We have been loosing our city at a rapid speed since the 12 year Bloomberg administration. Our new mayor Bill DeBlasio didn’t make things any better. A shill and phoney sell-out as our city’s history continues to be torn down left and right while being raped by an overbuilding of glass towers where they ought not to be.
As a tour guide I am supposed to tell people how wonderful New York City is...I do. But they don’t see that Harlem is now only 40% black, overrun by self-righteous white yuppies renovating Harlem’s brownstones pushing the original residents out. Greenwich Village once an epicenter of gay culture, dance clubs, cool quirky shops, cutting edge boutiques is now devoid of anything gay, buried in GAP, Polo, Starbucks, Sephora, Michael Kors, more GAP, more Polo, more Michael Kors. (Btw, Michael Kors being a screaming queen doesn’t count.)
The mushroom rate of the ‘space needle’ über high, über rich residential high rises on 57th and 58th Streets will put parts of Central Park’s south end into permanent shadow at certain times of the year. Jackie Onassis is turning in her grave.
Jackie O. would also be horrified to discover that grand Central Terminal is to be encased in super tall, super glassy high rises, therefore dwarfing the spectacular station, reducing it to a needle in a haystack.
Tribeca and Soho once filled with artists and art spaces are now filled with tourists artfully shopping. Times Square has become a 2nd rate shopping mall filled with Elmos badgering your for $5 photos. The lower east side aka ‘the Bowery’ is rapidly loosing any trace of our large immigrant history. It IS filled with our ‘new immigrants’ the young rich, spacey Millennials, trust fund babies and tech company millionaires. Apartments costing $1 million in the Bowery are cheap.
Little Italy is nothing but 6 or so blocks of Italian restaurants trying to hang on while the Chinese and the stores of Soho eat up their once large thriving Italian neighborhood. Fuggedaboudit.
New York’s harbor was once the busiest harbor in the world. Today, with a combination of damage from hurricane Sandy and the sheer greed of the Bloomberg/DeBlasio real estate ‘developers’, in South Street Seaport nothing will be left but a few gratuitous red brick buildings and only one old sailing ship to be now surrounded by a mirror glass ersatz ‘Pier 17’ and two gigantically tall mirror glass ‘luxury towers’ encroaching on America’s historical land mark the Brooklyn Bridge.
Go to Brooklyn then you say? Oh no, that is being gentrified at a hyper speed such has been never witnessed before in America. The foot of the Brooklyn Bridge is now being encased in a towering glass apartment building in DUMBO and the once spectacular view of the bridge from the Brooklyn Heights promenade is now obliterated by a gigantic apartment complex. If anyone would have told me that one day the views of the Brooklyn Bridge will be gone, I’da said you’re nuts.
Further in Brooklyn, whites buying $1+ million town homes in Bedford–Stuyvesant is now the norm. What was once our largest African American neighborhood, now has it’s residents being forced to go back to their Southern roots where they might be able to afford the rent. Meanwhile ultra hipster Williamsburg battles it out with ultra orthodox Satmar Jewish Williamsburg for real estate, who will win is anybody’s guess.
Hey, but Hans you’re safe in Queens. Not so, as my neighborhood fights off the flood of ‘poor upper middle class’ who can’t quite afford the $500,000 to $1 million dollar glass towers of the East River’s Long Island City. One by one we are seeing the affordable shops disappear, street vendors forbidden and a slimey corrupt councilman like Jimmy Van Bramer sign off on real estate deals wiping places like the spectacular 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum and the immigrant’s car-repair shops of Willet’s Point off the map while he brown noses his way up in the mayor’s administration.
If anyone has noticed, I haven’t posted daily “Photos of the Day” since mid June, I needed time to reflect. I will continue to tell people how ‘wonderful’ New York is, but I will also tell them that the city is an illusion, a big grand, sparkling, smoke & mirrors illusion. With my camera I will try to find something worth capturing that someone’s cell phone camera has not. My main concentration will be on researching and writing a book about my Von Rittern land baron roots in Bremen, Germany, and a second book on my Broadway stage door memories.
In the meanwhile, my German guests, while taking my tours say to me, “Sadly, it’s happening in Germany too, capture it while you can.”
I’ll try.
