Photo of the day: WALKING THE WILD UNTAMED HIGH LINE – One of the most sold out tickets in New York City are the limited “art walks” offered by The High Line on the undeveloped portion. The landscaped and preserved portion of The High Line is the worlds only elevated park situated on an old rail line built in 1934, the developed portion many of my guests have walked with me from Gansevoort Street to West 28th Street. The undeveloped portion stretching to 34th Street’s Hudson rail yards has an art installation on it by sculptor Carol Bove. Frankly most of the ‘art’ is utter nonsense on the level of ‘the emperor is wearing no clothes’, but – – you get to walk on the untouched rusty overgrown part of the rail line and see a view that will not last. Unfortunately is was very overcast and threatening to rain but the experience was absolutely breathtaking! Here is a sneak peek. More to follow!
July 26, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: architecture, art walks, arts, Carol Bove, Friends of the High Line, Gansevoort Street, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, High Line views, Hudson rail yards, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, The High Line, undeveloped high line, unfinished high line, wiild overgrown high line | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: TRASH AND VAUDEVILLE STILL HAVEN’T GONE OUT OF STYLE ! – I have been going to Greenwich Village since the early 1960’s. I remember the evolution from beatniks, to modsters, to hippies, to gay culture invasion, to 70’s disco babes, to the Rocky Horror scene, to punk rockers – pins and needles everywhere and then….it all died off with the gentrification of the area after the AIDS crisis. The east and west village have become, for the most part soul-less. The funky shops, store fronts, building, and people are mostly gone. The west village centered around Christopher Street has lost it’s soul long ago, it’s just a tourist curiosity abounding with Polo, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and damned GAP stores every few blocks. The east village was home to the thriving punk rock scene has become a sterile college campus for the universities. CBGB’s punk rock club’s closing in 2005 was one of the major nails in the coffin. Since Mayor Bloomberg’s greedy empire has taken over with the zealous assistance of council’woman’ Christine Quinn, there is not much left. One of the remaining treasures is a little stretch of East 8th Street between Third and Second Avenues where some of the old time stores are still hanging on. The whole street, for the most part, still has that funky, grungy feel with wonderful stores like the comic book store and of course TRASH AND VAUDEVILLE. They have been there since 1975 and is still going strong!
Long time employee Jimmy (left) with fellow employee
The photo avbove of Ray Goodman shows the old ‘St. Marks Hotel’ mural behind him, that used to be the notorious gay baths (originally Turkish steam baths) ‘The St.Marks Baths’ which was closed down by the city in December of 1985. T+V was making ‘kinky boots’ long before the film or Broadway musical even existed. Here is their history from their own web site: “Born out of the 1970’s rock and punk scene on St. Marks Place in New York City, Trash and Vaudeville has always provided a wide variety of alternative fashion for Rockers, Mods, Punks, Goths, Rockabillies, and everyday working class heroes who just wanted to walk and dress on the wild side.
Trash and Vaudeville was founded by Ray Goodman in June of 1975. Ray discovered St. Marks Place at the age of 13, and never left. He was immediately attracted to the incredible energy that surged throughout the block. Whatever the scene was – Beatniks – Hippies – Glam – Punk – it was all going down on St. Marks Place.
Ray spent most of his free time on St. Marks Place. There was the Electric Circus, the Fillmore East, and CBGBs, all within a few blocks of the area. Some of the greatest Rock n’ Roll Meccas all right there. Ray’s love for Rock music inspired him to open a clothing store that would be entirely influenced by Rock n’ Roll.
Right away Trash and Vaudeville attracted musicians and bands looking to dress in a style that embraced their individuality and creativity. St. Marks Place has always been a gathering place for the ‘cool’, with an energy that still flows today.
The store has been in its original location since opening. The list of artists, musicians, actors, street dwellers, teenage rebels, and people from all over who have shopped at the store goes on and on.”
July 25, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1975, 70's disco babes, AIDS crisis, beatniks, Calvin Klein, CBGB's, Christine Quinn, Christopher street, East 8th Street, Electric Circus, GAP, gay culture invasion, gentrification, Goths, Greenwich Village, hippies, Kinky Boots, long time employee Jimmy, Manhattan, Mayor Bloomberg, Michael Kors, modsters, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, Polo, punk rockers, Ray Goodman, Rockabillies, Second Avenue, shopping, St. Mark's Place, St. Marks Turkish gay baths, the Fillmore East, the Rocky Horror scene, Third Avenue, Trash and Vaudeville, yuppies | Leave a comment
Mondays on Memory Lane: EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN, REMEMBERING 1970’s SHOE STORES – Just as the young women of today are teetering on their nine inch platforms, the exact same shoes were the rage in the early to mid 1970’s. In the disco era it wasn’t only women teetering about, it was men also. I was about six inches taller in those disco days.
There were many “cool” in vogue streets to buy your shoes in those days. One was, believe it or not, today’s staid East 59th Street between Third and Second Avenues, right behind Bloomingdale’s. Right around the corner on 58th Street and Lexington Avenue was Arrowsmith Shoes (advertised in the above 1975 ad). The other of course was West Eighth Street – shoe mecca.
The coolest pair I ever bought, which I am missing and lamenting to this day that I didn’t keep, were bought at 227 East 59th Street in a store called “Jumping Jack Flash” they specialized in ‘Galm Wear’ glitter suits, outrageous platform shoes and accessories. I afforded myself one $75 (or about $100) pair there – they were navy blue with wooden platform and heel. On each toe was a silver leather star and on the outer side of each shoe was a silver shooting star. I wore those shoes to every “in” event till the shoes finally fell apart. I also had 3″ high buffalo sandals, rubber wedgies, black velvet Herman Munster-like ‘evening’ shoes I would wear to formal events to the consternation of my mother.
