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Seen in the Neighborhood on April 28th

4/30/2017

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Tree Bites Man (Back)

By Caitlin Hawke

Hello, West End Ginkgo. And welcome back from your overwintering.  Reports of your demise were greatly exaggerated.  Your surgeon must share my joy and sit here, too, on the sideline, cautiously optimistic that you will best the sequelae of your maiming for seasons to come.

Begging forgiveness, I, too, am guilty of premature reports and plead naiveté in the face of the awesome power of nature, and pessimism in face of human baseness, but am now woke.

Every time I walk by, I look up at you, wink and grin. You are a force to reckon with. Your resilience is a poem.  Your leaves, though small, are mighty.  Your trunk, though interrupted, is righteous.  And your endurance is a lesson to all.

You are large, you contain multitudes, and I am in love with you,
A West End Avenue Admirer

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One from the Vault: September 2006

4/25/2017

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Bogie in Bloomingdale

The "One from the Vault" feature plumbs the archives of back issues of Block Association newsletters for the benefit of new neighbors and lovers of our community and its history.  To read other pieces from the vault, click on the category at right.
By Caitlin Hawke

Hearing the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group's talk last week about our neighborhood's cameos in the moving pictures as presented by Gary Dennis and Jim Mackin, I was transported to the days of the Movie Place. I remember ungodly hot summer days -- on Fridays after work -- heading over there to load up on videos, a full pile, to watch in a cool, dark place while Mother Nature had her scorching way with the city.

My first floor window on Riverside Drive had bars, and so the only A/C I could use was neither deep-bodied nor powerful since it had to fit in a very tight spot. 
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Remember the Easy-Bake Oven that operated on the wattage of a lightbulb and actually baked your treat? Well, the output of this A/C was the cooling equivalent of baking with a lightbulb.  Eventually, if I didn't move around and if I sheeted off the back half of my beloved first studio to keep the "cool" air contained, I could bring the temperature down just enough to sit there and not drip...while I watched my cache from the Movie Place.

Ok, so back to my point. Gary Dennis, who came to own the Movie Place, as many neighbors well know, and who grew up around here, was driven by his film obsession to commemorate the old residence of the boy who would become Bloomingdale's biggest Hollywood legend, Humphrey Bogart.  Bogie's childhood home is 245 West 103rd Street.  And there, thanks to Gary, you can see the plaque.

Below, a September 2006 Block Association newsletter article -- one from the vault -- by David Reich tells the whole tale of the commemoration.  David shared the color photo at the bottom of this post.

The whole affair makes me want to whistle a cheer.  You know how to whistle, don't cha?

(Remember, to see embedded videos if you are receiving these posts by email, you have to click on the title of the post above and view in your browser.)
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NYCHA photographer Kevin Devoe's shot of Bogie's Bacall as she was escorted to the 2006 plaque unveiling on West 103rd Street and an undeterred crowd of film enthusiasts!

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Knee Deep in Flowers We'll Stray. We'll Keep the Showers Away!

4/20/2017

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Saturday's Weather Looks Promising, So Come Out and Plant!

By Caitlin Hawke

Just a reminder that our nod to Earth Day is a hyper-local one: we're planting the tree wells and generally throwing some TLC to our beloved trees (but don't get me started on that now-dead gingko). It all happens this Saturday.  And I am reiterating my request here for pictures.  I will make a gallery and your labors of love will be duly recorded. 

This Saturday. 878 West End Ave.  10 a.m.

And with that, I have a few special terrestrial Tiny Tim numbers as an Earth Day lagniappe. You cannot dispute that he was a man well ahead of his time in so many ways. A true original.  I loved him then and ever shall. (The world has grown canned before our eyes.)

So put aside everything you know about autotuning, Katy Perry and 1D.  And for the love of Pete, scroll down!  I hope you will enjoy this Throwback Thursday inspired collection. And don't forget that if you are receiving this via email, you'll have to click on the post title to view the embedded videos on the actual blog page.
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Again, if you are receiving this via email, you'll have to click on the post title to view the embedded videos on the actual blog page.  Here goes!
I just can't resist including this one.  Thanks for bearing with me.... Happy Earth Day!

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In Best of All Possible Worlds, Let's Make Our Garden Grow

4/8/2017

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Come Join Us: April 22 is Spring Planting Day!


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We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow...

      ~ From Candide, "Make Our Garden Grow"

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By Caitlin Hawke

Neighborhood families, what kid -- big or small -- doesn't like to dig around in topsoil?  To sweep and rake.  And make her garden grow?

If you are hearing a little Voltaire and a little Lenny Bernstein in that, you'll enjoy the embedded extra below (if you are reading this via an email feed, you'll have to click on the blog to view the video extra at the bottom of this post).

But it boils down to this: twice a year the block association shouts out to neighbors of all ages to turn up and beautify our blocks.  Neighbor Mark Schneiderman -- father of twins who will be out there, too -- is orchestrating this year.  For specifics, you can email him: [email protected].

If you are not up for kneeling or not down with crouching, I say pick up your smartphone and walk the catchment shooting and kvelling over the greening team.  Consider this a request to all for your best Planting Day photos. The dirtier the hands and the prettier the flowers, the better.  And I dare you planters not to smile...I predict it will be impossible.  Email your shots to [email protected].

