For Sale In Greenwich Village

April 12, 2015 ·
Filed under: 10009, 10011, Greenwich Village, Greenwich Village Manhattan, Wow, WTF 

(among other things)

Yesterday the husband and I ventured to Manhattan. Among the places we visited was Union Square. We wanted to take in the oddness (actual and contrived) to be found there and see what the Farmer’s Market had to offer. Sure enough, the Pigeon Lady was doing her thing.

The Pigeon Lady nys

I like the Pigeon Lady.

Pigeons nys

Sure she has her “schtick”, but I enjoy her work. It has a certain whimsy to it. Above all, I love how passersby (not just children either) interact/engage with her “brood”. Watching this makes me happy.

The fellow who writes the First Amendment in sidewalk chalk had clearly paid the premises a visit. This too is good.

Fourth Amendment nys

What’s more, he kicked it up a notch by throwing the in the Fourth Amendment for good measure. Excellent! However, unbeknownst to me at the time, while I was taking this photo a fellow approached my husband. He asked him if he wanted to see a card trick. My husband replied as follows:

Fuck off.

It is at such moments I am reminded why I married this man. I will make it a point to remember this the next time he does something trivial that pisses me off. But I digress. After apprising me of this interaction the Mister started getting grumpy and commenced his mantra of “God, I hate these people.” I advised him to lighten up. Union Square has long been a place for misfits and malcontents. You gotta take the bad ones along with the good ones. That’s just the way it is. And then they came.

I am perusing produce. I hear shouting. Actually it was more like chanting. I was thinking to myself:

Alright, we going to have some demonstrating/rabble-rousing!

If there’s one thing yours truly loves, it is malcontents and agitators. Such people provide a check and balance to complacency. This is a good thing. Alas, it was not to be. Once I saw their placards (which read, among other things “Turn that frown upside down” and “SMILE” I knew exactly what to do. And I did it.

hooliganism

Here’s the deal:

All because I am not smiling and/or emitting sunshine out of every orifice does not mean I am not happy. I was already having a good time and did not need a smiling gaggle of clowns assuming I was not and demanding I do. However, it should be noted that when the above finger was dispatched I did have a smile on my face. I was following their directive. I merely tossed in a little “value-added”. Best of all, my act of mischief/churlish revolt brought smiles to other people’s faces. Laughter even. Thus when you think about it they did get what they wanted. It simply did not manifest in the manner they had planned (ADVICE: revise any/all sign copy so they request smiles sans obscene hand gestures. This is New York City after all.). Conclusion: this was a win/win for all parties involved.

Upon having our fill of Union Square we headed to the West Village. Along the way the Mister wondered aloud exactly how much one of these houses would cost. He guessed $6,000,000 – $7,000,000. I told him I thought that figure to be low. Very low.

18 West 11 St nys

It was on West 11th Street he pointed out this rather unusual looking townhouse.

No Trespassing nys

It was not only for sale…

Sign nys

but sported this rather ominous “No Trespassing” sign to boot. It was at this moment is when my husband and I had our “eureka” moment. You see, gentle readers, the new(ish) facade of this building was not merely a flight of fancy on the owner’s part. It was a necessary replacement. The replacement was necessary because the original facade was blown clean off.

FDNY responds to Weatherman townhouse explosion.jpg
FDNY responds to Weatherman townhouse explosion” by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

A Little History 101: 18 West 11th Street was once occupied by a radical leftist group called the Weather Underground. While endeavoring to build bombs in the basement of said building on March 6, 1970 one detonated. Three people died as a result.  There’s a piece of New York City history for you.

Now let’s get back to my husband’s question:

How much does a townhouse— albeit in this case one with a dubious place in history which, as a result, clearly attracts “visitors” (hence the need for a “No Trespassing” sign) and may come with a ghost or two as roommates— in an “a-grade location” cost?

Without further ado, here you go:

listing18west11

 

Just shy of $13,000,000 dollars. Not surprisingly the listing makes no mention of what happened here 45 years ago. I cannot really blame the agents for seeing fit to keep quiet about it. But happened here “it” most decidedly did.

So there have you.

New York Shitty Photo Du Jour: Eye On The Street

Eye On The Street nys

Taken March 14, 2015.

From The New York Shitty Photo Pool: Union Square

Just another day in New York City as captured purrfectly by John Fullard!

The Word On The Street: Union Square

US1

US2

US3

Like

Taken October 25, 2014.

New York Shitty Photo Du Jour: The Word On The Street

Union Square 8162014 nys

Taken August 16, 2014.

New York Shitty Photo Du Jour: NOTORIOUS

April 27, 2014 ·
Filed under: New York City, The Word On The Street 

When I saw this at Union Square yesterday afternoon I simply had to ask the wearer if I may take a photo of it. She gladly agreed and noted that while the Notorious RBG elicits a lot curiosity, very few know what this is “about”. GOD BLESS AMERICA. Or, as I later opined to the Mister:

I wonder how many people in this country do not even know we have a Supreme Court— wait, I probably do not want to know this.

In any case, you those of you who are so inclined should check out the rather entertaining Notorious R.B.G. web site and I am linking to this, this and this because this is my blog and I find them entertaining. So there.

The Word On The Street: The Mystery Of Life, Solved

From Union Square.

New York Shitty Photos Du Jour: Good Friday Tidings From Union Square

Or: What is wrong with this picture?

Today the Mister took the day off and we opted to take a sojourn into “the city”. Our first stop was Union Square. There we saw a number of fascinating things. Follows are a few selections.

This young lady who— for reasons which do not need to be outlined— elicited a great deal of “interest”.

And this fellow, Felix Morelo, drawing faces (as he is known to do) with sidewalk chalk. They lead to the “Kissing Spot”.

Here he is giving yours truly a “thumbs up”.

And here he is getting a verbal reprimand from this public space’s rent-a-cops and parks staff. They were not amused.

It was explained to Mr. Morelo that he is not to engage in this (clearly) disruptive, destructive behavior because they would have to clean it up.

Once again, gentle readers: he was drawing a “Kissing Spot”. With sidewalk chalk. You want to know why yours truly dislikes public/private parks “partnerships”, gentle readers? You just saw it. Sure, the proponents this arrangement like to extol upon its financial benefits. However, there is a down-side to this kind of thing: “gate-keepers” are brought in to enforce “standards”— and those standards can (and often do) reach this level of utter absurdity. Sue Bee said it best:

Sidewalk chalk. Are you fucking kidding me?

New York Shitty Photo Du Jour: Comin’ At You From The Union Square Farmer’s Market…

Occasionally— no, make that quite often— I like to indulge my inner teenager. Thus New York Shitty wishes to give a salute to what appears to be the John Holmes of produce. Who said being a vegetarian was boring. In any case I give this wonder of nature two enthusiastic thumbs up (one had to hold the camera)!

From The New York Shitty Photo Pool: Union Square

Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Spitzer hits the  campaign trail as captured by WarmSleepy.

 

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