It was even parked on a good block – Fort Washington Avenue just south of 190th. To say the least, it’s sort a irritating – broken glass gets EVERYWHERE.

They rifled through the compartment between the seats, but I had taken the iPod out months ago to put a new selection of songs on it and hadn’t put it back. They also got into the glove compartment and stole my Valentine One radar detector. The radar detector will cost about $400 to replace and the window looks like it will be about $350.

I just changed insurance companies and I’m not sure if I have full glass coverage. I’ll call the agent on Monday morning and figure things out. It’s just such a hassle…

That’s right, they took their prime real estate – the window seats – and put a bunch of mannequins in chairs sitting at tables “having a good time”. It was just bizarre. Here is a close up of three of the Applebee’s “customers”…

That’s just sorta sad, and kinda disturbing/freaky…

“If you ignore every single thing Jesus commanded you to do, you’re not a Christian.”

“Ghandi was so Christian he was Hindu”…

Andy Warhol – Pasadena Art Museum Poster 1970

The most recognizable name amongst our newly framed art is Andy Warhol. As Warhols go this is a rather inexpensive piece… It’s the “Brillo” poster from his museum show in 1970 at the Pasadena Museum of Art. Like a lot of Warhol’s work, it’s a screen print. Apparently it was made at Warhol’s “Factory” and it’s signed, so it’s not “just a poster”.

Dan and his friend John Serdula found the frame down in South Jersey in this barn filled with old frames. We need to get John to do a bit more restoration on the frame – it’s a bit too rough for my liking. We like the contrast of new and old though. If we had put the poster in a contemporary frame it would have just looked like a poster. In an old 19th century French frame it has more character.

We’ve actually had the poster and the frame for a while now. It’s just we finally finished the job and had it all put together.

Jockum Nordström – “House And Bugs” 2008

The next piece of art is one that Dan got me to cave in on and we bought it in the past year – it’s by Jockum Nordström – “House And Bugs”. David Zwirner Gallery had loaned it to a show John organized at Heskin Contemporary. This piece looks a lot better in person – the picture doesn’t do it justice (probably the lighting)…

It is a print (edition of 50), but it’s a really well done print. Apparently Nordström went off to learn print making and he made these prints himself. He’s put out another round of prints since then that were “professionally” printed and apparently they’re not nearly as nice.

Nordström’s work, while contemporary, is rather folky. It goes really well with the old frame we put it in. The frame actually has a history of it’s own. It used to be the frame for Gifford Beal’s “The Albany Boat” (1915) which is owned by the Met. Here’s a picture of that piece…

We had to cut down the frame slightly, but it still has tags on the back from the Met and from the LA County Museum of Art (from when it was on loan there).

We got the frame from Hudson City Antiques. John is good friends with the owners and he spotted the frame when they brought into their shop and said it would be perfect for the Nordström piece. John then did some restoration on it so now it looks pretty incredible (at least in person).

Sherry Kerlin – “The Bride of Christ” 2007

The last piece also has a John Serdula connection (as does much of our art)… The artist, Sherry Kerlin, is someone we met through John. She needed a website, so Dan designed and built a website for her and in exchange we got to pick out one of her pieces of art.

The image is of a little girl with a rosary on her first day of communion. We love it – the button eyes on it are a bit spooky (given the general innocence of the piece) – but it’s what you expect of one of Sherry’s pieces – she has a slightly sardonic view of the world around her.

And like the Nordström piece, we got the frame at Hudson City Antiques. If you’re looking for old, historic frames you definitely should check them out. Not only that, but they’re far more flexible than a regular framer. For example, we really wanted UV plexiglass for the Warhol and the Nordström, but the price his supplier was charging him was a bit crazy. So he let Dan find UV plexi cheaper online and have it shipped to his store – something most framers would never agree to. That saved us hundreds of dollars and will save the artwork from damage down the road (a lot of similar Warhol posters are pretty faded).

Wrap Up

So our theme at the moment seems to be contemporary art in old frames, but Dan was just remarking that he wants to mix it up and go back to new/contemporary frames when we next do framing.

Now we just need to finish the house so we have space to hang all the art… Our current rental is looking a bit over-crowded with art at the moment.