1974 Off to London wearing my Jumping Jacket Flash shoes (covered by the bell bottoms.)
West Eighth Street in Greenwich Village was shoe mecca. Literally one shoe store after another, 3 blocks of wedgies, heels and platforms, not to forget outrageous boots. It was a common thing to spend your night in “shoe alley.” You got dressed as funky as you could and would start at Sixth Avenue and walk up one side of the street, in and out of every single shoe store, upstairs and downstairs, admiring the hip disco funky clothes, jewelry and wide belts. Passing legendary Electric Lady Recording Studios, the head shops and the 8th Street Playhouse, then a revival movie house soon to become famous for showing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” You stayed the longest in the stores which had the best disco music blaring. The shoes were made of every material possible: wet look vinyl, leather, plastic, wood, cloth – you name it. Then when you reached Broadway you would cross the street and peruse every single store on your way back down the street, finishing with grabbing a hot dog at Gray’s Papaya at Sixth Avenue and then head onto Christopher Street to join the evenings ‘parade’. God I miss those days! It’s all gone now. The shoe styles have returned but the fun of the era is but a memory. Both streets have lost their flavor and soul. East 59th Street is now mainly cabinet shops and furniture stores. On West Eighth Street, one third of the stores are empty due to Mayor Bloomberg/Councilwoman Quinn and landlord greed.
Empty West 8th Street 2013, Greenwich Village
But – I have one outrageous pair left! (See top left main photo). They were even a bit too outrageous for the times then, so I didn’t wear them as much, and so they have survived. Aqua marine perforated leather, with orange leather lace-up, brown heel and toe and clunky wooden platform and heel. My treasured memento of dancing a little happier, knowing how to balance myself as I walked and being always at least three inches taller.
July 22, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1970's New York, 227 East 59th Street, 8th Street Playhouse, Arrowsmith Shoes, Bloomingdales, Broadway, buffalo sandals, Christine Quinn, Christopher street, clothing, disco boots, disco music, disco wear, disoc era, Electric Lady Studios, Est 59th Street, fashion, Glam wear, glitter wear, Gray's Papaya, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, herman munster, jumping jack flash, Jumping Jack Flash shoe store, Manhattan, men's platform disco shoes, Mike Bloomberg, New York photo, Photo of the day, platform shoes, Retro shoes, revival movie house, Rocky Horror Picture Show, shopping, Sixth Avenue, wedgie shoes | 2 Comments
Washington Square Park
Photo of the day: LEFT OUT TO FRY – Your flip flops are sticking to the tar in the streets, your ice cream cone drips down your arm the moment you reach for it, your underwear is wet and you haven’t been swimming, the back of your neck “is feeling dirty and gritty”, walking more than three blocks you start to feel faint, every metal object in the city is hot to the touch, you dread the thought of going down to that lower level subway, what can I sacrifice to pay that higher electric bill this month?, I wonder if the Twilight Zone’s “Midnight Sun” episode is on METV tonight?, you’re on your fourth ice cold $1.00 water bottle, all of a sudden carrying an umbrella doesn’t seem so old Asian lady dorky-like, your sun screen just melts right off your arms…, what idiot goes jogging in this polluted heat?, you find yourself listening for the Mr. Softee truck music (which you loathe), oh hell – I’m taking my shirt off…why didn’t I exercise more?, will Mayor Bloomberg arrest me if I jump in that fountain?? Here I go . . . !
“WHEN will this heatwave end?!?!” (Twilight Zone ‘Midnight Sun’ episode.)
July 19, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, heatwave questions and list, Manhattan, midnight sun, Midnight Sun episode, mr softee, New York City, New York photo, oppressive heat wave, Photo of the day, things you hate in the heat, Twilight Zone, uncomfortable, Washington Square arch, Washington Square fountain, Washington Square Park, wet sneakers | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: FOURTH DAY OF NEW YORK CITY’S HEAT WAVE – take off your shoes, take off your socks, take off your shirt, your top and your hat and jump into the nearest open public fountain or sprinkler capped fire hydrant. Temperatures have soared from the low nineties to today’s expected high of 98 degrees! Oh hell, just take it all off and jump in !
Stay cool all 
July 18, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Bikini ladies by pool, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York heatwave, New York photo, people playing in public fountain, Photo of the day, Washington Square arch, Washington Square fountain, Washington Square Park | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: MODERN DAY MARILYN – The Marilyn-esque look will last forever. I was strolling through the east village and came across MM staring down at me through the window of the wonderful 125 Second Avenue vintage shop “ENZ’S”. This mannequin has so many MM references: the cherries from her ‘The Misfits’ dress, the halter top from the famous subway skirt blowing scene in ‘The 7 Year Itch’, the pouting lips, the droopy eyes and lashes, the famous flip hairdo with an updated color – it’s Marilyn!
The east village is one of the last vestiges of what the entire “village” used to be like. Odd, unusual shops filled with quirky items, retro and hand made looks and even quirkier shop owners. Sadly in the Bloomberg/Quinn era the flavor of our ‘originality’ is quickly disappearing in favor of high rent chain stores and the ever cancerous growth of the New York University (NYU) campus. I truly hope in 2025 I will still be able too wander along some of our streets and find a Marilyn pouting at me through the window of a funky shop.
Address: 125 2nd Ave New York, NY 10003 Neighborhood: East Village (212) 228-1943
(917) 841-5989
http://www.enzsnyc.com
Nearest Transit: Astor Place (6) 8th St-Broadway (R, W) 3rd Ave-14th St (L)
Hours: Mon-Sat 12 pm – 8 pm
Sun 1 pm – 7pm
July 13, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 'The 7 Year Itch', 'The Misfits', 1950's shop, anti Blomberg, anti NYU, anti Quinn, clothing, East Village, gentrification of neighborhood, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe bust, Marilyn Monroe mannequin, New York City, New York photo, nyu campus, NYU takeover, Photo of the day, retro shops, Second Avenue, second hand shops, shopping, style, thrift shops | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: SOME PEOPLE MARCH TO THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUMMER –
SOME PEOPLE MARCH TO GET MARRIED
SOME PARTY MONSTERS MARCH
SOME PEOPLE WITH FRECKLES MARCH
SOME BRAZILIAN KISS QUEENS MARCH
SOME FLAG WAVERS MARCH
AND SOME FASHIONABLY FIERCE PEOPLE MARCH!
…WHATEVER THE BEAT OF YOUR DRUM IS – MARCH !
