorker's are used to taking credit for many firsts - so why not White Castle?
But in fact White Castle is a national chain and was started in 1921 in Kansas by partners Walter A. Anderson and cook Billy Ingram. However, the chain has maintained a much lower profile and rate of expansion than other fast food restaurants - to date it has 380 plus locations nationwide compared to 13,000 for McDonald's.
From the New York Times:

Few people seem to realize that White Castle was America's original fast-food chain: its first outlet opened in 1921, 27 years ahead of McDonald's. Indeed, White Castle was the key player in turning the hamburger into America's national meal.

Its little square burgers and turreted restaurants have become something of a pop-culture punch line, stuck somewhere between white-trash chic and ironic kitsch.

So it was last weekend on our adventure to Jackson Heights that we came across this White Castle at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Humboldt in Brooklyn - more photos here. A few mandatory burgers were consumed by my companions as I sampled some French fries. In all, the place was clean and tidy and the staff extremely friendly. A good first White Castle experience for one of our group who was new to the food chain. Our hats are off to the management here ...

Salad Bowl

Some argue that the view of America and even New York City as a melting pot is largely a myth and outmoded idea. Immigrants do not settle across the country or the city in a uniformly distributed way. What we have would be better described as cultural pluralism and multiculturalism - and that a salad bowl is a better analogy than a melting pot.
New York City is remarkably diverse, but on close examination, a walk through the many neighborhoods of this city will reveal segregation based on ethnicity and social class/income. Remove students and visitors from the equation and you will find some areas quite homogeneous as far as actual residents.
I leave it to you to sort out the details and make judgements regarding melting pots, salad bowls, demographics and the census. If you want to see the best New York City (and some say the world) has to offer as far as ethnic diversity is concerned, head to Jackson Heights, Queens. I wrote a number of articles about this area in 2007 - see the links at the bottom of this article.
The most striking thing about a visit to this neighborhood is the extraordinary numbers of people who are wearing traditional non-western dress. Turbans, Saris, Burqas and other unusual dress dominate the streets and shops, which themselves are a menagerie of merchants featuring products and foods catering to these varied cultural groups. Food alone is enough reason to visit Jackson Heights.
As I worked on the numerous photos for today's collage, I found myself battling and attempting to crop out one thing in many of the photos. The common and unifying element in this multi-cultural extravaganza? The universal constant appears not to be the speed of light, but an item to carry ingredients of a salad bowl - the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag ...

Related Postings: Jackson Diner, Jackson Heights, Indian Gold, The Patel Brothers.

Walid Soroor

Three men sat at a table next to us at the Delhi Heights restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens. One of them had a very mysterious aura, a near sinister smile and an unusual confidence. His face had a strength of character that was not typical at all. But we were in one of the most ethnically diverse in the world, so it was not strictly an ethnic issue. This neighborhood is populated with an array of cultures and colors - there was something about his presence that signaled something different.
I asked my photographer friend, whose back was facing the subject, to steal a glance. He did and confirmed my sentiments. The situation begged for a photo, but photographing people in public is tricky and at point blank range in a restaurant without permission is not appropriate. It is at best met with tolerance at worst met with unknown consequences. It is not public space and restaurant owners want the privacy of their customers respected.
My imagination had already created wild scenarios of who this might be and what he did. When he stepped out of the restaurant, I pondered my options and decided on a strategy to involve his friends. I got up, approached their table and told one of them that I found the man who stepped out extremely interesting looking and asked whether he thought his friend would be amenable to having a photo taken upon his return. His response was that he would ask. And my instincts were right. The mystery man was actually a singing superstar in Afghanistan. Upon his return, a short conversation ensued in a language foreign to me - but the smiles needed no translation and it was clear that permission had been granted. No surprise, now knowing that this man spends his life in front of the public and cameras.
He was quite gracious and conversation traveled across tables as I shot. He complemented my camera.  I responded my friend was armed with a much better tool - a Nikon D3. He noted that it is the man behind the camera, not the camera itself that made a good photo. He was familiar with our photo equipment and said he was also a videographer.
Still there was some pieces of this puzzle yet to be explained. Why the odd smile - almost a sinister grimace? I overheard him say that he had just had dental work done - he spoke of getting a perfect job, $8000 worth of work. Local anesthesia and numbness would explain his unusual facial expressions. However, this was itself puzzling. Who gets that much dental work done on the road away from home?
I was told that a dentist at his performance was so pleased with his performance that he offered to do extensive work at no charge. He would be returning to New York for completion of the work. We exchanged email addresses and names. His name - Walid Soroor. A immediate search when I arrived home confirmed what I had been told. Walid's brother, Waheed Soroor, has a full page entry in Wikipedia where Walid is cited. YouTube has numerous videos of Walid performing internationally. His companion, who negotiated on my behalf, is acclaimed tabla artist Qais Ulfat - see here. The third member of the group was their manager, completing a real life entourage - see here.
All the pieces of the puzzle had now come together. I reflected on how I was not only guilty of poor detective work but had once again misjudged a book by its cover. Another lesson about the surprises behind the faces of New York, this one brought to you courtesy of Qais Ulfat and Walid Soroor :)