Details in the poster below for the big day.  Save the date: Earth Day, April 22 (rain date April 23).  And then make sure to grab a neighbor.  Collect your kids.  Make a new friend. 

It is said in Candide that the sweetest flowers and the fairest trees are grown in solid ground...albeit slightly hemmed in by concrete and macadam.
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Throwback Thursday, Bloomingdale Edition

4/5/2017

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1976: 2781 Broadway at W. 107th Street

"Painting was more than a profession. It was also an obsession. I had to paint."
~ Alice Neel
By Caitlin Hawke

While I can't resist a vintage photo of our streets, there truly is nothing better than an example of our neighborhood put to service as an artist's muse.  One of my favorite examples of this is this fabulous painting by one-time neighbor Alice Neel (1900-1984) who moved to Bloomingdale from East Harlem and settled at 300 West 107th Street in 1962.

Her apartment had a front room that faced north -- perfect for painting -- and it was here that she did most of her work from that date forward, according to her website.  Indeed, the New York Times says that it was here that her style grew freer and nimbler thanks to the "copious light."

If you go to her website, you'll see a photograph of a chock-a-block corridor in her apartment filled with canvases.  At the bottom of this post, I am also embedding the trailer to a very fine documentary on Neel in which you can see her walking that same corridor though if you are receiving this post via email, you'll have to click through to this blog post to view the trailer.
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107th and Broadway by Alice Neel (1976)
My Throwback Thursday feature today is this five-foot tall beauty entitled "107th and Broadway." The light, shadows, palette, and mood quickly conjure up Edward Hopper. The blazing summer morning light illuminates the facade while Neel's own building across 107th Street casts a dark shadow that resembles a Moai in profile.

You don't see any of the mid-1970s grit and political tumult in this tableau.  In Alice Neel's 1976, New York is small-town quaint with a dose of Hopperian solitude.  With a dark shadow looming.

The reason I am bringing any of this up is that (a.) god, don't you love this painting? And (b.) shouldn't we all get together and go see the retrospective of her work, "Alice Neel, Uptown"!  It is still on until April 22nd at the David Zwirner Gallery.

In case you missed it, the New York Times wrote about the show here in February and posted a slideshow of her portraits here.  Have a look below at her "Still Life" from 1964.  You can just glimpse the northern tip of Straus Park through her front window.

In Ms. Neel, there was greatness in our midst.

 
h/t to neighbor Emily B. who grew up on W. 107th for her knowledge that Alice Neel lived right here among us.
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A view onto Broadway south of W. 107th Street outside Alice Neel's window
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Alice Neel's muse, 2781 Broadway, today...
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...and in 1976
Live in the neighborhood?  Spread the word by sharing this.  Also, if you enjoy these occasional blog posts, tell a friend to subscribe.  There's a lot more in store.

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It's Elemental, My Dear Bloomingdale

4/3/2017

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Locate that Element!

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You know the rules. Locate that element!
By Caitlin Hawke

Oh, diner. Oh, oh diner. Oh, oh, oh. Looking for my diner (to paraphrase Hair).

Yes, I gave a big contextual clue in the last "It's Elemental" by talking about the Metro Diner, because the element I featured was the beautiful third story of the woodframe Grimm building, now occupied by the diner.

The thing of beauty is how many readers got it right.  You love your old buildings, Bloomingdalers! And you gave me some juicy additional details, which I will feature in an upcoming post.

My traditional hat tip goes to those who know their frontage. So kudos to Anthony, Elizabeth, Emily, Jim, Lorne, and Pam.
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The historic Grimm building taken from the south side of W. 100th Street -- at the intersection with Broadway -- looking north

Henry Grimm built it in 1871 as a grocery store for the up and coming neighborhood. It came to be known as "The Boulevard House" and among its many incarnations was a saloon and a millinery store. And darn if it isn't a miracle that it still stands!

I featured this intersection below in a "Throwback Thursday" post back in June, relishing that some corners actually have stayed nearly the same for the past 110 years.
In the post that gave the clue, I featured the third floor because I love a beautiful cornice propped up on scroll brackets, and who can resist clapboards in Manhattan? And also, decontextualized, it looks mighty unlikely that it would be anywhere near us.  But near us it is, sitting at the northwest corner of W. 100th Street and Broadway. 

The second floor -- now a salon, but once a saloon -- was originally similarly clad in clapboards, but according to The Daytonian in Manhattan, the clapboards were removed around the Great Depression and large windows put in.

It's got a great history, so click through to the Daytonian piece to learn more.
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Built by Henry Grimm in 1871, here's an image of the historic building in 1909 taken from the east side of Broadway looking west down W. 100th Street. Of course when Grimm built it, the avenue was called "The Boulevard."
And when you see Frank and Fotios at the Metro, thank them for keeping the little wooden building going since 1993.  Remember, they are the "new" kids on the block, but since the Times wrote about their having taken over this building to bring us the Metro, diner culture has begun to vanish.  Or so they say.

So, fellow Bloomingdalers: it's time again to locate that element! You remember the rules. The blog feature "It's Elemental" is our version of Name that Tune. Tell me what and where the architectural element at the top of this page is.  As always, extra points for any additional history you might know.

Put your answer in the comments or email: [email protected].  Stumped and have to know? Check back and at the top of the next "It's Elemental" post, I will reveal the location.

And stay tuned for more lore about the Building Grimm.

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