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October 31, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz destroyed, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 5 Pointz white washed, 7 train, architecture, arts, Bedford-Stuyvestant, Bill DeBlasio, Broadway, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights promenade, Chinatown, destruction of South Street Seaport, DUMBO, Experiencing the destruction of 5 Pointz, gentrification, German tourists, Germany, Grand Central Terminal, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, Harlem, Hypergentrification, Jackie O., Jimmy Van Bramer, Little Italy, loosing New York's history, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Michael Kors, SoHo, Times Square, TRIBECA, Willets Point, Williamsburg Brooklyn | Leave a comment
Postcard story from New York – “A GRANDE DINNER FOR TWO in 1914- 100 YEARS AGO TODAY”
New York, July 30, 1914
“Churchill‘s,” Broadway and Forty-ninth Street, New York.
To: Mrs. Wm. A. Johnson
250 N. Water
Franklin, Ind.
“Wed. evening,
Dearest Momma,
Have just gotten back from having dinner here. A Mr. Barkus from South Carolina to me and little Miss Blair to dinner. He sent us both roses – mine were two dozen cream tea roses. He left on the train for S.C. and sent us home in a taxi,
With lots of love,
Maude
A grande evening was had by all 100 years ago to the day. It seems Mr. Barkus from South Carolina was quite a gentlemen sending the two ladies home in taxis and roses the next day!
In Times Square things were still ’rosey’, but World War I had just been declared and two days later Germany had declared war on Russia.
Churchill’s was ’the’ place to be at the time. Lobsters! Champagne! Showgirls!
For the decade before Prohibition, Churchill’s Restaurant and Cabaret was one of the largest and swankiest of the “lobster palaces” along the Great White Way.
The eponymous establishment was the creation of ex-NYPD Captain Jim Churchill. Located on Broadway at 49th Street, the eatery could accommodate 1,200 patrons and employed a staff of 300. Guests could dine on the special for a mere buck-twenty five, listen to live music, dance and rub shoulders with denizens of the theater district like actress Anna Held and philanthropist and nightlife fixture Diamond Jim Brady.
Attempting to refute the notion of the scandalous, sinful “Broadway Life” popular in the fictions of the day, Churchill said “Broadway is simply the Coney Island of night-time New York, where some of the people play a bit, eat a bit, drink a bit, talk, sing and laugh a bit—and get a bit dizzy. But the dizziness imparted by Broadway is no more fatal than the dizziness that comes from riding on a gaudily-painted merry-go-round…”
Shortly after the passage of the Volstead Act in 1921, which established prohibition, Churchill shuttered his business, leasing the ground floor to the Toy Yoeng Syndicate of America, which converted it into a Chinese restaurant – today known as the popular Ruby Foos.
(Note the bandshell in the way back above the crowd, that’s Maurice Levi and his orchestra. Kinda like the Harmonia Gardens in Hello Dolly, 2 girls out for dinner on the town.)
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July 29, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1914 postcard, architecture, Churchill's restaurant New York, dinner for one $1.25 in 1914!, Franklin Indiana, Great White Way, Hans Von Rittern, ladies with big hats, lobster palace, Manhattan, Maude and William Johnson, Maurice Levi and his orchestra., Mr. Barkus, New York City, New York photo, NYPD Captain Jim Churchill, Photo of the day, Postcard Stories from New York, Ruby Foos restaurant, The Harmonia Gardens - Hello Dolly, Times Square, Toy Yoeng Syndicate of America, turn of the century dinning, vintage postcards, Volstead Act in 1921, World War I | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: Gone far away . . .
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July 8, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: architecture, Brooklyn, Brooklyn view of Manhattan, East River beach front view of Brooklyn Bridge, East river New York, girl on a rock, Hans Von Rittern, low tide east river, Manhattan, New York City, New York is dead, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography | Leave a comment
FLORAL MEMORIAL TO A LOST TUNE – Sadly one of New York’s most beloved recent attractions has been destroyed. First by taggers, then (supposedly) by the sea itself. See my post of June 2nd when I discovered the Mason and Hamlin piano there on the shores of our East River/Atlantic Ocean right under the Brooklyn Bridge. It became fodder for every news reporter, tourists loved it and New Yorkers adopted it. The police and harbor patrol looked the other way as people hopped over the gate to be photographed with the piano, the ‘beach’ there is not for public access especially since at high tide the water reaches the West Side Highway. But flock they did, as did I several times. Check out the Internet and you will find some of the most creative and joyful photos taken with it.
I did some research myself. The serial number under the key board, 335 26661, according to Mason & Hamlin’s web site, places it around the year 1915. Mason & Hamlin was founded by Henry Mason who was actually a direct descendent of the pilgrims of the Mayflower!
