People discard the most amazing stuff that, in any other lifetime, I might seriously consider picking up and taking home with me, if it weren’t for the Covid. I’m not sure if the Covid could live on a pair of Fancy Hot Pink Satin Pumps (with a rhinestone embellishment, no less) but I am not taking any chances.
I spotted the shoe on Avenue B when I was in the home stretch of daily walk. With a bit more sleuthing, I found its mate close by.
You can clearly see by the pristine, black heel-guard that these shoes have never walked even one step on a NYC sidewalk. Adding to the temptation to snatch them: the box was also found to be close by. Sadly I had to leave them be; because, Covid.
These stunning pumps are made by Nina Shoes and appear to sell for about $79 — pretty reasonable, really. Sadly, the reason why they were just abandoned on the streets of the East Village will remain a mystery.
Zuccotti Park in the Financial District is perhaps most famous for being ground zero for the Occupy Wall Street movement, but it’s also home to several pieces of monumental public art. For example, behold this bright red, 70-foot-high painted steel installation by sculptor Mark di Suvero, entitled Joie de Vivre (Joy of Life), which went up at the corner of Broadway and Cedar Street in June 2006. The sculpture is comprised of “open-ended tetrahedrons” as described by di Suvero, and was formerly located at the Holland Tunnel rotary.
Update: I was in the area on July 25th and took a couple of new shots (above and below). You can see the city has put barriers around the sculpture to keep people from congregating in the park.
Living the Covid Life in its Manhattan epicenter is hardcore. New Yorkers are survivors though, and we still love our city. Queen Andrea wants to make sure we don’t forget how hard NYC rocks. She completed this beautiful mural on Avenue A between 3rd and 4th Streets on May 14th, 2020, which is why it still looks fresh!
Brilliant Cure Covid Meme: Origin Unknown. All Other Non-Meme Images By Gail
Hello and welcome to week four of My CovidEast Village Life! This week we are checking in with the act of Social Distancing, Masking-up, and related Covid Memes! Fun! Let’s get to isolating!
First off, if you’re not wearing a fucking mask every time you leave your house, I have ZERO sympathy for you if you get the virus.
A Trader Joe’s market opened in my immediate neighborhood earlier this year and shopping there for delicious food has allowed me to keep my shit together. Like most stores, TJ‘s began requiring customers to wear face masks a week or so into lockdown; which I have no problem complying with, because I am not a selfish cunt. Even Beary, the store’s mascot, is masked-up, as we all should be.
This mask with Red Rringe — worn by my very fashionable neighbor, Delphine — is definitely the fanciest face-covering I’ve seen.
Tiny dog, which I was told is a Miniature Pinscher, in a mask, spotted in the East River Park. He is saying: “Mask-up, Bitches!”
Mask graffiti on the LES.
Flyer seen in my neighborhood. Zero sympathy for the Chads and Karens as well.
Rules like this make me feel safer. Thank you, NYC, for giving a shit!
There is literally no excuse for not knowing the rules.
This Post Is Observing Social Distancing! More Photos After the Jump!
Purple Crocus’ on the High Line (All Photos By Gail)
In the Covid Life, I’m fortunate to be able to work from home, be in good health, have enough food, cable TV, and everything needed to make the lock-down more comfortable. I really can’t complain. I can get by for a few months without going shopping, eating in my favorite restaurant, or seeing a movie in the theater. The one thing I do get a bit wistful about is not being able to fully enjoy the beauty of Spring.
In an email I received from them this morning, the Museum of Modern Art was quick to remind me that, “Five hundred tulips are blooming in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden right now, and no one is there to enjoy them.” Thanks for the reminder! Spring, the season of renewal, is happening all around us while we are being advised to stay inside. It kills me. In a normal year, I would have at the very least attended Sakura Matsuri, the Cherry Blossom Festival hosted by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden — which is such a terrific way to usher in the season. Even the NYBG’s Orchid Show closed prematurely. Beauty is still out there, so I preserve it on my walks. If you’re struggling with Cabin Fever, please enjoy a little bit of spring in this week’s edition of my East Village Life.
