A Cinematic Clip Tour Of Dirty Old New York

Over at The EV Grieve, they've posted the fifth in a series of cinematic clip tours of New York from back in its less glamorous period. These were created by cinephile Jonathan Hertzberg, who is obsessed with the dirty old NYC of the late 60s, 1970s and 1980s. His latest 25 minute tour de grit is put together with a number of notable films (TAKING OF PELHAM 123, SUPERMAN, TAXI DRIVER) and some lesser known films, some of which even I couldn't guess (what is Barbra Streisand doing with a bunch of thugs cruising down the East River?!).

Some of the clips are classics, others curiosities, but the real interest is often the background or the location itself. There's one remarkable shot of 1970s Times Square that shows not only the old HoJo's (one of my favorite spots) but also a still-operating Horn & Hardart automat. And there is a great sequence of shots around the 8:00 minute mark of Jessica Lange and King Kong at the old World Trade Center, ending with Kong dead on the wide beach that used to abut the site made from the excavation of the twin towers and later developed into Battery Park City and the World Financial Center.

Make sure you stay 'til the end for an Oscar-like tribute to actors associated with NYC who are no longer with us.
Dirty Old New York aka Fun City, Part V from Jonathan Hertzberg on Vimeo.

There Goes The Pizza Box, 1957-2013 RIP

So I leave the Village for less than two months and the place falls apart!  

One of my all-time favorite local spots and my personal best-slice-of-pizza joint Pizza Box closed up shop unceremoniously last Thursday. I saw this picture posted on Jeremiah's Vanishing New York and felt a Proustian-pang for yet another vestige of my NYC youth. It had been there 55 years and wondrously felt like it and the guys behind the counter were always friendly, especially to the locals like myself.

Though the pizza there was great and draft beer only 2$, what was truly special was the outdoor seating area which gave a glimpse into the priveleged backyards of the stately town homes on Macdougal and Sullivan which shared an impossibly lush garden space with suburban-sized trees more than 60 feet tall. This secret garden was one of the treasures of living in the neighborhood as you could retreat to the relative quiet of this leafy space and have a slice and a beer and maybe even a cigarette (if someone else had a pack!). 

In the six weeks since I moved from the Village to Astoria, this has been the second notable retail death in the neighborhood--the first being Joe's Dairy on Sullivan. What's next...Once Upon A Tart? It makes me sad to see things changing like this but it also reinforces part of why I left in the first place--the Village is just not the homey local place I used to know anymore.

Old Times Square Photos Of Follies Burlesk And The Gaiety

One of my favorite blogs is Jeremiah's Vanishing New York where the motto is "A New Yorker is someone who longs for New York." Sometimes, when I'm walking through the super corporate, blazingly bright Times Square of today, I long for a time a few decades past when things were a little more run down and rough around the edges. 

Back when I first arrived in town, one of my favorite spots for drinks and "a show" was the old Howard Johnson's on 48th and Broadway where, on the second floor, you could see a classy male strip show at The Gaiety (a joint made famous when Madonna shot part of her SEX book there). It was classy in that there was seating, a runway, and even punch and snacks in the back. Ah those were the gays... 

Anyway, today Jeremiah features some great old photos that predate my memories of that corner, when the Gaiety was a female "Burlesk" joint with a crazy old neon sign that promised an "all-live whirly girly revue." You know, when they put it like that, I think that's even something I'd have been interested in checking out way back in the day. This is the kinda place where ladies who wanted to by Gypsy Rose Lee would have strut their stuff so I'm sure the place was chock full of characters, and a few New York nuts too. 

Meatpacking District Part II: Time Traveling Photos From 1985

On Friday, I posted about ice skating in the Meatpacking District under the High Line in a rink sponsored by the Standard. Today, via my favorite NYC nostalgia site Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, I found some incredible photos of the same Meatpacking District taken in the mid-1980s in which the streets are practically empty and the area is downright desolate. But there is beauty in its desolation and the contrast to what you find today when walking dow the same streets couldn't be more severe.

The pictures (like the one above of 14th and 9th ave) were taken by photographer Brian Rose and you can see the full gallery on his website. They are a fun time traveling trip to lost era, beautifully enshrined in Rose's austere photos.

Remembering The Owner Of A Times Square Holdout The Grand Luncheonette

When I moved to NYC, 42nd Street was still pretty gritty and one of my favorite spots along the Deuce between 7th and 8th avenue was the Grand Lucheonette.  It was essentially a hot dog stand squeezed into the lobby entrance of one of the old grindhouses on the block.  It was a classic old New York joint that had been there since the 1940's which was run by a classic old New Yorker, Fred Hakim.

Hakim, age 83, died yesterday and got a lovely obit in the TIMES, recalling his place in the storied block's history as well as his stand against the gentrification which ultimately took his business in 1997 and changed 42nd Street into a corporate playground.  When Fred took ill last week, Jeremiah's Vanishing New York ran a lengthy post with photos (by Richard Estes) and video of the Luncheonette from back in the 90's just before it was closed. The video is especially beautiful with it's grainy quality and the utter lack of tourists!

Hakim said that the closing was ultimately a stroke of great luck as the theatre itself collapsed just a few weeks after his departure due to a combination of demolition work next door and high winds. Anyway, I will always remember him standing in the window and slinging dogs in this quaint relic of long gone era.