An art installation that is currently touring the world over is making its multi-borough New York City appearance starting the Monday proceeding Father’s Day and lasting for two weeks.  New Yorkers will be able to sit down and publicly show off their musical abilities (or lack-thereof) at 50 different locations, including such notable landmarks as Coney Island boardwalk, the Metropolitan Museum, Lincoln Center, at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Staten Island ferry terminal, and the Central Park band shell.  The borough breakdown is as follows: 27 in Manhattan, 10 in Brooklyn, 5 in Queens, and 4 in each Staten Island and the Bronx.

The artist behind this brilliant city-wide installation is British artist Luke Jerram, who has successfully placed 130 pianos in various public locations in such bustling cities as London, Sydney, and Sao Paulo, with his New York attempt being the largest in scale.  All of the pianos have been donated specifically for the “exhibit” and have been personally hand-painted and decorated by various artists, just adding to the colorfully intimidating nature that a full-size piano will exude in the middle of Manhattan.

According to his website, Jerram got the idea for the project at his local Laundromat, where he hypothesized that a piano would serve as a conversation piece and initiate more interaction among the typically coy customers there.  Jerram has mentioned in interviews how hopeful he is about the reactions that his work has the potential to elicits. He cites a couple in Sydney that had met at one of his pianos and are now married.

I am personally very excited to see how this already ambitious and interactive art experiment will flourish in one of the greatest art-cherishing cities in the world. I predict “Crocodile Rock” re-enactments, classical duel-offs in the vein of an Eaton-Young Piano Duo, and of course the always avant-garde and in this case, borderline vandalizing prepared piano (in which particular objects are attached to the pianos inner strings so that the hammer hits and resonates said object).  Got to go polish off my “Chopsticks” and meet you down at the piano installation on Canal Street!

Few people have heard of the War Emergency Tenant Protection Act, at least not by its formal name. However, New Yorkers do know it by its more common name: Rent control. Continue Reading

For the love of humanity, what is with all the shootings?  Is this what a severe recession is?  The economic woes certainly play a role, but it’s troubling that such senseless violence is occurring so frequently when this financial crisis is still unfolding.  If we look at the murder rates from 1929-1933 (the beginning and height of the Great Depression) we see a rise from 8.4 in 1929 to 9.7 in 1933, after which it steadily declined. Continue Reading

I woke up nude, covered from my neck to my knees with an American flag.  The room was dank, frigid, and smelt like an attic.  My body trembled from the cold air that had filled the apartment.  With the flag draped over my shoulders and pulled tightly around my upper body, I made my way into the living room.  The feint smells of burnt rubber and wet dog grew stronger as I got closer to the bathroom.  A pile of burnt clothing was sitting in the bathtub, which was covered with scattered spots of wet ash.

As I took the standard morning piss, I began to realize that the charred articles of clothing were mine; my expensive peat coat, my favorite pair of pants, a t-shirt I had borrowed from a friend, along with my shoes, wallet, and cell phone, which was broken into various pieces.

What the hell happened here? I thought.  I had no idea whose apartment I was in, no idea why or how, and worst of all, my clothes, wallet, and shoes were sitting in a burnt and soggy pile in a crusty bathtub.  The American flag was at my feet as I stood there perplexed, mildly upset, but more confused than anything else.  I decided to find the tenant who had been so kind to let some stranger stay the night. Continue Reading

According to the The NY Times, Jared Hoffman, owner of the Knitting Factory, will be moving the music venue cornerstone of Manhattan to Williamsburg, Brooklyn and will also be opening two other Knitting Factory venues in Boise, Idaho and Spokane, Washington.

For local New Yorkers, this move from Leonard St. is a downsize from the current three room, multi-level performance space. The Knitting factory will be replacing the Luna Lounge on 361 Metropolitan Ave in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; a space that only has a capacity of 300 or less. Mr. Hoffman says capacity of the new Knitting Factory location will be “reduced in order to lessen the pressure to draw larger audiences, bringing the venue closer to it’s roots as a club that could take risks.

(via The NY Times)