As to it’s mysterious origins, a so-called ‘street artist’ named HEK TAD took credit for it. Not until 2 weeks later when he tagged it with his spray painted logo all over it, did he lay claim. If you try to find photos of him, he is this skinny little kid, I sure hope he had plenty-a-help lifting that heavy baby grand over the 30″ gate and onto the beach and that tow truck musta been expen$ive. IF, if he indeed is responsible – he should have just left a sign taking credit, not destroying it’s melancholy beauty with his garish white spray paint markings. Many, including me, sought to paint over the markings and gladly finally someone did with what seemed to be some “oops paint” bought cheaply at hardware stores.
One of the last people to be photographed with the piano, is my friend and model Diana Amirova in an early morning photo shoot. I am so glad her beauty did it justice.
Diana Amirova
So finally now this proud 99 year old piano is giving up it’s ghost and surrendering to the mighty sea.
When I arrived this past Thursday to check on the piano, someone had left a floral memorial tribute to the beautiful graceful grande treasure from the past. Adieu, farewell, your songs played stay in our hearts.
The sea, the sea, calling out to you and me
Waves rush in to caress the sand
Only to roll out again
The sea, the sea, calmness in its water
But in one fowl swoop
The clam has tourned sour…
by Lillian B. Rose
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June 14, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: architecture, arts, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, destruction of piano in East River, Diana Amirova, driftwood, East River, floral tribute to piano, graffiti and piano, Hans Von Rittern, HEK TAD, Henry Mason, Lillian B. Rose, Manhattan, Manhattan Bridge, Manhattan tides, Mason & Hamlin, Mason and Hamlin piano, memorial for piano, model with piano, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, piano burried in sand, piano in Atlantic Ocean, piano in East River, piano under Brooklyn Bridge, poet Lillian B. Rose, the Mayflower, West Side Highway | Leave a comment
Mason and Hamlin piano in East River under Brooklyn Bridge
Photo of the day: MUSIC MAKES ME HIGH – ♫♪♪♪♫♫ The ethereal effect of music is to make one feel is if you are floating on air. Listen closely to sounds of the sea or Mozart, are you floating yet?
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June 11, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: architecture, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, dancer and Mason Hamlin piano, dancer leaping on piano, East River, East River beach front view of Brooklyn Bridge, East River view of Brooklyn Bridge, Emmons Hamlin, floating on air, Hans Von Rittern, Henry Mason, low tide east river, Manhattan, Manhattan Bridge, Mason & Hamlin, Mason and Hamlin, Mason and Hamlin piano, Mozart, music makes me high, music makes you float, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, piano at low tide, piano in Atlantic Ocean, piano in East River, piano in water, piano on Manhattan beach, piano under Brooklyn Bridge, pilgrims of Mayflower, Sequoia Restaurant, sounds of the sea, South Street Seaport's Pier 17 | Leave a comment
South Street Seaport’s Pier 17 as you see it has been torn down, one of the 100 year old German ships The Peking will be scapped – along with it…any atmosphere that bespeaks the sea. The old buildings are boarded up and ruined from hurricane Sandy and no one has the money to repair them. What will replace it? A shiney big glass box and super high rise. It is an utter destruction and wipe out of New York City’s grand seafaring history.
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June 10, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: architecture, arts, destruction of New York history, destruction of South Street Seaport, German ship The Peking, Hans Von Rittern, Hurricane Sandy, Manhattan, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Pier 17, South Street Seaport, South Street Seaport's Pier 17 | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: EBB TIDE CONCERTO – The most talked about piano in New York is not Billy Joel’s, Liberace’s or Elton John’s – it’s the old Mason and Hamlin piano that mysteriously appeared on the East River shore of the Brooklyn Bridge sometime last week. At high tide the piano is almost completely submerged, at low tide it has become quite a tourist and photographer’s attraction. Who knew something so simple, old and decrepit could cause so much fun?!
Mason & Hamlin was founded by Henry Mason who was a direct descendent of the pilgrims of the Mayflower – so it is somewhat cyclical that this piano winds up in the Atlantic Ocean. There are three main theories as to how this heavy baby grand piano landed in the river: 1) It was used for a photo shoot and was just too heavy and old to remove afterwards. 2) It was a garbage dump since some locals claim they say it tossed on it’s side just by the river walkway’s gate. 3) My friend Marie Flageul has the best theory as to it’s origin. She is convinced it is the piano from the Sequoia Restaurant that was part of South Street Seaport’s Pier 17 that is now disgracefully and disrespectfully being torn down. It could not have been snatched from the dumpsters since they are all guarded behind closed gates, so . . . was it construction workers in a humorous mood?
We will never know. Both the Sanitation Department, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Parks Department all claim it is not their jurisdiction. The curiosity now remains how long it will take for the Atlantic ocean to claim it’s serenade to sea.
