Mar 272011
Which is where I lived when I went to NYU Grad Film… The school was also on 7th street, further west, and pretty much across from the famous McSorley’s bar. I always thought it smelled like rancid cheese in there. But I was never a big beer drinker which was their specialty.
One of the major benefits in those days was that it was easy to get rid of your old car. All you had to do was park it on the street and either leave a window cracked a quarter of an inch, or if you had a very old car, and no one wanted it, you could just leave the door unlocked and that would do it. The flip side was that cars were often taken that you hadn’t meant to dispose of.
Lower East Side/East Village was an exciting part of NYC in that era, with the burgeoning punk rock scene, but as you point out, it could be a dangerous place to live. The 70s saw the height of crack addiction and consequent crime in that area. In 1988, there were the Tompkins Square Park riots where the police used heavy handed tactics to enforce a curfew, until Koch rescinded the curfew. I taught school there for 15 years starting in 1991 and there was still plenty of drug-dealing and violence on those streets. A couple of my students were killed down there and one of my students killed someone else over a marijuana sale.
Today, some streets have been gentrified and others remain havens for drug-dealing, but there’s still a vibrant music scene. Back in the early 70s, Dave and I actually auditioned in a bar in the West Village called Back Fence. It’s still there and it still has an open mic night. We played a combination of Dylan and original songs and got a smattering of applause from a bunch of drunks at the bar, but apparently the manager was not very impressed.
McSorleys use to not let broads in..
Ratners aound the corner,Fillmore East and the B&H what more could a person ask…
Electric Circus,Nah..
Got married in the church on 6th and 2nd
Love your work..Excelente
Some of mine>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/30517907@N07/