Related Postings: Jackson Diner, Jackson Heights, Indian Gold, The Patel Brothers, Only In New York.

Attention

"Oh, have I got your attention now? Good." This line, spoken by Alec Baldwin in his famous sizzling speech in the award winning film Glengarry Glen Ross, would be appropriate for our friend in the photo, could he only speak. But, having a large inflated rat sitting in front of your business or building will certainly get your and the public's attention, so no worry that this rat is mute.
These rats have been seen on New York City streets since 1997 - Local 79 of the Construction and General Building Laborers claims to have been the first to introduce the rat to New York City in 1997. They are not unique to the city, but we are the largest consumers and users of the rat invented by Big Sky Balloons and Searchlights of Plainfield, Illinois. At any given time a number of the union rats are deployed around town to deliver a message about employers whose business practices have bestowed the honor of induction into the family of rats.
In 1990, Don Newton, an organizer for a Chicago bricklayers union went to Big Sky looking for a more effective way to to get the attention of nonunion employers. Owner Mike O'Connor proposed the idea of creating a large inflatable rat and "Scabby the Rat" was born. Big Sky has since produced hundreds of rats used throughout the country along with hundreds of other inflatables, many for  "Greedy Pig,” "Corporate Fat Cat," skunks, bulldogs and cockroaches.
Some victims have retaliated - a larger cat looming over a rat by Radio City in 2005 or the anti-union dinosaur which was placed in front of the AFL-CIO’s headquarters in Washington, D.C in 2006 by the Center for Union Facts to symbolize their belief that unions were outmoded and would become extinct.
The numerous articles regarding these rats show the price range escalating - now ranging to nearly $10,000 for the biggest rat. I suppose everything is subject to inflation :)

Film Note: Glengarry Glen Ross. Highly recommended drama, screenplay adaptation from a play of the same name by David Mamet. It will forever change your view of sales. Warning - strong language. 

Men Making Noise

There is a big surprise coming to New York City. I say surprise because many residents are unaware that phase one of the High Line project will open in a few short weeks. Even those who have awareness of the project do not most likely have this foremost in their minds. The project is elevated out of view, so it proceeds without notice. The High Line is the conversion of an abandoned elevated railways to parkland. It extends from the Meat Packing District to 34th Street - a distance of 1.45 miles. I wrote about this project previously - see here. It has been likened to the Promenade Plantée in Paris, built on an abandoned 19th-century railway viaduct. It promises to be a major contribution of greenspace. The figure in the photo is a ironworker who was cutting apart a warehouse abutting the High Line.
I grew up with a strong work ethic and a family cynicism surrounding most workers - my father was a wood cutter in northern Maine, a remote, sparsely populated area with severe winter weather. The state has a fiercely independent spirit with a strong element of individual self reliance. After moving south to Connecticut, he viewed most workers he typically encountered with disdain. His comment about municipal workers was that you could easily spot them - one man in a hole and 10 men above standing around watching him. My own view of tradesmen is much less harsh.
There are some things in life that are rarely questioned, like the benefits of education, the rights of a pregnant woman and at one time, the word of a doctor. To that I might add, a man making noise. If you look busy and make enough noise, people assume serious hard work is being done.
My take on laborers and noise became an an inside joke at my office many years ago - when anyone, hearing some ill defined racket, would ask "What is that?", I would respond, "Men making noise. That's what men do."
To those who might question my sanity, I say move aside please. A Mainiac is coming through to do some work :)

1560

I knew that our freelance computer guy, Paul, was a regular crossword doer.
I subscribe to the New York Times crossword online service - convenient for getting the daily puzzle without having to buy the printed paper. Yesterday, Paul paid us one of his regular visits and worked to days end, when I typically download the puzzle. I offered to print any puzzles to his liking - perhaps Friday or Saturday, I taunted? The New York Times crossword increases in difficulty each day, beginning with Monday. The most difficult is Saturday (Sunday's is considered equal to Thursday in difficulty, just larger).