July 3, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Bad Boy disco, boy in high heel boots, Brazilian drag queen, Christopher street, diversity of marchers, drag queens, fierce fashionista, gay lesbian bride, Gay Pride, Gay Pride day, Gay Pride Day Parade 2103, Gay Pride New York City, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, lesbian with freckles, lesbian with pride flag, Manhattan, marching to a different drummer, New York City, New York photo, party monster, Photo of the day | 2 Comments
Link
Photo of the day: WHY I MARCHED WITH PRIDE AGAINST NYC COUNCILWOMAN CHRISTINE QUINN
I lost my Gray Line tour guide job of seven years because of her bullying through a ‘headset bill‘ in New York City. It all started two years ago when two older residents on Greenwich Avenue complained about guides on open mic and insist we be rerouted. We tried all diff routes, but Greenwich is largest, best flow and connection to the rest of the routes and bus stops.
These complainers had the sirens of St. Vincent’s Hospital, a school yard with screaming grade school kids and the bars showing European soccer matches to boisterous patrons till 4am – if u do not like the noise – move to a better location, you knew what u where getting into when u moved in. So a headset law was suggested.
No one seemed to hear ’noise’ but them. Guards were placed at the corner to see if we were off mic. A noise “study” was supposed to have been done and magically was never needed.
NYC councilwoman Gail Brewer tried to help us and insisted a proviso be put in the bill the headsets be connected to a live guide. ALL tour guides rallied, spoke on TV and radio and press to “Keep New York Live”. Greg Mocker/WPIX11 befriended me and joined our cause. Rumor was that Twin America, the monopoly that owns blue City Sights and red Gray Line double decker buses was trying to get the ’live guide’ proviso thrown out. No tour guides = no high licensed salaries, no health insurance. BINGO! The proviso was erased in the middle of the night by Quinn, because Quinn is in the pocket of Twin America and they padded her coffers for her mayoral run. She simply claimed the proviso was ‘not needed’.
We held one big last ditch effort rally on the steps of city hall at noon time. 12:30….no press, no one. I called TV transit reporter Greg Mocker “Where are you?!!” ‘It’s canceled, isn’t it?’ Quinn had called the press and told them it was canceled. The bill passed with live tour guides eliminated. Councilwoman Brewer cowered under Quinn and was a bit of a wimp, she needed funding for her district. Next came the slaughter of the guides. We had a sign up book, you would sign the days you wanted to work for the next few weeks. Allllll of a sudden, any guide who was seen at NBC, ABC, WPIX11, CBS News, etc was not ‘allowed’ to sign up with no reason given. I was one of their top tour guides. I never had one complaint. I was requested world wide, did all their celebrity tours (Liza Minnelli, Heidi Klum, Cyndi Lauper, etc.) yet I was no longer allowed to sign the book. A fellow tour guide overheard my boss Eva Lee tell the dispatcher “these people are effectively no longer here.” With pressure mounting by the guides, Gray Line said we could re-apply for our jobs, but not at $17.75 an hour with insurance, but with $12.75 and hour, no insurance. We applied. “If a position arises we will contact you” we were told with the iciest of cold faces. Meanwhile through the tour guide grape vine we heard they were begging and pleading other less experienced guides to please come in.
Senior guides were offered insulting low buyouts. Gray Line wanted no one left with a memory of what it used to be like. Guides who had worked there 18 years!!, spoke 5 languages!, were now gone. They wanted no one to question the ‘new authority.’ No rebels, just quiet frightened to death zombie guides. Then they realized no one was watching the tourists on top, so they hired illiterate ‘watchers’ to sit on top and make sure guests didn’t stand up. Pay was about $7-11 per hour. The recorded tour tapes didn’t and don’t work well (at first they didn’t at all!) so now they are hiring guides who are given the answers to the Tour Guides License test, so any idiot can pass the test. Watch them, the buses pass by and the guide is saying nothing, or babbling utter incoherent nonsense. And so here we are. New York tourists are greeted by these “ambassadors to the city” – it’s a joke. The headset law was bullied thru by Quinn, the required noise study was NEVER done and hundreds of guides my age (57 and older) don’t find it easy at all to find work in this city at our age or at other companies. It is almost impossible. You have to be minimally bilingual (I am/German) or be the darling of one of the smaller companies. Smaller companies don’t have the work, salaries and clients. So many guides went bankrupt, moved, sold their things, took several other low paying jobs = slaughtered by that greedy dictator!
There are many other reasons I will cut my hand off before I vote for Christine Quinn. Zoning variances have become the norm in New York and we are becoming a city of soul-less glass boxes since she is in the deep pockets of the real estate Rudin family. Councilmembers are afraid of her. Vote against her – your funding is cut. She over turned term limits in the middle of the night as well so that elitist mayor Bloomberg could buy a third term. NYC had voted TWICE for a two term limit. How is this a free country?
She is “gay for pay” – on gay pride day she runs to the front of the parade, but has not voted for one pro gay health, housing or community bill – NOT ONE. Her ultimate sinful act was to tear down St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village as well as the ‘Tiles For America’ memorial across the street. Built in 1849, St. Vincent’s took in the only survivors of the Titanic, was at the epicenter the AIDS crisis, and 9/11. The Rudin real estate family wanted condos there. Quinn saw to it, and while at it, tore down the adjoining church as well. She is the most dangerous thing that has happened and could happened to New York City. We rebuilt after 9/11 and hurricane Sandy – we cannot tear down the glass boxes that are rising at an alarming rate where the mom and pops used to be. We have lost more long time establishments under the Bloomberg/Quinn administration than in the entire history of New York City. Affordable housing tenants are squeezed out, the middle class is ceasing to exist. VOTE this election,
VOTE FOR “ANYBODY BUT QUINN!”
WATCH THIS! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXoANkQh93I
http://votequinnout.com/
July 2, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: ABQ, AIDS crisis, animal rights, anti gay, Christine Quinn, City Sights tours, destruction of middle class, destruction of New York City, Donny Moss, elitist government, Gail Brewer, gay bating, Gay Pride Day Parade New York 2013, Gray Line Tours, Greenwich Village, Greg Mocker, Hans Von Rittern, horse drawn carriages, Hurricane Sandy, mayoral 2013 campaign, Michael Blomberg, New York City, New York photo, overturn of term limits, Photo of the day, St. Vincent's Hospital, the Rudin Family real estate empire, The Truth Behind The Smile, Titanic, WPIX11 news | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: CHER’S GAY PRIDE DAY CONCERT 2013 – With the looming World Trade Center to the left, the Manhattan skyline all around us, Pier 26 on the Hudson River vibrated with energy as 7,500 of Cher’s screaming and adoring fans waited to see ‘the queen of the night’.