“Ebb Tide”
First the tide rushes in
Plants a kiss on the shore
Then rolls out to sea
And the sea is very still once more
So I rush to your side
Like the oncoming tide
With one burning thought
Will your arms open wide
At last we’re face to face
And as we kiss through an embrace
I can tell, I can feel
You are love, you are real
Really mine
In the rain, in the dark, in the sun
Like the tide at its ebb
I’m at peace in the web
Of your arms
In 1854, two brilliant idealists, Henry Mason and Emmons Hamlin, founded the Mason & Hamlin Company in Boston, Massachusetts, the birthplace of American piano design and manufacturing. Although their backgrounds and interests were very different, the two men shared a common goal: to make the world’s finest musical instruments.
Henry Mason was a member of one of America’s oldest families—they were actually descendents of pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower. The Masons were renowned for their involvement in the arts. Henry Mason was a pianist and his brother, William, was one of America’s foremost classical pianists and composers.
Their father was the famous composer and educator Lowell Mason, a visionary who was the first to bring music into the public schools of America. He was also known throughout the world as a composer and publisher of hymns, and is often called the “father of American church music.” Henry Mason shared his father’s lifelong dedication to music.
Emmons Hamlin was not a musician, but instead a brilliant mechanic and inventor. While working at the melodeon factory of George A. Price and Company of Buffalo, Hamlin invented a way to voice organ reeds, so that they could imitate the sound of a clarinet, violin or other musical instruments.
Hamlin developed his discovery to perfection, and in 1854, he and Henry Mason formed their company for the purpose of manufacturing a new musical instrument that they called the “organ harmonium.”
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June 2, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: architecture, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Coors beer, East River, East River beach front view of Brooklyn Bridge, East River view of Brooklyn Bridge, Ebb Tide lyrics, Emmons Hamlin, Frank Chacksfield "Ebb Tide", Hans Von Rittern, Henry Mason, low tide east river, Manhattan, Manhattan Bridge, Marie Flageul, Mason & Hamlin, Mason and Hamlin, Mason and Hamlin piano, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, piano at low tide, piano in Atlantic Ocean, piano in East River, piano in water, piano on Manhattan beach, piano under Brooklyn Bridge, pilgrims of Mayflower, Sequoia Restaurant, South Street Seaport's Pier 17 | 3 Comments
Postcard story from New York – “MEMORIAL DAY 1931 ~ THIS IN MEMORY OF OUR FOLKS WHO HAVE GONE AHEAD”
Endwell, New York, June 1, 1:00pm, 1931
Woolworth and Municipal Bldgs. from Brooklyn Bridge, New York.
To: Mrs. H. A. Knapp
Waverly
Pa.
“Memorial Day 1931 This in Memory of our Folks who have gone ahead. How sweet to think of them! The day’s Celebration here has been a trail of planes from the Endicott landing place. Sure “Love can never lose it’s own.” H.K.__”
The card is addressed to Mrs. Henry Alonzo Knapp, actual name Anna Dutilleul (b.1870, d.1954.)
Her husband Henry A. Knapp (b.1851, d. 1931 the year this card was written) started as a filing clerk in Pennsylvania and rose to become a prominent lawyer who, in 1899, established the borough of Vandling in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, Vandling has a population of 751.
The ‘Endicott landing-place’ refers to a landing strip that was to become the Tri-Cities Endicott Airport, established in 1936.
The poetic quote: “Love can never lose it’s own” is from a poem entitled “Snowbound/Firelight” by influential American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier.
“…Yet Love will dream, and Faith will trust,
(Since He who knows our need is just,)
That somehow, somewhere, meet we must.
Alas for him who never sees
The stars shine through his cypress-trees!
Who, hopeless, lays his dead away,
Nor looks to see the breaking day
Across the mournful marbles play!
Who hath not learned, in hours of faith,
The truth to flesh and sense unknown,
That Life is ever lord of Death,
And Love can never lose its own!”