Tompkins Square Park is the closest park to my home; being located between Avenues A and B, and between East 7th and East 9th Streets. There have been a few outstanding flowering cherry trees there this spring. Check them out!
As much as I wish we could have trees that look like this year-round, they surely would not be appreciated if their beauty was not so ephemeral.
Here’s a closer look at that same tree. When I checked the Instagram accounts of my neighbors on this particular afternoon, everyone was posting their own photos of . . . that same tree. It was just too perfect.
Different tree, same park.
These were across the street from my apartment, on 14th Street outside Stuyvesant Town. I love the side-by-side contrast of the trees against the blue sky, and then the red brick building.
I took this photo very late in the afternoon, which is apparent by the light, or lack thereof. This tree enjoys its life inside one of the East Village’s community gardens that add so much value to this neighborhood.
When I posted this photo on Instagram it got twice the usual number of likes. I think that has something to do with the visual appeal of the white flowering tree next to the white building. This is First Avenue just south of 14th Street.
A cool thing about Cherry Blossoms is that you don’t have to get the entire tree to capture a great photo; in fact, a small cluster of flowers, or even a single bloom, can convey so much more about the beauty of spring. This photo was taken on the High Line in early March, one week before lock-down.
Also, the pink color is like a magnet, attracting me to the tree.
Post Continues, With More Photos and Stories, After The Jump!Continue reading →
Madonna and Child Neon-Look Mural by Straker on East 3nd Street at 1st Avenue (All Photos By Gail)
Hello and welcome to week two of my ass-kicking East Village Life. In this week’s edition, we will walk through a virtual gallery of assorted street art and public art pieces that I’ve passed by on my weather-permitting daily walks in and around my neighborhood. Enjoy!
Hektad is a name that you’re going see a few times in this post, as his optimism-infused artworks are all over the East Village, especially in the First Street Green Art Park, located on First Street at First Avenue. Since this photo was taken, I believe the park has temporarily closed due to the Covid as it was attracting crowds. And we can’t have that.
Here are a couple of additional Hektad pieces on 11th Street just East of First Avenue. These are side by side, adjacent to this monumental piece by Kobra.
It does not get much more NYC than this mural of King Kong by French graffiti artist Moi One (@moi.one). Find it next to David’s Cafe on St. Mark’s Place near Tompkin’s Square Park.
This colorful tile mosaic by Jim Power, known locally as the Mosaic Man, marks the intersection of Avenue A and St Mark’s Place. Jim composes all of his intricate pieces from up-cycled china, glass, pottery and found objects to create unique, site specific works of art. His mosaics are all over the neighborhood.
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!
Clash City Tattoo located at 273 E 10th Street, takes its name from the song “Clash City Rocker” which you can find on the 1977 debut album by, you guessed it, The Clash.
This is the Pyramid Club, a nightclub on Avenue A that’s been open since 1979 — wow! Nirvana once played there before they got to be a big deal, and I interviewed a few rockers inside its walls back in my rock critic days. They still host weekly ’80s New Wave dance parties and shit like that. I believe Pyramid Club will survive the Covid crisis.
The handwritten sign posted out front of Psychic Readings By Honeybee, which is also on Avenue A near 14th Street, indicates that, despite their storefront being closed for business, they are still conducting “Readings Over The Phone.” One wonders why their advance psychic knowledge of the upcoming shutdown did not provided ample time to have a more professional sign prepared.
Standing on Avenue B and looking east down 8th Street, I saw an unidentifiable Pink Thing that caught my eye, and I went to investigate. Because: Pink Thing.
It was a bright Pink Mylar Balloon in the shape of a Number 1! Someone had tethered it to the railing running around the side of the Church of St. Brigid, which is situated at that corner. The balloon’s origin remains a mystery.