Deborah Cox opened for her, Whoopi Goldberg introduced her, and then came CHER . . .followed by a half hour of fireworks! Happy Gay Pride!
More stories and photos to follow . . .
July 1, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 'Believe', 'It's a woman's World', ;Strong Enought, Cher on stage, Deborah Cox, gay diva Cher, Gay Pride, Gay Pride day, Gay Pride weekend, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, hudson river, Manhattan, Manhattan skyline, New York City, New York photo, pier 26, whoopi goldberg | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: HAPPY GAY PRIDE DAY! . . . now go and get married !
June 30, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: gay marriage, Gay Pride, Gay Pride day, Gay Pride weekend, gay weding cake, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, Photo of the day, same sex marriage, same sex wedding cake | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: TIME AND LOVE CONQUERS DOMA AND PROP 8 – DOMA lasted eight years. Prop 8 lasted six years. Kim Kardashian’s and Kris Humphries’ marriage lasted 72 days. Britney Spears’ marriage lasted 55 hours.
This old couple’s love has lasted forty-three years. Love, trust and respect have kept them smiling through the good and bad years. True love is ageless, colorless, lawless and timeless.
June 27, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Britney Spears' marriage, DOMA, gay marriage, gay married couple 43 years, Gay Pride, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, hollywood divorces, Hollywood's all time shortest straight marriages, Kim Kardashian, kris humphries, love, love conquers all, love is ageless, love is colorblind, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, old couple, old lesbian couple, Photo of the day, Prop 8 | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: MINDY CASSEL & RAY ROSATO WED 6-16-2012 – My two dear friends Ray & Mindy are married one year today! Ray gave me the great honor of asking me to be the best man at their wedding, which meant I had to deliver the toast. I worked and worked on my speech and decided to base it on the love story of an adopted Greek aunt of mine Aunt Grekorakis, ‘Aunt G’ for short. Here is my wedding toast:
“RAY ROSATO, I suspect, was a grumpy old man before he was 30. He is the cantankerous old Jewish man on the corner, the Italian punk with attitude, a true cussing New Yorker, a great tour guide and comedian, and a dear friend.
I love Ray because of all these qualities, some say in spite of them 🙂 We met 5 years ago at Gray Line and it was instant “love”. The same was my affection for Mindy. She has this jubilant light inside, this child-like enthusiasm for everything she does. Bursting to do her best with this beaming smile. I fell in love with both of them. Soon, I discovered Mindy is my neighbor, just 2 blocks away and that Ray would often come to stay with her. Poor Ray on the 7 train…….once Mindy and I started gabbing about something that upset her, or the theater, or work, the best Ray could do was to be able to interject with 3 phrases: uh-huh, I‘m listening, and (to either one of us) “yes dear“.
I mean all of this in the most loving way. If ever 2 people were meant to be together, it’s Ray and Mindy – just look in their eyes when they look at each other. It’s George Burns and Gracie Allen, Lunt & Fontaine, Bacardi & rum, ying and yang, Mork & Mindy, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Lucy and Ricky, peanut butter and jelly, Bogie and Bacall, Barney and Betty Rubble, cookies and milk.
But – There’s one couple they remind me of the most. . . Growing up, I had this adopted Greek aunt ‘Grekorakis’, aunt “G” for short. Imagine Lucille Ball with blonde poodle cut hair. She was a chain smoker, consistently blew smoke rings, which fascinated me! Wore 4 charm bracelets on each wrist, drank ouzo and simply was…divine! In 1964, at age 82, she met and fell in love with professor Ralph Harlow from Harvard. They were married the very next year. Their picture is right here! She wore a lace, almost see through wedding dress, danced on the tables in a Greenwich Village grotto at the reception and then they traveled around the world as she lovingly dotted on him.
So, at a very early age, I saw that love doesn’t come at the time and place you expect it to. But it does fatefully come when the time is right and your heart is hopefully open enough to know “it’s right”. Well, the time is right for Ray and Mindy. They fit. Their lives fit. They’re Aunt “G” and Ralph. They found each other when the time is right. How divine! So – A toast: To our bride and groom – Ray and Mindy Rosato! (I can’t believe I just said that!). To a safe, secure and happy future together! Lacheim, Salute and Cheers! I love you both!“
Their wedding day 1965
June 16, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1965 wedding photo, 7 train subway, aunt 'G', Aunt GREKORAKIS, Bacardi & rum, Barney and Betty Rubble, best man's speech, Bogie and Bacall, cookies and milk., George Burns and Gracie Allen, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Greenwich Village, Greenwich Village grotto, Hans Von Rittern, Harvard, long lasting love, love at age 82, love comes when the time is right, Lucy and Ricky, Lunt & Fontaine, Manhattan, married couples, Mindy Cassle, Mork & Mindy, New York City, New York photo, old love, peanut butter and jelly, Photo of the day, professor Ralph Harlow from Harvard, Ray Rosato, style, wedding, wedding anniversary, wedding day, ying and yang | Leave a comment
Mondays on Memory Lane: THE PALLADIUM DISCO “EVERY DAY IS GAY PRIDE DAY” – June is world wide Gay Pride month. One of the last great dance palaces of the disco era was the grand Palladium which every Sunday catered to an almost all gay audience. Owned and operated by the former Studio 54 masterminds Ian Shrager and Steve Rubell. It was one of the last clubs I attended around 1986 before “it just wasn’t fun anymore.”
The Palladium was converted from a movie theater to a music venue and then into a nightclub. The famous duo hired Danceteria DJ Richard Sweret, who saw the possibility of a much larger audience for a downtown New Wave, Euro and house music-oriented club. From its celebrity-studded opening in May 1985, through the end of the 1980’s, it was one of the major features on a vibrant New York club scene. The club was a mainstay on the New York club scene until it was bought out in 1997 by the voracious appetite of New York University (NYU) and demolished for a sterile campus housing project. They have continued to destroy New York ever since.