To read the full fitting Memorial day poem “Snowbound” click: http://www.bartleby.com/248/222.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow-Bound
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May 23, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "And Love can never lose its own!”, 1931, 1931 postcard, 1936, American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier, Anna Dutilleul, antique Manhattan postcard, architecture, “Snowbound/Firelight”, Brooklyn Bridge, collecting postcards, Endicott landing-place, Endwell, Hans Von Rittern, Henry A. Knapp, Henry Alonzo Knapp, Manhattan, Memorial Day, Memorial Day 1931, Memorial day memories, Memorial day remembered, Mrs. H. A. Knapp, Mrs. Henry Alonzo Knapp, New York, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, poetry, Postcard Stories from New York, Tri-Cities Endicott Airport, Vandling in Lackawanna County Pennsylvania, Vandling Pennsylvania, vintage Brooklyn Bridge postcard, vintage New York postcard, vintage NYC postcard, vintage postcard, Waverly PA, Woolworth Building, Woolworth postcard, Woolworth tower | Leave a comment
First look
Photo of the day: MAY 14, 2014 THE WORLD TRADE CENTER MUSEUM FINALLY OPENS
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May 16, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: architecture, Hans Von Rittern, Hurricane Sandy, little girl gets her first look at World Trade memorial, Manhattan, May 14 2014 Trade Center museum opens, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, World Trade Center | Leave a comment
My personalized advertising on the Barclays Oculus
Photo of the day: CHER COMES TO BROOKLYN’S BARCLAYS CENTER TONIGHT! – Six decades of hits, six decades of fashion, six decades of fantastic shows all culminate tonight in Cher’s “Dressed To Kill” tour here in New York. Cher the eighth wonder of the world, will perform with loveable ‘fun girl’ Cyndi Lauper at Brooklyn’s new modern wonder the Oculus, at the Barclays Center. I’ll be there with Janet Novick and my international Cher fan friends and we’ll be ‘dressed to kill’!
(I’ve done my own advertising on the Barclays oculus here with my photos personally taken of Cher and Cyndi.)
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May 9, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "Dressed to Kill" tour, architecture, Barclays oculus, Brooklyn, celebrities, Cher, Cher Barclays Center 5-9-14, Cher comeback tour, Cher concert photos, Cyndi Lauper, entertainment, Hans Von Rittern, Janet Novick, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Oculus hommage to Cher, personalized Barclays oculus, Photo of the day, photography, six decades of Cher | Leave a comment
Postcard story from New York – “THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE – ‘THE JUMPING OFF PLACE‘ ” post card sent with a George Washington connection!
New York, June 02, 12:30pm, 1906
To: Miss May McCorkle
Davis & Wiley Bank.
Salisbury, North Carolina
“The jumping off place”
A macabre sense of humor or did the sender really jump? No records have been kept of early day suicide jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge, so we will have to guess: joke or jump?
The addressee is rather an astonishing distinguished surprise! Miss Elizabeth May McCorkle of North Carolina, was wife to ruling church elder Mr. Orin Datus Davis.
Mr. Davis has served the church in various ways, including the guardianship of its invested funds. He has been its representative many times in Presbyteries and Synods, and was a Commissioner to meetings of the General Assembly in Lexington, Virginia, and Bristol, Tennessee. He also was founder of the Davis and Wiley Bank of North Carolina which dates back to the mid 1800’s.
In his married life Mr. Davis was fortunate as in other matters. Seeking guidance from the “Giver of all Good“, he selected Miss Elizabeth May McCorkle as his helpmate and companion in life aka wife. She is the eldest daughter of the late James M. McCorkle, Esq., a leading lawyer of the Salisbury Bar, and a lineal descendant of Colonel Richard Brandon of Revolutionary fame. Colonel Brandon’s daughter, Elizabeth, it will be remembered, was the “little woman” who provided a hasty breakfast for General George Washington on the occasion of his visit to Salisbury in 1781 ! So Elizabeth May McCorkle is the daughter of the “little woman” who served George Washington breakfast. Amazing the things you discover when researching old postcards!!
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May 1, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1906 postcard, antique Manhattan postcard, architecture, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge suicides, Colonel Richard Brandon of Revolutionary war, Davis and Wiley Bank, East river New York, Elizabeth May McCorkle, Esq., General George Washington 1781, George WaSHINGTON, George Washington’s breakfast, George Washington’s visit to Salisbury, Hans Von Rittern, James M. McCorkle, Miss Elizabeth May McCorkle of North Carolina, Mr. Orin Datus Davis, New York City, North Carolina, North Carolina geneology, North Carolina history, North Carolina lineage, Orin Datus Davis, Photo of the day, photography, postcard collecting, Postcard Stories from New York, Salisbury, Salisbury North Carolina, vintage Brooklyn Bridge postcard, vintage New York postcard, vintage postcards | Leave a comment
South Street Seaport, NYC 2014
Photo of the day: RUST NEVER SLEEPS – As time marches on, there is one thing that is consistent and that is that rust never sleeps. It marches on and slowly eats away at decades worth of our history. It also happens to be the title of a live record album by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young and American band Crazy Horse. It was released on July 2, 1979, by Reprise Records. The title is borrowed from the slogan for Rust-Oleum paint, and was suggested by Mark Mothersbaugh of the new wave band Devo.
