Photo By Gail
Not being a ‘Baby Person,’ I had never heard of Cybex, but apparently they are experts in child car seats, baby carries, strollers and other baby gear, for those who are baby-inclined. And their store in the Shops at Hudson Yards sure did design a fetching Window Display that is just exploding with soft Pinkness. Sigh.
Photos By Gail
Back in 2020, a Sally Beauty supply store moved into a brand new storefront on East 14th Street between B and C just in time for Covid to lock the city down. Talk about bad timing. Fortunately, and probably because it is part of a chain, the store reopened mid-summer and seems to be doing well ever since.
While I purchase the Pink Hair Dye I have used for decades online, it is reassuring to know that Sally Beauty also sells my color, and then some.
Photo By Gail
I definitely feel for any business owner whose security gate gets tagged repeatedly. They aren’t easy to clean off, and most of the time the spray-painted tags are illegible and just plan ugly. The owners of Trinity Unisex Salon, located on 14th Street between Avenues B and C (cheap haircuts, ladies!) can take some comfort at least in the fact that their gate was tagged with a fun, hungry Shark, which in turn has supplied me with the image for this post. I’m all about finding a silver lining.
Shark Attack on the storefront!
Photos By Gail
In the past few weeks, the city streets have become a canvas for protest art spawned in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by the police. On one of my regular evening walks this week, I spotted this small mural of George’s likeness, bearing the words ‘justice’ and ‘coexist,’ at the corner of First Avenue and East 13th Street. You can see that someone has placed a prayer candle on the sidewalk in front of the mural, but it’s easy to miss if you aren’t paying attention, because the mural sits below eye level.
This mural is entitled Justice, and it was painted by New York-based Japanese artist Dragon 76 (@dragon76art). Update: As of July 25th, 2020, this mural has been painted-over as a black background with the word “CoExist” in white. New photo below!
Everyone should be familiar with the basic facts of how George Floyd died, but it case you aren’t, you can read it in the above photo. This is one of a series of stickers posted along Avenue B with the names and stories of black people who have lost their lives to police brutality and racially motivated violence. It is extremely sobering but also inspiring to join this call for justice.
Photographed Outside Fishs Eddy on Broadway Between 19th and 20th Streets
Say Their Names.
In the windows of closed businesses, merchants and residents stand in solitary with our African American neighbors.
Let us not allow this moment in time to pass without enacting real change, starting within ourselves.
I found this one in Freeman Alley.
George Floyd’s sacrifice will not be in vain.
Rest In Peace.
Savasana Station Yoga Studio Security Gate Mural (All Photos By Gail)
When the only outdoor activity that’s still permitted is taking a walk, it’s important to give your walks a purpose. As the Covid Life hit us back in mid-March, I started collecting what you might call ‘mundane’ pictures on my iPhone camera roll during my afternoon jaunts; documenting things I see in the East Village in order to share the stories these photos tell about the people who live in my awesome neighborhood. For as long as this shit lasts, I’ll be publishing a thematic weekly series of photo-blog posts featuring snapshots from my East Village Life, so that we all might feel more connected. This week’s theme is Storefronts. Enjoy!
Continue reading East Village Life: Photos of Storefronts From My Neighborhood Walks