Junior Vasquez’s Arena party, held Saturday nights and all day Sundays at Palladium between September 1996 and September 1997, was one of the most popular parties in the New York club scene at the time. Although the promoters billed Arena as “The Gay Man’s Pleasure Dome”, the party drew an eclectic mix of gay and straight from Manhattan and far beyond. 14th Street in those days was still seedy and therefore the attraction to gain entrance into the club as you bypassed the bums in the adjoining urine stenched doorways was ‘chic’ and daring.
1986 Palladium party invitation
The Palladium represented architect Arata Isozaki’s transformation of a vacant and rundown theater, originally built in 1927 as the Academy of Music, into an extraordinary interior that can only be described as a sleek new structure, the equivalent of a seven-story building using more than 200 tons of steel, within the restored grandeur of the original shell. After the conversion from a venue to a club, the main dance floor of the Palladium was a huge space which used to hold the theater and seating. One interesting feature of the club was the large banks of TV monitors in grid formations that were used to display music vidoes. Each monitor could operate separately, or one large picture could be shown across the grid – we had never seen such technology before and it was mesmerizing to us at the time.
The entire gigantic cavernous club was big enough to hold different areas, the equivalent of three or four clubs! Besides the pounding main dance floor area there was a multicolored basement, and the famous upstairs “VIP room”, The Michael Todd Room. Murals were created for this space by the well known New York artists of the 1980s Jean-Michel Basquit, Francesco Clemente, Kenny Scharf and Keith Haring – these treasures are gone.
The video links below will show you the 1980’s grandeur it once was.
A rare visual tour into the past of The Palladium: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5_NI2MSmp8
MTV music video A. Snap – The Power B. Technotronic – This beat is Technotronic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUdbX4B-74s
June 3, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "The Gay Man's Pleasure Dome", "VIP room", 14th street, 1927 the Academy of Music, 1980's, architect Arata Isozaki, architecture, arts, Danceteria DJ Richard Sweret, Downtown Julie Brown, downtown New Wave, entertainment, Euro, fashion, Francesco Clemente, gay club scene, Gay Pride, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, house music-oriented club, Ian Shrager, Jean-Michel Basquit, Junior Vasquez's Arena party, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, large banks of TV monitors, Manhattan, MTV music video, music vidoes, New York City, New York photo, New York University (NYU), PALLADIUM DISCO, Snap - The Power - Technotronic, Steve Rubell, Studio 54, Sunday gay party night, the end of the disco era, The Michael Todd Room, vidoes of club, vint\ge video club scene | 2 Comments
Photo of the day: SPIDERMAN UNMASKED – There’s a story here, but it’s gone down the drain. I was walking down Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village when I seemed to be the only one who noticed something was awry in the gutters of New York. Has one of our superheroes been unmasked? Or, has one of the many ‘Spidermen’ in Times Square lost his mask on the way home? Is the mask part of someone’s Halloween discards? Somewhere there is a Spiderman unmasked. I wondered who it could be as I walked on, leaving the mask for the street sweeper to whisk away.
May 24, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Greenwich Village, Halloween costume, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, missing or lost mask, New York City, New York photo, sewer, Sixth Avenue, Spiderman, Spiderman mask, Spiderman unmasked, Spidermen, street sweeper, Times Square | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: GAY HATE CRIMES IN GREENWICH VILLAGE UP 70% IN 2013: What used to be a ‘village’ of all people of all colors and all persuasions is being lost by the rapid gentrification due to real estate greed. Still, if you are gay, the Village is your traditional home, where you are supposed to walk hand in hand with your lover and feel proud and safe about it. The rainbow flags are everywhere in preparation for Gay Pride day.
But – it is also a place to go ‘fag hunting’. Recently 29 fatal or near fatal hate crimes have been reported in the area. That is a 70% spike from last year. Some attribute it to a fluke, others to the gaining rights and the mainstreaming of gays that makes a small scared ignorant minority seek out their homophobic rage.
Those two factions met Sunday might as Mark Carson (32) was walking with his friend and was approached by Elliot Morales (33) taunting him, asking if he was a “gay wrestler.” Mark at first avoided the confrontation and kept walking, but the killer raced ahead and hunted Mark down. Confronted a second time, Mark was shot in the face and died almost instantly. As Elliot Morales was being restrained on a sidewalk, he laughed and boasted: ‘I shot him in the face.’
A memorial march was held, and a memorial continues to grow on the spot of the incident. The location happens to be the main intersection of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street, site of the former Barnes & Noble. This happens to be a main stop (to wait for traffic) as the miles long gay pride day parade waits to jubilantly enter the narrow winding and historic Christopher Street and pass by the Stonewall Inn, the site of the start of the gay rights movement. All of this is in frighteningly too close a proximity. Rather than hooting and hollering this year, I hope there will be silence on the part of the marchers as the parade passes by Mark Carson’s site.
As of Wednesday, May 22, today, five more gay hate crimes have been reported.
May 22, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 'fag hunting', 70% spike in crime, Barnes & Noble, Christopher street, current-events, Elliot Morales, gay attacks, Gay Pride day, gentrification, Greenwich Village, gun violence, Hans Von Rittern, hate crimes, homophobia, homophobic, Manhattan, Mark Carson, New York City, New York photo, Sixth Avene and Eighth Street, Stonewall Inn | 1 Comment
Photo of the day: ROOF COLLAPSE IN GREENWICH VILLAGE – Residents said it sounded like a car crash, next came the sound of fire engine sirens from everywhere. A row of four 125 year old buildings on a stretch of Bleecker Street between Grove and Barrow Street had the wooden and tin cornice suddenly come crashing down this afternoon around 2:30 pm. Luckily no one was seriously hurt. Firemen had to tear down the loose pieces and secure the rest of the cornice. As firemen inspected the roof it was now visibly obvious how rotted with age the wooden and tin cornice is. The firemen of ladder company 9/nine told me the roof is safe and secure, it is the cornice that will have the eliminated. Residents inside the buildings and stores were evacuated till the buildings can be declared as safe. The popular A.O.C. Restaurant at 314 Bleecker has also been affected by this. One of the residents of 312 Bleecker was a stunned expectant mother and her son who had to find a place to stay till they can safely return. Ironically one of the tenants was in the process of moving out, talk about omens! And speaking of omens….a gypsy fortune teller around the corner named ‘Clair Voyant’ oddly didn’t see it coming . . .