Here we see rust hard at work at South Street Seaport, New York City.
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April 30, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: architecture, Crazy Horse band, DEVO, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, Mark Mothersbaugh, Neil Young, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Reprise Records, RUST NEVER SLEEPS, Rust Never Sleeps lp 1979, Rust-Oleum paint, rusting pipes, rusty pipes, South Street Seaport | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: BY THE SHORES OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE
By the shores of the Brooklyn Bridge,
By the shining big East River,
Stand the Roebling towers,
Daughters and sons of Germany.
Dark behind it rose the city,
Rose the dark and gloomy high rises,
Rose the condos with penthouses upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining East River water.
(with apologies to Hiawatha.)
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April 29, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: architecture, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn piers, Brooklyn waterfront, DUMBO, East River beach front view of Brooklyn Bridge, East River view of Brooklyn Bridge, Hans Von Rittern, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1855, Hiawatha, Hiawatha 2014 version poem, John Washington Emily Roebling, low tide east river, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, revised Hiawatha poem, the Roebling family, The song of Hiawatha, view of DUMBO, walking the Brooklyn Bridge | 2 Comments
Photo of the day: COVERING BROOKLYN BRIDGE – Strolling the Brooklyn Bridge is always a breathtaking experience. The trick is to start in Brooklyn Heights and first take in the view from DUMBO and the Heights then cross the bridge as Manhattan looms larger and large in front of you. On a crisp blue spring day it is always thrilling to me. Don’t forget to look down so you can see the cars below and the barges passing in the river. Don’t forget to look straight ahead so you see the spider web design of the cables. Don’t forget to look up so you can take in the majestic gothic arches of each tower. Currently the bridge is going through it’s final stage of renovations following the total overhaul of 1983 for it’s 100 year anniversary. Heralded as the first large suspension bridge ever built by my people, the German Roebling family, at a little over a mile long it stands as one of New York’s and America’s true treasures. Come cross it with me sometime!
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April 28, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 2013 2014 renovation of Brooklyn Bridge, architecture, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn waterfront, DUMBO, East river New York, first suspension bridge, German Roebling family buiilds Brooklyn Bridge, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, views from Brooklyn Bridge, walking the Brooklyn Bridge | Leave a comment
Tom Orzo, Mindy Cassle-Rosato, Hans, Ursula Von Rittern, Deborah Blau, Frederica Meister
Photo of the day: “COME TO THE JEFFREY LEDER GALLERY MY FRIEND!” – So, life is disappointing? Forget it! We have no troubles here at the Jeffrey Leder Gallery! Here life is beautiful…
The paintings are beautiful…even the photographs are beautiful (and selling) !
My dear friends Tom Orzo, Mindy Cassle-Rosato, of course Mom, Deborah Blau and Frederica Meister all came for the grand opening party of the 5 Pointz “Whitewash” exhibit that I am a part of! Why don’t you join the ranks of graffiti lovers, street art lovers, preservationists and the passionate and check out my 16 photos along with the
fantastic works of artists Auks, Cortes, Jerms, Just One, Meres, Orestes, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad, Hunt Rodriguez proving art is forever! A mourning and celebration of the destruction of the world’s most spectacular street art museum. $20 catalog available for sale in the gift shop.
Come see the exhibit till June 8 at the Jeffrey Leder Gallery: 2137 45th Road, 1/2 block away from the #7 & G Court Street subway station. Two blocks away from 5 Pointz and MOMA’s PS1. Open 12 noon – 6pm.
Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!
Fremde, etranger, stranger.
Gluklich zu sehen, je suis enchante,
Happy to see you, bleibe, reste, spray paint!
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April 11, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 5 Pointz white washed, 7 train, architecture, arts, Auks, Cortes, Deborah Blau, entertainment, Frederica Meister, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Hunt Rodriguez, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jerry Wolkoff, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Just One, Long Island City, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres, Mindy Cassle-Rosato, Mindy Csssle, New York City, New York photo, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Ray Rosato, See TF, SHIRO, Tom Orzo, Topaz, Ursula Von Rittern, whitewash of 5 Pointz, whitewashing of 5 Pointz, Zimad | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: THE LAST PICTURE SHOW – Sunday November 17, 2013, 8:24pm is the last time I saw 5 Pointz as it was in it’s glory. In the night of November 18th, owner Jerry “I love graffiti” Wolkoff whitewashed the building to the horror of the art world. Well – we’re BACK with a vengeance! Come to the “Whitewash” art exhibit at the Jeffrey Leder Gallery to mourn the loss and celebrating the perseverance of art.
