Candlelight vigil for 35 Cooper Square

TONIGHT!

More info can be found at the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors.

Read the history of this building at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.

And, another tribute over at EV Grieve.

On the bright side...

While we're on the subject of Mars...

Vivienne Gucwa has published a wonderful essay on Mars Bar that is a must-read, especially for anyone trying to get a fix on what it is people are so upset about.  Her photos are beautiful and capture that late-afternoon feeling, when the bar seems to exhale, relishing in that moment of calm before the next wave of chaos comes crashing through the door.


photo by Vivienne Gucwa

You can see more of her Mars Bar photos here.

I'm still struggling with the thought of an East Village without Mars.  I stopped in on Christmas Day, expecting it to be filled with sadness and depression, but to my relief, it wasn't at all.  In fact, the bar was full and when I walked in, I was greeted with many familiar smiles and cheerful hellos. 

I think, for me, this marked the last stage of grief in mourning the loss of Mars:  Acceptance.  I'm pretty sure I covered all the other stages in just a few days prior:

Denial - Noooooo!  This can't be happening, there must be a mistake!

Anger - WTF?!  Damn developers!  Does no one care about anything?!  F-ing gentrification, money, greed, Bloomberg, blah blah blah!!

Bargaining - Ok, maybe something can be worked out.  Mars can stay open during construction...we'll just find another nearby bar...if I can just win the lotto, I'll buy the whole lot and leave it as-is.

Depression - Hey, bartender, how about another round?  Keep 'em coming...

Acceptance -  Merry Christmas.  Happy New Year.  It's just a room; the patrons and Mars spirit live on, and will always outshine anything that comes to that corner.

If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose.  

--Charles Bukowski

More to come, stay tuned...

Related: Is there life after Mars?

Related: Roy

Sunday evening in Mars

Ice, ice, baby!

Just as all those snow storms were getting so boring, Mother Nature went and sent us some ice...which she quickly took away just after we went out to play in it.

Anyway, it was fun while it lasted.







You can see more icy photos here.

89 Clinton Street

As I remember it:

 

Does anyone else remember it this way?  The door caught my eye every time I walked by.

Google Street View shows how much has changed (that's the same entry, beneath the blue awning):


View Larger Map

Some scenes from today's walk in wonderland

You can see more photos here.

Magic hour

It's that hour between evening and night, when the day businesses are closing up, but the night businesses haven't opened their doors.  Everyone is in transit - leaving work, going out, not here anymore, but not there yet either.  While time adjusts itself, there are those places that sit quietly, waiting for the sun or moon or stars to rise...or maybe just for darkness to settle in.

The perfect winter day?

Not too cold, light snow, clear sidewalks and no responsibilities...

Something Red

As we prepare for another snow storm tonight, I am looking ahead to hunkering down with a book this weekend in my cozy apartment.  At the top of my reading list is Something Red, an adventure novel set in one of the coldest winters of 13th century England.  The book is worth reading, not only for the engaging story, but for the beautiful prose style of  author, Douglas Nicholas. 

One reviewer on Amazon says Nicholas [creates his fictional world] "using a sort of jeweled precise terminology that is catnip for scholars and for crossword puzzle freaks, and that made me wish Nabokov were still alive to read it."  I have to say Nabokov came to mind when I began reading the book as the attentive descriptiveness makes me believe I am there, traveling the terrain right alongside the main characters, able to taste the snow in the air and feel the icy chill right through my bones.

So, get out the blanket and fuzzy slippers, put on a pot of coffee, and settle in.  You can get a start reading the first chapter here.