Met Lumber

Visitors frequently ask where essential services like gas stations or lumber yards are located in New York City. Many of these businesses have relatively unassuming presences and are not readily noticed, especially with the distractions of so many other city stimuli. But shoe repair shops, laundromats, grocery stores, gas stations, auto repair shops, hardware stores, and locksmiths do exist, tucked away here and there
Many, however, are disappearing. Operating costs, particularly rents, have soared to levels making it extraordinarily difficult for all but the well-heeled or chain store to survive. In some cases, ownership of the building by the business owner gives lifetime protection from the slings and arrows of a gentrifying environment. Not so long ago there were 4 lumber yards in the SoHo and neighboring Village areas. Now only Met Lumber remains.
Metropolitan Lumber and Hardware owns and occupies an entire stone building at 175 Spring Street. The building, with its colorful exterior graphic, was previously a power generating plant. Met Lumber is a well stocked, full service operation with cutting facilities. Keep in mind if you patronize a place like this, you may be subjected to a New York style reception. Regular customers/contractors are steady, larger buyers and typically know exactly what they want. But there are many do-it-yourselfers who are unknowledgeable. The volume of these customers, combined with the barrage of questions and time needed to educate the customer in a busy operation, makes a rough retail environment. Unlike chain stores, many with poorly trained employees and high turn over, Met Lumber has a staff of seasoned people who know their stuff. But, they have been taking a beating for many years ...

Tune Out, Tune Up, Tune In

This year was the 50th anniversary of the Washington Square Music Festival. Outdoor music festivals are one of the great summer pleasures and we are privileged in New York City to have such stable of talented musicians who are willing to participate.
The annual concert series is free and typically takes place over four Tuesday evenings in July. This year's was five concerts culminating in last night's concert with a jazz program - the Charles Mingus Orchestra playing the jazz of Charles Mingus.
Seating is provided on a first come basis, but the music can be easily enjoyed standing or sitting in nearby benches. The atmosphere is informal.
Of course there are distractions with many other people and activities nearby, but that is the remarkable thing in this city - how great things can coexist and people can selectively enjoy a particular activity. Tuning out and tuning in is a necessary and acquired skill. Outdoor and street activities are not for pampered individuals who want their culture in a more controlled environment - for those, we have wonderful concert halls and performance venues. So here is to the streets and parks of NYC - tune out, tune up and tune in ...

Overused and Abused

There are words that are overused and abused and two of them are genius and luxury. I remember a radio program where a disk jockey was on a rant about the overuse of the word genius - he saw it applied to musicians who were just very good but certainly not in the league of true geniuses. Beethoven, Mozart or Bach could keep as many as 7 melodies in their minds at one time. They could compose complex music in their heads without having to hear it and then just write the completed score. Now that's genius.
Luxury should have elements of the sublime, uniqueness and rarity, not just offer the basics and use a comparison to the unacceptable to define it. Some may define luxury apartment in New York City in relative terms. From this perspective, luxury in New York can mean space, quiet or the absence of squalor. Many now consider living in the city itself a luxury. Although there are many good points here, I don't think the integrity of the word luxury is best kept by defining it using the standards of the homeless, destitute or uninhabitable housing. See my story - The Dark Ages.
When I first moved to the city, I saw the phrase luxury apartments and modern used in connection with any place that essentially was not a tenement. If the tub was not in the kitchen, the toilet was not in the public hallway or the place was not roach infested then we had luxury. Luxury here is what most people outside the city would consider the minimum acceptable standards for decent.
I am sure the apartments in the building in the photo are decent, but I would be surprised if they are truly luxurious. And townhouse lofts - here I think we misuse and abuse another word. but that's another story ...

Related Postings: The Dark Ages, Unguent.

Sand in Water

New York City has many visitors. It is an important part of our economy. And generally speaking we embrace all - outsiders, outcasts, iconoclasts. The melange of characters and people already here dilute things that it is difficult for one person or group to really ruffle any feathers. 
But there are abrasives that even in New York City can rub one the wrong way. And one of those things are motorcycle gangs. They seem curiously out of place here but for the most part are tolerated. Dilution in the world of New York generally makes them a fleeting image. They frequently congregate in various locations such as near Gray's Papaya in the Village. Time is spent eating, cavorting and sporting their hardware. And off they go in a roar.
However, the roar of a pack of bikers is one thing but when some use straight pipes (no mufflers), the sound can be deafening. It is illegal, but prosecution is difficult. I have witnessed sounds that are literally like explosions. I am sure most bikers are law biding, but the few bad apples really spoil the barrel and the outlaw image is strengthened.
There are things that can not be diluted. Like sand in water ...