May 21, 2013 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: 'Clair Voyant', 125 year old buildings, 312 Bleecker Street, 314 Bleecker Street, A.O.R. Restaurant, Barrow Street, Bleecker Street, firemen rescue, Greenwich Village, Grove Street, gypsy fortune teller, Hans Von Rittern, Ladder company nine 9, Manhattan, New York City, New York firemen, New York photo, roof collapse | 4 Comments
Mondays on Memory Lane: 1981-2103 ONE NIGHT ONLY AT THE RITZ WITH HOLLY WOODLAWN – Thirty three years ago I saw advertised in the local underground magazines that Andy Warhol’s outrageous transgender star Holly Woodlawn was to appear in Terrence McNally’s play ‘The Ritz” co-starring then infamous gay porn star Cal Culver better known as Casey Donovan. The show was at Xenon Disco, the strong competition to Studio 54 at the time. Xenon (as Studio 54 was) was also inside an old Broadway theater with huge pinball bumpers that came down from the ceiling that you had to bump with your hip so that alarm bells would go off, part of the current ‘the bump’ dance craze.
‘The Ritz’ was based on Bette Midler’s 1971 unusual meteoric rise to fame in the gay bathhouse ‘The Continental Baths’ owned by Steve Ostrow in the Ansonia Hotel. The Broadway play garnered Rita Moreno (as third rate Puerto Rican actress wannabe ‘Googie Gomez’) a Tony award and her role was reprised in the hilarious 1976 film.
The fact that Holly Woodlawn, herself Puerto Rican, certainly not ‘third rate’ but campy as hell, was performing in this play had me immediately buy tickets for the first night of previews (I couldn’t wait for opening night!). The show was a perfect fit for Holly and she was hilarious. After the show we danced the night away, in the early morning hours, on my way out of the disco I tore this poster off the wall – unbeknownst to me at the time, the show opened and closed that same night due to lack of funding.
For those of you too young to know who Holly is, but the name still sounds familiar, singer Lou Reed refers to Holly Woodlawn in his iconic song “
Walk on the Wild Side,” in the opening lyric “Holly came from Miami, Florida.” Her antics and connections to a now much revered Andy Warhol past are legendary. I seem to be the only one who remembers that when iconic 1960’s/70’s music club Trude Heller’s at 418 6th Avenue (SE corner of 9th Street and 6th Avenue) started placing hand prints of the famous performers on their sidewalk, Holly placed her ass prints in the side walk. The block was framed and hung on the side of the club.
AIDS and changing tastes wiped out this entire glorious and glamorous era and the people and it’s clubs simply disappeared. But there is one of the few tough survivors – Holly Woodlawn. I was stunned and excited to receive a notice that she was going to make a super rare appearance at the Laurie Beecham Theater (Joan Rivers’ fav hangout) on Friday, May 17. I bought a ticket immediately and sat 2nd row. I brought with me my theater posters of Holly’s shows such as ‘The Neon Woman’, Women Behind Bars’ – both starring drag legend Divine. But my ultimate treasure is the one night only appearance of ‘The Ritz’. The posters caused quite a stir amongst her fans and old friends, taking pictures of them with their iPhones. Then 7:30 came, the lights were lowered and out she came, thirty three years after I had seen her – Holly.
She is the embodiment of a survivor! Now battling near crippling spinal stenosis, it was heartwarming yet hard to watch her cheerfully be helped on stage by two of her friends. “I am home!” she cried. Now 66, nothing else had changed, the sly wink, the double entendres, the off-the-wall humor, and above all, the immense amount of love streaming between her and her audience. She is sharp as a tact. Funny, irreverent, reflective and above all determined to have a good time. It was a mutual love fest. With no disrespect meant to either women but Holly has sort of morphed into long gone comedian Totie Fields. It was endearing. After the show she was helped from the stage in her wheel chair and her long time friends such as actress Brenda Bergman and fans surged towards her, some wanting autographs, some a photo and some just to recall one of the incredible Warhol days with her. She was able to sign only one autograph and she chose my ultra rare poster, “I can’t do it so well you know, Hans is your name? You know I am part German too,” she said with a determined smile. I was left speechless as I watched her struggle to lovingly sign my poster in hot pink ink. In that moment I was transported back to that first night of previews of “The Ritz”, I could hear “You’ll be swell, you’ll be great! Gonna have the whole world on a plate.” Holly Woodlawn does have the whole world on her plate – and I was lucky enough to be at her feast!
“The Ritz” The farce is set in a gay bathhouse in Manhattan, where unsuspecting heterosexual Cleveland businessman Gaetano Proclo has taken refuge from his homicidal mobster brother-in-law, Carmine Vespucci. There Gaetano stumbles across an assortment of oddball characters, including a rabid chubby chaser, go-go boys, a squeaky-voiced detective and Googie Gomez, a third-rate Puerto Rican entertainer with visions of Broadway glory who mistakes him for a famous producer and whom he mistakes for a man in drag. Further complications arise when Gaetano’s wife Vivian tracks him down and jumps to all the wrong conclusions about his sexual preferences.
May 20, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 'the bump' dance craze, 'The Neon Woman', 'The Ritz", 'Women Behind Bars', 1971, 1976, 1981, AIDS, Andy Warhol, Ansonia Hotel, Bette Midler, Brenda Bergman, Cal Culver, Casey Donovan, celebrities, Divine, entertainment, gay bathhouse, gay club, Googie Gomez, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, Holly Woodlawn, Joan Rivers, Laurie Beecham Theater, Lou Reed, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Rita Moreno, Steve Ostrow, Studio 54, Terrence McNally, Tony award, transexual, transgender, Trude Heller's club, Walk on the Wild Side, Xenon disco | 1 Comment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3DBys2TPzk&feature=youtu.be
PhotoS of the day: I AM FEATURED IN THE NEW ‘SocialEyesNYC.com’ VIDEO! – My friend Randi Horwitz has a web site and Facebook page called SocialEyesNYC.com. Her current video release advertising her new site features some of my photos! The site features some of my photos and we will work together to feature more of my photos in the future.
