NYC has character, characters in the best sense, old NYC and more photos of way too much construction in the East Village

NYC's heroes tend to stunning tapestries come to life, tend to gardens, Mother Earth's most natural way to help clean the air and perform cpr on our hearts. Houston & Bowery
Tommy really helped me and my newly adopted handicapped cats thru crisis and he didn't try and take advantage of me which believe me some guys did try.   Thanks Tommy!!!!
Karl is so articulate and he listened to my podcast of The Going and he praised me.  He remembers being down there 9-11.  He was poetic but my over tired brain can't remember his haunting words about him witnessing death and destruction.  He is wearing a shirt and soft white sleeveless vest a family member of mine gave me to give to him.   He can't seem to climb out of his addiction to alcohol but he is kind, peaceful and has a unique grace.

Ben is the head of the fiction dept at the Strand and he is such an amazing person.  Today is his birthday.
Mike the gardener is also a very talented jazz musician and his planting in Tompkin Square Park is very "jazz "and way out in the most wonderful of ways.  I think we have so many unusual birds visiting our little park because of all his unique planting...including yellow belly sap suckers, Great Horn Owl, woodpeckers and more.
Peter continues to live with the day to day stress of fighting eviction as do many people and small businesses here in NYC.  Go to my blog engine and type in Whole Earth Bakery to read more...
Bob Hope, some of Jim Powers mosaic art that people from around the world photograph and admire.  Below it says Burns and Allen and MIA.  Jim is a Viet Nam Vet and his last major meltdown he stripped a light pole of his art as he loudly vocalized his despair (that most of us artists feel by the way)  and people wanted to call the police because they thought he was destroying someone else's art.  I explained that it is his art.  

This young policeman from the 9th Precinct deserves a special commendation for his humanity, compassion and success in defusing Jim's mega meltdown and by doing so Jim was not separated from Jesse Jane (not the porn start) his dog who is stunningly beautiful but more importantly she is like an emotional seeing eye dog that helps Jim navigate in the world.  By the 9th Precinct not arresting him that day and gently defusing Jim's meltdown, Jim was able to find his internal "reset button" and he got off the street. 

Jim Powers is so talented, gifted and hard working and although he has barely read a book and legally blind at this point -- he talks like he is extremely well read...intelligent and insightful. Unfortunately during Christmas when I was experiencing one the most shockingly abusive circumstances of my life which had nothing to do with him, he  called me and yelled at me and I felt the acid burn in my throat in my heart -- so I avoid him like the plague but wish him well.  I love Jesse Jane and you can see a picture of me and Jesse in one of my first postings.

Bumped in to one of my old college friends...we met circa 25 years ago...
You can see the river of taxi cabs but what I love is the color of the small buildings, beats this mirrored new hideous new york with mirrors any day

This dog has the cutest face but I missed the moment.
Karen selling her wares in front of Loves Saves the Day and again I worry about more victims of this tsunami of over the top community crushing development...I love the stores, the tables of sundries and the characters, me included.
To the far left is a small church I have posted on my blog with a close up of the front doors chained.  I noticed one day it was unchained and I gather people where praying.  The next is the hideous Cooper Union build which in my opinion was responsible for water main breaks with in one block but Cooper Union says all the vibration from their build was not to blame.

This was a parking lot on the Bowery (North side of 4th St) on the same side as The Village Voice Offices -- there were too many permits past out in the neighborhood and I won't be surprised when there are more infrastructure breaks and accidents like the the crane incident on 3rd Avenue and 13th that crushed the taxi cab but everyone survived that day, and so many infrastructure breaks or gas leaks or man hole covers or complaints and concerns re: self certification, speed builds etc.

If you look to the far left at the end of the street -- that building was the old Tower Video store before it moved across the street only to go out of business as many mega retail chains seem to be doing or closing up shop.  The era is over.  That building is now NYU Student housing and I want the first NYU community outreach resource center in the front windows there but Alicia Hurley checked and the answer came back "NO!" but at least she did try. NYU is awful.