Since 11 Spring was buffed. This building at Wooster and Grand, once a candy factory but now gutted and awaiting some other fate, has been one of the last refuges for pasted paper street art in Manhattan. Jay Maisel’s building on Bowery and Spring is still going strong. You can also find a small pasted facade on Mercer Street and small pieces stuck up all through SOHO. But the Rivington Street spot where Swoon had a mural for some years, was buffed and now is occupied by a sprayed on tag. You can also find some paper off the West Side Hwy in the 20′s. There must be pastings somewhere in the Meat Packing District but I haven’t checked recently. I guess I should include the legal wall at Houston and Bowery to complete the tour.
Every once in a while I’ll look up and see a huge black plume of smoke coming from a building. It usually doesn’t last long, just a great belch of evil soot and then it stops, often too quickly for me to get a shot while it is still black. Some buildings still have incinerators. What makes them so special?
Greg Palast is one of the few true investigative journalists left on this sweet planet. I asked him to talk about his new book, “Vulture’s Picnic.” We were at OWS Environmental Justice Day in Washington Square Park. gregpalast.com/ vulturespicnic.org
A fenced off and sanitized Liberty Plaza decorated for Christmas, and Environmental Justice Day in Washington Square Park with Greg Palast.
The authorities have succeeded in sanitizing Liberty Plaza by turning it into a giant free speech kettling zone. Making it unpleasant for humans. The entire plaza is surrounded by barricades zip tied together, ready made for easy round ups.
There are only two entrances to the park now, and both are manned by at least 4 private guards. Benches along the walls are forbidden for sitting.
It is all lit up and decorated for Christmas and embarrassingly void of joy and humanity. When I was there this past Sunday, there were a few folks with signs and one group of about 50 having a quiet discussion. Some of the occupier are now sleeping in churches, and other organization is going on in schools and other indoor spots. Stay tuned, these brave clever kids aren’t done yet.
Created with Admarket’sflickrSLiDR.
Signs, people and celebrities in this slideshow from this past sunday, the day after a nasty pre-winter storm. The piled up garbage bags are wet clothes and blankets waiting to be laundered and dried. Russel Simmons hip-hop magnate and Josh Fox fracking filmaker were there.