It was good timing - he had been away for a week and had not done last week's puzzles. Not daunted by an audience or feeling any performance pressure, he sat at my desk and began to rip through Saturday. I was astounded as he flew through this puzzle in approximately 15 minutes, working in ink with almost no corrections.

In my opinion, Paul is a genius by any reasonable definition of the word. Now I realize that doing a Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle in 15 minutes does not in itself confer genius. Some may argue that such an ability is something akin to savant syndrome. I would imagine there are puzzlists who have an extremely narrow skill set but in my experience that is the exception not the rule.
But I have a lot more evidence than crosswords and when you put it all together, it becomes difficult to dismiss his talents as a smorgasbord of clever tricks. If you perhaps require elements of a romantic notion of genius, i.e. eccentric behavior or reclusive lifestyle ala renowned mathematician Paul Erdős, our friend Paul has that covered too. New York City is the perfect environment for the idiosyncratic polymath.
There was a time when SAT tests were taken without special preparatory courses - if such things existed, none of us knew about it. People just took the test. High scores meant much more. The older SAT (before 1995) had a very high ceiling - in any year, only seven of the million test-takers scored above 1580 (equivalent to the 99.9995 percentile.)
I had heard through a mutual friend that Paul had done extraordinarily well on his SAT exams, but I never confirmed the scores with him personally. So when I asked yesterday (as he was already completing Friday's crossword) for the first time about his SAT scores, he thought for a moment and said - 760 Verbal and 800 Math. You don't need great math skills to total that in your head - 1560 ...

About SAT tests: There is of course much controversy about the SAT test. There are bias issues and questions as to the correlation of high scores and intelligence. Some feel there is too much emphasis placed on the tests and there is even is an SAT optional movement - a number of prominent small colleges do not require the SAT for college admission. The movement was first instituted by Bates College in 1984.

Famine and Feast

On Saturday, I happened upon one of the four public performances of Bodies of Pyongyang by artist Yoonhye Park. See more photos here. This is the type of thing you don't usually see in Kansas and if you are looking to create public awareness, I am fascinated by North Korea - that in 2009 a regime like this can continue to survive. The statements regarding the treatment of women in North Korea contained in the press release of this public art performance comes as no surprise:

Most people know who is Kim Jong-il, the dictator of North Korea. However, women in North Korea are hidden and veiled in contemporary context. "Bodies of Pyongyang" is a public live visual art performance installation. Around thirty girls wearing North Korean schoolgirl uniforms are situated inside a (70"x70"x70") clear plexiglass cube box, which is located off a street intersection. These tightly packed schoolgirls try to move about the enclosed cube box expressing their emotional pain and struggle. Red strings symbolizing their dual inner states of suppression and resistance entangle the girls further confining their freedom to move within their already limited and hermetic space.

Of course the sight of a large clear plastic box packed with Korean girls in school uniforms with bright orange respirators will attract plenty of attention, even in New York City. So there was plenty of gawking and photography - the freneticism around a photo opportunity, irrespective of its merits, often looks like famine victims faced with a feast. However, unlike many North Koreans, it is unlikely any performers or onlookers were faced with the prospect of famine ...

Note: You can read about the Bodies of Pyongyang here or the artist Yoonhye Park here. The last public performance in New York City will be at Thompkins Square on Saturday, May 9, 2009 from 2:30-5PM.