TMNK

This find is courtesy of Corey, an employee at the Apple Store on Prince Street in SoHo. While on a recent visit there, our conversation turned from Macs to photography. Surprisingly, Corey was already aware of this Photoblog and asked if I was knew of graffiti artist The Me Nobody Knows (TMNK) aka Nobody. He suggested that it may be a good subject for blogging. The alias Nobody leads to nice wordplays in his art messages like Nobody Cares or I am nobody - Art is My Weapon.
On a subsequent visit to the Apple store, Corey was gracious enough on a work break to take me through nearby streets and point out the various sidewalk works of TMNK.
Nobody has a multimedia website with the requisite rap music and non-intuitive interface, Myspace page and ebay store. Since I do not understand the vocabulary and I am not part of this subculture, I will have to let the art, websites, music and words speak for themselves ...

Redemption

If you are open minded and social, the people of this city can reveal a world to you that is unique and remarkable. The biggest problem is that some of the most fascinating lurk behind the most unassuming faces and things. I never know where a casual conversation will lead. More times than not, a story unfolds that is woven with extraordinary fabric and I am so very glad I did not just pass it by.
So this is how I met Isack Kousnsky, an unassuming man cleaning a window in front of what turned out to be his school bus. I stopped to pet his dog, a beauty I wrote about last year - see Wolfdog here. Isack turns out to be an accomplished photographer/artist with an unusual portfolio of mixed media work - you can see it here. His work is stored in his bus. He has had shows worldwide and is a SoHo resident. He was located in front of 111 Mercer, where his studio was formerly located.
We spoke of the difficulties in working in Manhattan with stratospheric rents - his old studio is now $6000 per month for 1/2 of a floor. He will be most likely relocating to Brooklyn, which although less expensive, has seen its own very high increases in rents.

Isack Kousnsky, born in Haifa, Israel in the 50’s moved to New York City in the early 80’s. Based in the East Village as a strong artist he became part of the avant-garde movement. He exhibited in many galleries such as Sixth Sense Gallery, Now Gallery and Hilo Project focusing in painting, sculpture and installation. During that time he curated one of the largest exhibitions of the 80’s art movement, including artists Salvador, Rosilio, Luca, and Keith Haring. In 1989 he returned to Israel and built and produced an Alternative art center in Haifa. In 1990 he started to produce his artwork in photography and developed a new technique combining painting and photography. In 1993, he returned to the city.

I have written before about the danger in New York of judging books by their covers. I am one of the worst when it comes to doing this - I am quick to judge and frequently I am way off the mark. These articles are my efforts at redemption ...

Small Steps

What does this have to do with NYC? Plenty. Dr.Brown's Cel-Ray Soda is a specialty item more commonly found in the New York City area. In the 1930s it was even nicknamed "Jewish champagne." 

The subject of beverages came up while chatting recently with a number of friends on a hot summer's evening. We all volunteered our personal favorites - flavors and brands - cream soda, root beer, etc. One of our group mentioned celery soda - Dr. Browns Cel-Ray. None of us had had one and we became very intrigued. We were unable to locate one at our local green grocer, so it became a mission for a couple of us.
There is great satisfaction in achieving goals but in New York City where life can be hard, many goals are difficult so we often must settle for small things. I think this explains the popularity of Sudoku - there is only one solution and a completed puzzle is a small, perfect achievement.
In New York City, space is at a premium, so in many instances we do not have the broad range of consumer items in certain categories, certainly not the type of selection of packaged products seen in a suburban supermarket like Pathmark or Super Stop& Shop.
We did not find Cel-Ray at our local green grocer. In a way, I think we secretly welcomed this - it gave us a small team goal. One that would most likely be easily achieved.
Last night there was word that Cel-Ray could be found at a neighborhood market. A short pilgrimage confirmed reports and two of us were able to acquire and sample our first Dr. Browns Cel-Ray soda. The flavor was quite good - pungent and spicy - much better than we expected. Finding it was almost like landing on the moon - one small step for two men ...