NYC - feb 02, 2005

Assee all the pictures at
http://stefpix.com/journals/20050202slush/
Assignment for UK mag
had to shoot 9/10 locations for a New York mini guide.
An apparently easy task turned out into a heavy chore.
a fight with the harsh weather.
The worst week of the winter - arctic freeze. northern winds. snow. slush ice.
Riding the bike , 9 F/ -15 C temperatures.
Ihad to buy long johns for the first time in my life.Went to the MoMa. the blue hour.
a fancy restaurant next door . art crates out on the sidewalk.
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My block. sidewalk filled with snow. hard to walk without good boots.
but at least part of the streets are clear for riding - just plowed and white from melted snow and salt.
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Centre Street. see parked Department of Homeland Security Immigration Police car. Never used to see those. at least in NYC.
t to it a shady black van with those dark windows you cant see inside. a little security camera on the back. It looks like there is some operation / search going on.bum looking guy stares at me as I am taking those pictures... with a sarcastic inquisitive tone he says "you must really like that van!".
I'd bet 20 bucks he is an undercover cop or immigration agent.
too obvious.
I ride away and I wonder if he will stop me and ask me for papers.
shoot more places. deitch - schillers [gotta get a burger there sometimes - the place looks really nice in the daylight empty of the commuter crowd].
So nice, nicer is the Spotted Pig in the Meat Packing district. The hostess tells me I can't take pictures in the restaurant with daylight and when it is empty. that is the strict rule she has to enforce.
As I am unlocking my bike and about to leave the owner runs after me and tells me I can take pictures that I can do whatever I want.
He is real nice. gives me a glass of excellent hot wine to warm up.
cabernet, cinnamon, nutmeg orange etc heated slowly in a slow cooker.
He tells me to give him a call if I ever want a table he'll get me one.
it is such a cozy and nice fancy place..although 17 dollar appetizer are a bit out of my budget these days.
Stop by at Chelsea Market to check the photos I just took.
Really hungry - actually kinda starving - need to eat to think straight.
Hard to find here the good deals of the secret Chinatown places.
strapped for cash as some payments are taking way longer than expected. gotta be wise.
think about the Knut Hamsun book I read so many years ago.
That guy so hungry and cold in Christiania - now Oslo.
Can't remember how the novel ends.
Lobster Place is amazing. the smell of fresh raw seafood gets to me. I want to go spearfishing this summer and eat my own catch. grill it in the oven. I used to do that as a kid.
this summer when in Miami Beach saw some cuban guy spearfishing some decent catch by the jetty. I thought he was lame to use an air tank and a speargun.
Free diving is the way to go - at least if you want to play it fair.
so I got sushi-quality raw salmon hamburger and I turn it into a salmon tartare as I check email and I upload the photos to my computer.
$2.75 for superfresh fish and in a good size. there are some deals in Chelsea too.
there is Monkfish for sale. "the Poor Man's Lobster" -
maybe I should try some.I have never had it - I think. looks like some deep water fish.
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Riding back to the Lower East Side.Stop by the Pink Pony to give Lucien, the owner, some prints he asked me for.
he is the patron of the artists and he feeds them with the daily specials. Poulet Roti or amazing Veal and Rice. A glass of nice red french table wine.
Michel Auder is there. so many years in NYC still such a french accent. I tell him I saw the portrait Alice Neel did of him in some book. He tells me the stories of when he met her. aging hipster in the NYC art scene. he shot quite some footage of her back in the days.
next day.
stop by Christian Marclay's near Wall street to help him with some slides for some art show.
nearby there are mountains of snow on Park Place. Bulldozers and Trucks.
There is one of those bargain dollar stores.
Grand Opening and Closeouts. sounds like a contradiction.
Ride to Greenpoint to shoot Lisa Levine's jewelry.
just trying to get something done.

On the Williamsburg bridge - 3 am.
it is so freezing -
there is this strong wind from the north. a fan from the Hudson Bay maybe?
the drops from my nose are frozen.
never felt so cold - I keep riding but I feel like I have no gloves on. the right side of my face feels like is not there almost. desensitized.
I can't believe that on top in the middle of the bridge it can feel so much colder.
down on street level it is not as freezing but I have to walk into the 24 hour Rite Aid on Clinton st - as I really need to warm up my hands. and warm up a bit.
The next day I have to ride uptown to shoot some photos for Trace magazine of some Fiona Apple fans protesting outside the Sony Music offices.
I like always to ride u 1st avenue.
less cross streets less traffic.
Outside the United Nations I see 3 men building a wooden cross -I stop by to take a look at what is happening.
Joseph is an Iraqi Christian that speaks Assyrian as mothertongue.
He is protesting about the Iraqi elections how Christians are not represented and he is making some claims about the Assyrian homeland.
He is going to spend 3 days 3 nights on the cross in the freezing cold with no food.
it is quite cold and he is not even wearing a coat or a jacket. I cant imagine standing still at night there.
I go to the main public library on 5th av and 41st street.It looks so beautiful there. never been inside before.
you need your own ethernet cable to connect your laptop to the internet -
I need to go to the restroom. all this white marble everywhere. such a fancy bathroom.
still I cant believe these guys that even in such as of a nice clean bathroom dont dare or care to flush after themselves! what'sup with them? too tired to push down the lever? too lazy?
why give them fancy marble bathroom when they treat as a dirty gutter?
A light sensor would be more realistic option than a better education to keep the urinals flushed.at the library across the street I can get wireless internet - so I can download and send the pictures of the day.
there is a schoolgirl wearing a big Soviet Army hat.
She is Russian but came here as a child. She studies Social Sciences or something. Getting a paper ready about the relation between eating disorders and physical activity.I walk thru the garment district . I find that to be one of the most squalid and grey areas in Manhattan.
All these ugly stores and warehouses and sweatshops - all these ugly fluorescent lights.
"Fashion district" sounds like an irony.
Find a chinatown style fast food restaurant/bakery. Chinese men in the back - chainsmoking playing cards drinking tea.At the end of the week.
all these hours in the cold. riding the bike up and down all over in the snow. trying to meet the deadline and stay alive and warm.
I feel my legs are stronger
andtough week but after all there are places with harsher winters I like to check out once in a while.
http://www.ios.ru/webcam.html
novosibirsk webcam.
but to see a russian cathedral I can just ride across the bridge and get some authentic bowl of polish borscht for a dollar fifty.bye
stefano
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website
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