Conflicted

In my tagline for this blog, I promised you a "place of diversity." Lest I be accused of hollow words, just using a catchy phrase to sell this city and website, today I bring you a park full of flowers after Friday's meat hanging on hooks. And I did not travel to all ends of the city to find these contrasts. The park in the photo is only a short walk from the meat packing district. This is the fascinating thing about the city - it's not only the magnitude of contrasts, but also the rapid change you can find from one environment to another. Sometimes the change is even within eyeshot - particularly with a neighborhood still in transition.
Many would argue that the meat packing district has arrived and is completely gentrified. For those who believe that, I suggest you stroll along West Street at 7AM on a weekday and you will see many hard at work loading and unloading trucks full of meat parts.
But that was last week's story. Today we have flowers. Spring in New York City is a beautiful time of year (when not raining). However, like any city, spring here is not a full immersion experience. There are elements of spring, but these are tempered by the manmade world that dominates the city's landscape. This is particularly evident when one leaves the city mid season and is impacted with the sensations - almost overpowering by comparison. One can get close in New York - the wooded areas of the bigger parks go a long way towards capturing that country feeling and communing with nature.
The park in today's photo is Abingdon Square in the West Village. While there, a friend who is also new to this city exclaimed that this must certainly be one of the most beautiful parks in all of New York. To which I replied, do not be overly swayed by the display which is primarily tulips. Their life is quite short and soon this spectacular display will be much more subdued. That said, Abingdon Square is a beautiful pocket park, many of which can be found throughout the city.
You can see in my posting October 27, 2007, that my enthusiasm for Abingdon Square was a bit bridled. If my impressions and assessments of aspects, places, people and things sometimes appear conflicted and contradictory, they are - just like New York City itself ...

Fresh Meat

I was told that meat hanging on hooks streetside in the Meat Packing District was a thing of the past. However, many things are said, not all of which are true, so this morning at 6AM, I left my home with camera in hand to find the truth. I rarely venture out in the morning to shoot for a posting the same day, but it seemed appropriate that fresh photos accompany fresh meat. Questioning a number of delivery men in the area produced the same answers - I would not find meat hanging on hooks. Still not believing what I was told, even by local workers, I began to wander the neighborhood. Sure enough, I arrived to see Weichsel Beef at 525 West Street unloading a delivery of pigs from a refrigerated truck.

The owner, Sam Farella (top center in the photo collage), was on the scene and informed me that a large trailer of beef was due to arrive and I was welcome to take photos, but no photos inside the warehouse. I returned a little later to a huge truck full of beef being unloaded.

The neighborhood is lined with warehouses - nondescript 2- and 3-story windowless concrete buildings. Most have metal awnings which use conveyor systems, hand pulleys, and hooks to move meat from the trucks to the warehouse. When warehouses in the area are converted for retail use, the distinctive metal awnings are typically restored, but without the hooks.
Sam was quite congenial and accommodating. He told me of other photographers who have shot around his place - the harsh and edgy look of raw beef is often used for photos with models and advertising, where the juxtaposition creates a harsh contrast. He allowed me to step briefly inside his warehouse - an enormous cold room filled with all manner of hanging carcasses and men at work.

Weichsel Beef has been in business over 70 years. Sam started his career as a butcher and has been in the meat packing district since 1957. He has owned Weichsel Beef for over 33 years. The company butchers meat to be resold to shops, restaurants and retail customers. He also told me he was a member of the Gun Club on MacDougal Street - a fascinating and curious place that I wrote of in 2007.

The Meatpacking District is officially known as the Gansevoort Market. By 1900, it was home to over 250 slaughterhouses and packing plants. In the 1980s it was a center for drug dealing and prostitution (particularly transsexuals) and sex clubs such as the Hellfire Club, the Anvil, and the Mineshaft.
Since that time, the area has been gentrified - only a handful of meat processors survive. Weichsel is the last place to get deliveries with full size carcasses delivered using a hook and conveyor system.

Clothing boutiques, nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and other retailers started to establish themselves in the area in the 1990s. Diane von Furstenberg, Christian Louboutin, Stella McCartney, and numerous others line the Belgian block cobbled streets. Popular spots include the bar Hogs and Heifers and the restaurant Pastis. One of the most famous area establishments was the French diner Florent, the first restaurant in the area, opened in 1985 by Florent Morellet and closed in 2008.
The Gansevoort Historic District was established in 2003. If you are looking for action, the neighborhood is teeming with live humans at night. Early morning is the time for fresh meat...

Note: See Photo Collection Here