When did you live/work/visit in SoHo?
1976-1997
Where did you live/work/visit in SoHo?
508 Broadway, second floor
What was your occupation when you lived/worked in SoHo?
In chronological order:
Painter/photographer, Art mover, Jazz musician, Carpenter, Building owner/manager, Commercial leasing broker, Graphic artist
If you’re a SoHo old-timer, what do you miss most about SoHo in the early days?
Sculpture Now, Paula Cooper Gallery, Walking to the hardware store, Magoos, Puffy’s Tavern, Spring Street Bar, Ear Inn, Ali’s Alley, Walker’s, Amsterdams, Spring Street Natural, the Old Fanellis, Mike Fanelli, his spaghetti and meatballs at lunch, their 50 cent drafts, blueberry pancakes Sundays on Sullivan Street, Later: Fanelli cheeseburgers Except for the waitresses), La Gamelle on Grand Street, 55 Grand Jazz Club, René, many other places I don’t remember the names of.
What do you miss least about SoHo in the early days?
Canal Jean, Arturo Di Modica, corrupt building department, waitresses attitude, the trucks and exhaust (early days), people not curbing their dogs, bridge and tunnel crowd, hi-fashion stores, cheesy galleries, rich people pricing out everything that was original and cool.
If you used to live in SoHo but no longer live here, why did you leave?
I was on the second floor of 508 Broadway. All my partners had moved on and rented to people who didn’t respect all the wok and sacrifices I’d made. The car alarms went off 24/7. We could hear the loud speaker from Canal Jean all day and into the night. People urinated in our doorway. It wasn’t the same place at all.
I moved to Arizona to be a naturist and advocate for wildlife and human rights.
What is your most vivid SoHo memory?
The Pope standing in his car as he passed me on my fire escape about 50 feet away; the big loft building fire on Broadway near 8th Street; Son of Sam era; Halloween nights; meeting Bob DeNiro on the street; Moving cart for his father, meeting Ruth Kligman and so many old legends I can hardly recall them all; Our gig at Walker’s every Sunday, and hanging out there as a regular drinking pints for $2.75 on weeknights. Mussels at Ear Inn. Sal’s hair salon, Tribeca’s bars. Playing at NoSmoking. My wife’s employment at J. Morgan Puett. Tom Jobim’s death shortly before I left Soho.