Ludlow layers
A BUTCHER'S #3
Then & before
I’m sure I’m going to be writing about different aspects of living on Ludlow St. It’s a street that, when we used to come home late (and taxis were affordable!) cab drivers a) didn’t know where it was, and b) didn’t want to drive down it and would only drop us on the corner next to Katz’s. It would have been almost impossible to imagine back then that ‘Ludlow’ would become a brand, like ‘Brooklyn’ - a suit style (J.Crew!), Hotels, songs (Julian Casablancas/Strokes and others) etc.
The street was made up mostly of wholesale businesses of all sorts of smaller items, with the last paper distributor in Manhattan next door (more on that another time) - Toys, pillow stuffing, a dog collar factory, ‘framed butterflies’?! How fantastic is that!
The evidence is in the signage:
178: Lamps, gifts & novelties, shades. Bazaar Supplies. Max Fish opened in this spot 6 years later in 1989
176: Closeouts - Musical Jewelry boxes. Framed butterflies. Gifts. This space became a woodworking shop and then The Pink Pony in the early 90s
As you can see from this 1940s tax photo (an incredible resource, I’m always checking it!) it used to be a much better looking building. We never lived in a building with a stoop, so it was was quite surprising to discover that our building actually had two entrances, each with a stoop. That’s quite a ‘transformation’ done on the building’s ground/first floors. Check the position of fire-escapes to compare the before and after.
Our landlord sold the air rights above the building, so the new Hotel (‘The Ludlow’, naturally) next door could build over us!
biking around
I like walking around the city being reminded of artwork by a favorite, Gabriel Orozco. A bit less poetic maybe! I first saw this piece in the big MoMA show of his work in 2010 and recently again in the inaugural show at Marion Goodman’s new space downtown. Note the white bike on the fence….. OrOzcO
“He’s taking something which symbolizes movement, but he’s making them inert by putting them together in this, funny kind of acrobatic act. So you have something which is about motion, but is not in motion.” ANN TEMKIN
tail end
It’s flu & cold season - here’s a classic Lower East Side remedy : Chicken Nodlee Soup
The unintention, Lamps and Shades "Come to Styx with a friendly guide on premises."
Thx for intro to Ororozo? arrested bikes join Marcel's coffee mills