Graffiti – Tats Cru

I dragged a friend up to the South Bronx one sweltering Sunday afternoon to do a tour of the area and see some graffiti by Tats Cru. There weren’t many people about, and a couple of the places we wanted to go in were closed, but we ended up sitting in a leafy square watching the kids play out on their bicycles, thinking how you don’t often see children playing outside these days.

TV Review: NY77 The Coolest Year In Hell « Blissed Out

Downtown New Yorkers often hanker after the old days, when Manhattan wasn’t overrun with Masters of the Universe and sleek, expensive condo buildings. This VH1 documentary remembers 1977, a year when the city was in crisis.  Son of Sam was on the rampage, a mayoral election was being fought and a blackout brought anarchy to the streets. But out the desperate conditions came disco, hedonism, hip hop and punk. And it’s the loss of NYC’s edginess, its f*ck it, let’s do it, sod the consequences, we ain’t got nothing to lose attitude, that people mourn.

Find a link to the show and read a full review here: TV Review: NY77 The Coolest Year In Hell « Blissed Out

Watching it reminded me of the similarities between NYC and Manchester (England) – industrial landscape, warehouse buildings with iron fire escapesand a creative scene born out of poverty, urban decay and social unrest, before regeneration and gentrification. Dave Haslam wrote a great book, Manchester, England that chronicles the rise and fall of Manchester from the start of the industrial revolution up to the end of the twentieth century, a story inextricably linked with the evolution of  Manchester’s music scene.

Sleeping outside New York Public Library, Bryant Park

Sleeping outside New York Public Library, Bryant Park, originally uploaded by chrisjohnbeckett.

Wonderful Town, Ed. David Remnick

USPS in Chicago, originally uploaded by swanksalot.

Men, it appears, don’t like to read fiction. To serve them, The New Yorker contains fiction seeminlgy written expressly for men, that is, devoid of anything that might arouse passion or provoke an unsettling emotion; fiction written as if by scientists.

Look at Nerve, the sexiest dating site in NYC. Note that a good proportion of the men advertise themselves as readers of The New Yorker, as a testament to their intellect and literary leanings.

But look closer and you’ll find their New Yorkers piled high in a dusty corner of their bedroom next to the furniture they’ve designed and built themselves and 600 thread count sheets, carefully arranged to woo women looking for literate, sensual men who are good with their hands.

The romantic ambitions of these men are apt to go the way of their literary aspirations; a triumph of ennui over achievement.

To save room in your bedroom, a selection of short stories from The New Yorker has been collated in Wonderful Town so, in the unlikely event your date asks what you last read, you can talk with the necessary confidence and intellectual swagger. But an admission that you don’t read it because you don’t get on with the font is likely to reward you with relief and probably a snog at the end of the night.

Whether you choose to go back to theirs to inspect their (alleged) stack of New Yorkers in person is entirely up to you.

 Where to read: Bryant Park Reading Room in summer or New York Public Library in winter

PS1

Originally uploaded by Alex Terzich.

PS1in Long Island City, Queens is the much cooler sibling of MOMA. Housed in a Victorian school, it’s worth going just to wander round the labyrinthine and atmospheric corridors.

Sit on the playground steps, hot chocolate or glass of wine in hand to watch  the Brooklyn hipster / downtown design types congregate at their cultural watering hole. There are no tourists here.  

The art is contemporary and varied, there’s usually something good, bad and ugly to make you smile/scratch your head/despair.

In the summer, Warm Up  (pictured) with DJs and dancing in the  tricked out school yard; young architects compete annually for the opportunity to design the space.

If you like graffiti, check out 5 Pointz, which is across the road. You can’t miss it.

5 Pointz

, originally uploaded by bluebirdiebird88.

5 Pointz is a massive warehouse building just across from PS1 art gallery in Long Island City, Queens. It’s covered in various and changing graffiti, some by kids who attend a project to teach them aerosol techniques, some by west coast and European artists.

You can get to the roof via a fire escape for great views of Manhattan.

Check out PS1 across the road.

Goodbye Blue Monday

Goodbye Blue Monday @ Bushwick, originally uploaded by photophobia.

Head out to Goodbye Blue Monday in Bushwick, Brooklyn to see new bands play in the surreal surroundings of a junk emporium. It’s a bit of a trek but worth the effort to get to this frontline of hipsterdom.

There’s all kinds of furniture and books piled floor to ceiling, but find a spot to perch and enjoy the music. The venue has a great story and the owner books anyone who wants to play.

There’s a bar that serves beer, wine and coffee and a sculpture garden out back. Oh, and everything is for sale.

1087 Broadway, nr Dodworth Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn

(Kosciusko Street on the J train)

Von

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Bar Movements, originally uploaded by Nick Nada.

Von is a narrow, candlelit bar, just north of Houston. There’s seating tucked away at the back and around the corner, but sitting at the bar is best. You’ll probably get your ankles nuzzled by their fierce looking but friendly pitbull, Happy.

3 Bleeker Street @ Bowery
(Bleeker Street on the 6 train)

Zebulon

you are really so many, originally uploaded by Disguised as Meat.

Zebulon is a great little music bar, owned and run by musicians. It’s dark, atmospheric and intimate (you have to squeeze past the band to get to the bathroom) with nightly performances at 9pm and 11pm. There’s no cover charge save for a hat that’s passed around.

The music is eclectic and it’s worth turning up even if you don’t know who is playing. The best, and most random, thing I saw there was a French marching band, who gradually stripped their clothes off as the night wore on. I’ll add their name when I remember it.

The place is generally quiet up until a few minutes before the gig, then everyone disappears. They do good bar snacks, such as cheese and cold meat plates. Many a night there has gotten out of hand and gone on way, way too late.

Wythe @ N 3rd, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
(Bedford Ave stop on L train)

Moto

i like moto, originally uploaded by ecstatictyler.

Another of my absolute favourites, Moto is a tiny bar tucked into a wedge shaped building under the JMZ tracks in Williamsburg.

It’s cosy and looks magical late at night when lit by candlelight. It’s fitted out with reclaimed materials, including motorbike parts, which is where it gets its name.

The food is delicious but cash only, so come prepared.

394 Broadway @ Division, Williamsburg, Brooklyn