Jean-Marc - September 18, 2007

I have known Jean-Marc since I was a teenager. Our paths crossed over the years, sometimes in New York and other times in Paris. He has always been involved in theater, or film. I offered him a chance to visit and he suggested three places.



He would first go visit an old friend on the Lower East Side. This is a street that has totally transformed from its former life as prostitution strip with the drug dealers in the park across the street. Now there is a hotel on the corner.


The light was intense on Forsyth Street, it was doing magical things

Here is Jean-Marc against the trees of the park. There has always been a special feel to the park, even when it was dangerous, it was beautiful. Now it has been all fixed up, people play basketball, or soccer. There are skateboarders. The old men hang out with their songbirds. It is still beautiful.This is the back garden of a building on 1st Street which faces Houston. There are mirrors decorating the doors, and frames, hanging from the windows, the fire escape. It glitters in the morning. All the other gardens facing Houston have concrete fences blocking the view. This one building is open. Jean-Marc isn't in the picture, but I thought he'd like to see it.


Next he would go to Greenwich Village, he did not specify where. I went to the intersection of 10th Street and 4th Street, which seems a quintessential Village spot. It is actually a little tacky, with a big Fedex sign and maybe a Subway deli. I walked along 10th (I think).


I thought it would amuse him to see how big the Austin Minis are over here.

Some fire escapes, complete with American flag.


Last, he wanted to go to Chelsea, where he took theater classes with another old friend who used to stay at the Chelsea Hotel.




Here Jean-Marc fluttered a bit agitatedly under the banners of support for Stanley Bard, former manager of the Chelsea Hotel. The other partners who own the hotel with him decided to hire a management company. The artists and musicians who live there are worried that they will be forced out by higher rents. I feel sad at the thought of another creative haven becoming a luxury playground. I wonder what will be left of New York after all the fun people are priced out.

But enough of that. Here is a little more Chelsea.



Since Jean-Marc only chose three places to visit, I decided to surprise him with a fourth. I took him to St. Mark's of the Bowery, a church that is a firm supporter of the arts.



When I came back in the afternoon, there was some outdoor theater going on.

It looked like political theater. The performers certainly did not like George Bush (he is the fellow with the duck bill). They were none to fond of weapons manufacturers either, it was perhaps part of the antiwar protests from the day before. I thought it was all a nice setting for Jean-Marc to float over.

1 comments:

Lisa said...

What a great idea. Is he going to arrange a reciprocal visit for you in Paris?

Thanks for the reminder about your blog... I've subscribed now so I won't miss anything. I love your photographs and observations about the city. It's amazing the changes that have come to pass since we were knocking around the Lower East Side, isn't it? I just can't bring myself to love any of them.

September 24, 2007 7:52 AM