Curated by Marie Cecile-Flageul. April 5 – June 8, 2014
Opening reception April 5, 6-9pm! Come join me – you’re invited!!
Contributing Artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Meres One, Orestes Gonzalez, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad.
FIVE DAYS TO GO TILL 5 POINTZ EXHIBIT OPENING !
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
You can currently catch my photos on exhibit at The Gold Coast Arts Center “PHO-TO-GRAFFS exhibit
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March 31, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, arts, Auks, Brooklyn, Cortes, entertainment, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, inside 5 Pointz, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jerry Wolkoff, Jonathan Meres Cohen, last photo of 5 Pointz 11-17-13, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, Queens, See TF, SHIRO, street art, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, Topaz, whitewashing of 5 Pointz, Zimad | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: LAZY SUNDAY AFTERNOON 2011 AT 5 POINTZ – 6 DAYS STILL “WHITEWASH” EXHIBIT – Sundays was a day where people from all walks of life would meet a 5 Pointz and stroll around and marvel at phantasmagorical artwork, then go to the art deco dinner across the street enjoy brunch and then perhaps stroll to the waters edge. The waters edge is now built up with glass high rises and 5 Pointz is no more.
5 Pointz will be mourned and celebrated at the ‘Whitewash” exhibit at the Jeffrey Leder Gallery April 5, 2014. Contributing Artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Meres One, Orestes Gonzalez, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad.SIX DAYS TO GO TILL OPENING !
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
You can currently catch my photos on exhibit at The Gold Coast Arts Center “PHO-TO-GRAFFS exhibit
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March 30, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, arts, Auks, Brooklyn, Cortes, entertainment, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, inside 5 Pointz, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, Queens, See TF, SHIRO, street art, That's Dready, Topaz, toxic Queens, toxic view of Citibank building Queens, view from 5 Pointz, whitewashing of 5 Pointz, Zimad | Leave a comment
Photo of the day:TOXIC – From an oasis of creativity to one of the most (literally) toxic places in New York City, 5 Pointz will be mourned and celebrated at the ‘Whitewash” exhibit at the Jeffrey Leder Gallery April 5, 2014. Contributing Artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Meres One, Orestes Gonzalez, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad.
7 days to go!
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
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March 29, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, arts, Auks, Brooklyn, Cortes, entertainment, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, inside 5 Pointz, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, Queens, See TF, SHIRO, street art, That's Dready, Topaz, toxic Queens, toxic view of Citibank building Queens, view from 5 Pointz, whitewashing of 5 Pointz, Zimad | Leave a comment
Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, NY 11101 jeffrey@jeffreyledergallery.com
Photo of the day: MERELY THE BEGINNING! APRIL 5, 2014 – I am
incredibly proud and joyful to announce I am one of 11 artists asked to be a part of this important exhibit here in Long Island City, New York!! The Jeffrey Leder Gallery (2 blocks from PS1 MOMA) will open with a unique exhibition featuring 9 Graffiti Artists and 2 photographers. These artists have created art that explores their strong reactions to 5 Pointz being whitewashed overnight.
Contributing Artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Meres One, Orestes Gonzalez, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad
Curated by Marie Cecile-Flageul
April 5 – June 8, 2014
Opening reception April 5, 6-9pm! Come join me – you’re invited!!
“Whitewash, is an answer to the violent act of G&M realty on November 19th, 2013 in Long Island City Queens. Overnight thousands of murals adorning the building known as 5 Pointz were destroyed. It‘s a story of pain, sadness, and anger at times and reflection – An epic of an art community and its home coming apart under the pressure of economical trends and waves of gentrification.
Bringing together a cluster of resident graffiti artists and two Queens photographers, the exhibition enables the artists to express their true feelings and thought process since loosing their work to a white layer of paint, and their home to the pressing demands of real estate development. For the first time since the whitewash we will witness how affected this collective is by being eclipsed from their 11 years home.
The works in Whitewash aspire to such: Laying feelings on canvas, and letting go of the pain, the show brings together artworks that can be interpreted as confession, lessons, or reflection but also aspirations and hopes.
Whitewash is an obvious requiem for 5 Pointz the building but also maybe the beginning of a rebirth of 5 Pointz the community and its true core: the people.“
Marie-Cecile Flageul
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
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March 26, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz destroyed, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, art destroyed 5 Pointz, Art exhibit, arts, Auks, Cortes, David Wolkoff, entertainment, G&M realty, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jerry Wolkoff, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, November 19th 2013, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, politics, PS1 MOMA, See TF, SHIRO, street art, Sunnyside, Topaz, Ursula Von Rittern, Zimad | Leave a comment
EXciting details to come tomorrow ! STAY TUNED . . .