Randi’s steadfast work is incredibly all encompassing. She gathers all possible upcoming interests in one site with just a click of your mouse. Ideal for my fellow tour guides! From Ballet to Boxing, Parades to Photo galleries, Cooking clubs to comedy shows = her research done for you is amazing – CHECK SocialEyesNYC.com OUT for all of your NYC activity plans including street fairs, concert presale codes, Broadway discounts, activities for kids, music around town, lectures/classes, weekend itineraries and so much more! SocialEyesNYC is the premier New York City lifestyle/social activity guide focusing on diverse and sometimes not so obvious, activities ranging from art to wine tasting and everything in between. SocialEyesNYC ™ ~ See The City Like a Native “New Yawkah”
April 16, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 9/11 memorial, Broadway, Broadway discounts, Bryant Park, celebrities, Central Park, city lifestyle, cooking clubs, Empire State Building, entertainment, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, lectures/classes, Manhattan, New York City, New York social activity guide, parades, presale codes, Queens, SocialEyesNYC.com, street fairs, Times Square, wine tasting | Leave a comment
LATE NIGHT ON SIXTH AVENUE: It’s 11pm on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village. Three women are waiting.
One for the bus. One for her meatball. One for…someone.
April 14, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: alone in New York, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, late night, late night in New York, loneliness, Meatball Obsession restaurant, New York City, PATH train, Sixth Avenue, subway, three women | Leave a comment
“In your Easter bonnet,
with all the frills upon it,
You’ll be the grandest ‘lady’ in the Easter parade.
I’ll be all in clover and when they look you over,
I’ll be the proudest fellow in the Easter parade.
On the avenue, Fifth avenue,
the photographers will snap us,
And you’ll find that you’re in the rotogravure.
Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet,
And of the guy I’m taking to the Easter parade.”
There are certain people that are just “so New York” – this is one of them. “Ms.” Columbia.
Nothing but sheer unmitigated joy streams from him/her and people absolutely light up when she appears. The gall, nerve, insanity, craziness, devil-may-care attitude with a broad grin is absolutely infectious. The delight of living in New York, is you never know where she, the parrot on her head and her dyed-to-match-poodle are going to show up! Saks Fifth Avenue, parades, Greenwich Village, Wall Street, Broadway, Chelsea or on the Queens number 7 train heading for her own Easter parade 🙂
March 31, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 7 train subway, crazy man, drag queen, dyed poodle, Easter bonnet, Easter parade, Easter parade lyrics, Easter Sunday, fashion, Fifth Avenue, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, New York City, parrot on head, SAKS Fifth Avenue, transportation | Leave a comment
I‘M HERE, I‘M OK ! THANK YOU to all those concerned posts that I didn’t ignore but simply couldn’t answer. After Xmas there was frightening health news for my mom and lots and lots of additional disappointments and bad news all at once and I just emotionally shut off. I had absolutely no desire to photograph or to speak to anyone. I couldn’t feel. I actually also couldn’t find the words, me speechless = rare. I am now slowly grappling how to put it all into words and come back to Facebook and blogging.
Some said “just start posting/blogging again with no explanation,” but I felt after so many of us have shared our lives for so long I should explain…
So here goes: 2012 was one of the most unpleasant years of my life. Two horrible (Gray Line & On Board Tours) jobs and financial disappointments, a struggle with my photography/book and then a culmination of awakenings from watching the news just brought me to an emotional shut-down.
I did launch my blog, that was absolutely wonderful! My photography web site by now has had over 6,700 hits, but no photographs sold. I have been told over and over by good friends of mine like Paul Ker, “No one buys photos anymore.” A very depressing reality, but that a book is the way to go. The answer was to create a book with the photos and the stories behind them but the people who offered to help were phonies and the computer program needed to self publish and print the book in (sadly) China or India is so confusing, I couldn’t learn it since my brain was already on overload. So I tried to concentrate on the book by years end, but then my printer isn’t good enough and to top it off, both my camera and lens fell, broke and cost me an expensive repair I wasn’t counting on.
I had wanted to do a 2012 year’s end blog and researching for it led me to be more and more distressed of what is happening to my beloved New York City. 2012 was a record year of losses of iconic stores, lounges, restaurants, mom and pop places, Tiles for America, hotels, buildings, etc., that were wiped out due to the greedy under-the-table real estate dealings of mayor Mike Bloomberg and evil councilwoman Christine Quinn. Zoning variances have become the norm. Quaint neighborhoods are now collections of glass boxes and look and feel like strip malls. Harlem is 60% white, Greenwich Village is now nothing but yuppies, European hipster-wannabees and chain stores. It depresses me to visit many of my once beloved neighborhoods, to give tours in them is a farce. Hospitals and schools are being torn down to make room for luxury condos. (The hospital I was born in is now closed and boarded up.) If councilwoman Christine Quinn were to become mayor it will be the end of New York City permanently as we know it. A depressing way to enter 2013.
It seemed every day I wanted to write the blog or post a photo – another news story hit of yet another demolition or closing, they were coming almost daily. I just couldn’t take it anymore. Political news added to my depressed feelings – I simply cannot take this damned bickering in Washington DC anymore. I am a staunch Democrat, but I am open enough to say – when we have a Republican president the country should be run by republicans and when we have a Democrat, things should go their way = an ultimate test to see who can fuck it up better or make the country better – ultimate proof. But this daily bickering, stalling and impasses has had me say ENOUGH! I used to be a MSNBC Rachel Maddow addict, I cannot take her anymore, she is brilliant, her research team is one of the best, but if the daily results are the same thing over and over “stalled, denied, fighting, bickering, more mass shootings” why bother to watch the news?? It is the exact same thing every day. So…I shut down news and Facebook wise. I discovered two great cable TV stations called METV and AntennaTV which show all the old shows, so I escape to see Mary Richards and Rhoda, Oscar and Felix (just to hear that theme song cheers me up!), Leave It To Beaver=my favorite, Dick Van Dyke, Jeannie and of course the divine Aunt Clara and wonderfully wicked Endora on Bewitched. If god forbid something happens to the president, or another hurricane is headed this way – I’ll know about it, otherwise, leave me alone and stress free.