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March 25, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, arts, entertainment, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography | Leave a comment
#7 train, Court Street Station, before the station’s renovation.
Photo of the day: VANISHING VIEW – As the over zealous, over greedy and over crammed building continues in the neighborhood of Long Island City in Queens, joyful surprise views like this one of the treasured Chrysler building, are rapidly vanishing as the new glass wall of condo towers obliterate the century old Queens view of Manhattan. Next stop, Blandville.
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March 19, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 7 train, architecture, Chrysler building, Court Street Station, disappearing skyline, gentrification, Hans Von Rittern, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan skyline, MTA, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, subway, Sunnyside | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: “IT’S A VON RITTERN!” – A very proud Ursula Von Rittern, aka “mom” points to the six photos exhibited in the “PHO-TO-GRAFFS” exhibit that opened this weekend at the Gold Coast Gallery! Great news: I sold some pieces and I am featured in the gallery’s store too!!
Mom checks out ‘the Von Ritterns’ for sale
I’d like to extend my deepest thanks to Marie Flageul and Meres One without whom 5 Pointz would not have been what it is and to their treasured friendship. To Jude Amsel, gallery director of the Gold Coast Arts Center for her kind guidance. To two of my dearest friends who came out to support me, tour guide alums Deborah Blau and especially to Tom Orzo who took the time to drive a very proud and delighted Ursula Von Rittern (not bad for 88 years old, huh?) to her son’s gallery premier. I am a very lucky man.
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March 18, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, architecture, Deborah Blau, Gold Coast Arts Center, Gold Coast Gallery, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, hip-hop culture, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Jude Amsel, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Marie Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, street art, street art museum, Tom Orzo, Ursula Von Rittern | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: TODAY IS THE DAY! – Opening reception of the PHO-TO-GRAFFS exhibit featuring 9 great photographers documenting the ethereal nature of street art. I am thrilled ot be a part of this exhibit amongst freinds. Come join in the celebration for the opening reception at 3pm today.Now most people think if you leave the 5 boroughs you need a passport – no you don’t. Just 20 minutes by LIRR to Great Neck, Long Island. Hey, it takes longer to get to Brooklyn!
113 Great Neck Road. Telephone: 516-829-2570. Here are step by step instructions:
When you get off the train station walk approx. 5 blocks straight down the charming old Americana street of Middle Neck Road, till you get to Maple Drive.
Middle Neck Road, main street USA
At Maple Drive turn right
At Maple Drive you make a right and you’ll see the parking lot of the Great Neck Arts Center.
And viola – there it is!
The Gold Coast Arts Center
SEE YOU THERE!
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March 16, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, architecture, Barry Stern, Farbeon, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, hip-hop culture, Jude Amsel, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Norma Hill, Orestes Gonzalez, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Raymond Hamlin, street art, street art museum, travel instructions to Gold Coast Arts | Leave a comment
A word from the Gold Coast gallery director Jude Amsel:
Today, the distinctly urban popular culture of graffiti has
been supplanted by the likes of hip-hop, rap concerts, slam poetry performances
and the sub-culture of skateboarding. Due to the impermanent nature of much of
this art, photography has become the primary means of documenting its evolution.
It is the photographer’s goal to record the diversity of the city as a canvas,
the people who create art and the art itself.
These photographers keep urban
culture alive by providing historical documentation for future generations.
A handful of artists/photographers recognized the artistic and social significance
of the hip hop movement. Each of these individuals approached documentation in a
unique way. Through collective efforts, these photographers preserve an
important part of this distinct urban art form. Their photographic record of the
art has not only assisted in the preservation of the culture; it has also aided
in its growth. These photographers go out into the streets and find incredible,
even unlikely places and subjects that have inspired them. We can’t fail to be
inspired as well.
Artists on display: Raymond Hamlin, Orestes Gonzalez ,Norma Hill, Hans Von Rittern, Barry Stern, Farbeon,
Liu Bolin, Rachel Alban, Jay Hirschfeld.
The
PHO-TO-GRAFFS exhibit at the Gold Coast Arts Center, this Sunday March 16 opening reception at 3pm! Just 20 minutes from Manhattan by LIRR. 5 blocks from train station, no car necessary
113 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, Long Island. 516-829-2570, see you there !
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March 15, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, Barry Stern, Farbeon, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Jude Amsel, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Norma Hill, Orestes Gonzalez, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Raymond Hamlin, street art, street art museum | Leave a comment
NEW YORK CITY - IN THE WIT OF AN EYE 