Hurricane Sandy added to my already dreaded feeling of loss of NYC. To this day Battery Park is wiped out, The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island won’t open till July 4th, some Wall Street buildings are still on generators, South Street Seaport is ruined and now they are going to tear much of it down in favor of…….glass boxes. Lest we not forget the thousands and thousands in Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn that FEMA has not helped, that are without daily necessities like hot water, toilets and grocery stores. It is disgraceful. Childhood shore communities are gone – but the mayor and councilwoman Christine Quinn want to build…MORE glass boxes in midtown Manhattan, it is their ultimate mantra “let them eat cake.” It is like living in Alice In Wonder/Greed-land and the emperor and empress are wearing no clothes.
Then shortly after Christmas I thought I was going to loose my mom. She has injured her hip by pulling a heavy box across the floor and that action, somehow caused the cartilage to slip out of place between the two main hip bones and she now has the bones grinding bone on bone which I am told is quite painful. We were told there are two answers: hip replacement surgery or really strong painkillers. Mom can’t even make it up one step much less bend, turn or kneel. So all of a sudden I had to be there all the time. The Von Ritterns live to be in their high 90’s. Mom being 87 wasn’t at all any concern, she is otherwise healthy as a horse except for slight high blood pressure. One day we were at her dinner table and she couldn’t get up and for the first time I saw this old feeble woman and that was what sent me into shock. This isn’t my mom! Could this be the end? This vibrant woman who stood hours on line to vote for Obama can’t even get out of her chair?
We visited endless doctors offering all sorts of surgeries and pills. Mom refused all. You see, we lost my grandmother/her mother due to hip surgery – she was under anesthesia so long, that the oxygen didn’t properly flow to the brain and she came out of it with instant senility. My grandmother’s sister, had a botched spinal surgery and was given mega doses of pain killers which caused her to loose her mind to the point of being senile as well. Both extremely vibrant women, gone due to back/spine surgeries and all those pills. Mom was instantly haunted and frightened by that and said “God dammit, I am going to be here a long time, I am not making a doctor richer with hip surgery and I am not poisoning my brain. I’ll just take Tylenol!” (Well…sooner or later we will need more than just Tylenol…)
I couldn’t talk to anyone about it because when I did, as a few of you know, I lost it and broke down. I might be loosing my only living relative, my only living connection to my childhood, my history and my past. So I just shut down/disconnected. To top it all off, I threw out my back helping her and I also got blurred vision, explained to me due to stress. But – you have to learn how to make the lemonade out of the lemons or think sharply and say ‘what message are we getting here?’. The answer was finally a book, for both of us!
Our family history is astounding. Fiercely independent women who traveled the seven seas on their own, great-great grand parents who owned a coffee plantation in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, grandmother/‘Oma’ and her sisters were opera singers for the Berlin Opera, surviving Germany in World War II, mom coming to America and starting a new life. It’s the German “Gone With The Wind”!
We realized we need to record this legacy. Mom being viewed as forever young would come to haunt us if she were suddenly ill one day and not capable to record our history. NOW is the time for us as I research the Von Ritterns. Since she can mainly just “sit” – I have set her up in a comfortable office space in her kitchen and soon the great autobiography will begin. As for me, a book is the way to go. A $9.99 paperback in perfect carriable size &/or E-book, that anyone visiting New York would say “this is truly the real New York“.
So mom and I are settling into a new pattern of me helping her daily as well as trying to run my household (such as it is), photographing, walking Noel her dog and of course feeding Oscar my pet squirrel on time. With spring having arrived and many of my touring regulars visiting, I am slowly ‘making a mental comeback‘. Two people responsible are two very dear friends Lynn Benton Black and Pamela Martin Hughes who gave me wonderful loving insight and support on our recent tour.
Most importantly I want you all to know, I wasn’t trying to be mysterious or rude or diss-ing anyone. I just needed to be thoroughly alone to think and reassess. I couldn’t even think about “photos/blog of the day” (it seemed so trivial) when I thought I would loose mom suddenly – my brain just did an instant disconnect from all else. Please know I am very heartened by all the kind posts of concern here. I read all your posts and treasure you all.
So – I’m going to try to juggle it all: Touring, mom, me, Facebook, socializing, photographing, our books, blogging (it‘s a lot). On Facebook I’m going to start a new feature called ‘Mondays on Memory Lane’. I may not have a P.O.T.D. (Photo of the Day) every single day yet, and some photos may be a few months old, but – – – hey, I’m making a comeback ♥ !
March 28, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: AntennaTV, Berlin Opera, Bewitched, Brooklyn, Christmas, Councilwoman Christine Quinn, democrat, elderly parents, Ellis Island, Emotional shut down, family history, family relatives, FEMA, Gray Line Tours, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, hip surgery, Hurricane Sandy, Jeannie, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Leave It To Beaver, loosing a loved one, loosing New york, Manhattan, METV, Mike Bloomberg, nervous breakdown, New York City, Obama, old age, pain killers, Photo of the day, photography, pills, political bickering, Queens, Rachel Maddow, recording family history, republican, saving New York, self publishing, Staten Island, Statue of Liberty, the Von Ritterns, touring, Ursula Von Rittern, World War II, zoning variances | 7 Comments
MIDNIGHT MOVES: Where else but in New York can you find a place to play a friendly game of chess – at 2 a.m.?
The Village Chess Shop has been at the same location since 1972. In the heart of Greenwich Village, just one block below Washington Square Park. It was the first place created where chess players could come and play, as well as a place to shop. “The Chess Shop” has hundreds of chess sets from all over the world displayed. Many a tourist has come in smiling, saying how wonderful that such a “museum of chess” exists.
“The Chess Shop” is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year! Your move . . .
Village Chess Shop 230 Thompson Street New York City, NY 10012
November 15, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 24 hour, chess, chess players, chess sets, game of chess, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, midnight chess, New York City, The Chess Shop, Thompson Street, Washington Square Park | Leave a comment
HOPE: Dad – has hope for a better future, hope for tomorrow, hope for a better world, for a good presidential outcome, hope for good health, hope his son will go to college and hope that he will be able to afford it.
Son – has hope for ice cream, hope for a squishy teething ring, hope for a puppy, hope for hugs from mommy, hope for one more ride down the slide and at least 20 more minutes on the swings.
October 17, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: father and son, future, Greenwich Village, Hans Von Rittern, Hope for tomorrow, little boy, Manhattan, New York City, playground | Leave a comment
NEW YORK CITY - IN THE WIT OF AN EYE 