Dan and I have been married since 2005. The problem is that our marriage is just not on the same legal footing as straight marriages. I’m being asked to be happy and content with the fact that a state here or there recognizes my marriage. But meantime…

• I couldn’t give Dan a green card. What if his immigration status had been more tenuous? He would have had to leave the country and there’s a chance I couldn’t have followed him if he came from a country that didn’t recognize me as his spouse. (That’s academic for us, but isn’t for many bi-national gay couples). [Dan did finally get his green card this year, but the issue is that he should have gotten it 10+ ago based on his relationship to me.]
• We’ve had huge legal bills to keep Dan in the country.
• Before getting his green card Dan used to be here under NAFTA and we had to go through the process of getting him approved by immigration every year. The first few years we used a lawyer ($$) and then we had to do use a lawyer again after 9/11 when things got tighter… Very little of that would have been necessary if our relationship had been recognized and he had gotten a green card by being my spouse.
• We had to incorporate our business twice because we did it wrong the first time. Immigrants aren’t allowed to be owners in the companies that sponsor them for work visas/statuses. Before 9/11 the INS didn’t really care, but after 9/11 we had to reincorporate the company ($$) so I was the sole owner.
• We had to spend $5,000 on rather complicated wills. Since he wasn’t allowed to own the company that sponsored him if something happened to me we had to set things up so a trust would take over the company until he had his green card.
• Health insurance has been an ongoing issue. 
• In one company the (lesbian) general manager got rid of domestic partner benefits somewhat by accident (she didn’t realize the company had them since no one was using them). The executives over her were not gay friendly but luckily she was. When she realized her mistake she gave Dan a job so he’d have health insurance (he was already freelancing at the company). We just lucked out – most bosses don’t go that far for their gay employees.
• When Dan was at other companies that weren’t so gay friendly I had to get health insurance through our company. That cost us an extra $800/month. While we could afford it, a lot of other gay guys and lesbians can’t. And for god’s sake – there were other things I would have rather done with the $800/mo.
• Even now with Dan working for a gay-friendly state agency (CUNY) I get health insurance, but because the federal government doesn’t recognize our relationship Dan has to pay federal tax on my health coverage as if it were extra income. That tax is not imposed on straight couples.
• Dan has had to do particular types of work to stay in the country. Since Dan’s Canadian he’s eligible to work here under NAFTA, but he had to do particular types of work – namely graphic design. If I had been able to give him a green card he probably would have pursued some other career option or had more time to pursue art. Only now that CUNY got him his green card last year does he have that flexibility.
• If we’re hospitalized while traveling we may not be able to make medical decisions for each other. This is potentially a big one. Because there are places where our marriage is not recognized we may not be able to make medical decisions for each other in an emergency. We have executed heath care proxies and living wills but our attorney tells us they’re only valid in the state in which they’re signed. Other states can choose not to honor them.

So while it’s great New York is doing gay marriage now, unfortunately those marriages in many respects still aren’t equal to the same marriage performed in the same place for a straight couple.

My classmate from grade school went on to say “Actually, I feel bad for the situation you find yourself in, but as far as I vote, I answer to a higher authority than you and Dan. It’s not a personal insult.” Thing is, when you can look someone straight in the face and ask them to sit in the back of the bus, how are they supposed to interpret it? He, and people like him, are denying me my civil rights. They’re not necessarily bad people, they just don’t get how offensive their actions are to people like me. At one point he said “Let me ask you this, if you could get a green card would that make you happy? If you could have a ceremony in a liberal church would that make you happy?” What he doesn’t understand is that throwing scraps my way will never make me happy. I don’t want a little here and a little there. I want equality. We keep making progress (like gay marriage in New York), but we’re still not equal.

When you run across people who are against gay rights, please challenge them on their beliefs. They need their world view widened and you can make a difference…

And not just one or two people… So much for people being afraid of the police.

After bombing out trying to get into Harlem Tavern last week, we tried again early this afternoon and had no problem getting a table. Unfortunately it was sorta what I expected (based on the pics I saw on Harlem Bespoke) – very middle America – sorta dull actually.

The beer that comes with brunch is Bud Light (yawn). And they have every other standard beer you can think of. Other than a selection of IPAs (which my niece likes), I didn’t really see anything beer-wise that came anywhere close to Bier’s beer selection.

As far as food, it’s pretty to look at (I should have taken a picture), but pretty bland too. I had the turkey burger with fries, Dan had the beef burger with a salad. Despite putting some interesting cheese on it, the turkey burger just didn’t stand out. Dan noted that the lettuce for his salad had been chopped with a knife – that promotes oxidation and just makes for a less interesting salad. He also thought the food was less fresh than it is at Bier. In comparison, everything I’ve had at Bier has met or exceeded expectations. In fact at Bier things are unexpectedly good – there’s always a slight flavor kick to the food at Bier that makes it interesting.

Harlem Tavern’s decor is the biggest turn off for me… It’s like you’re at Applebee’s or something… Like the food and the beer selection – it’s incredibly bland.

And honestly, I was a bit disturbed that they had the A/C on full blast inside with a huge wall of french doors completely wide open – it’s just wasteful for no good reason. Well, there was live music – but just keep the doors by them open and close the others…

So if you want bland decor with bland food and bland beer – go to Harlem Tavern. If you want a well-designed space with an unusual selection of interesting beers and surprisingly good food – go 2 1/2 block south to Bier International.

Anyway, that said… I’ve heard for a long time that you can tell when a neighborhood is going to gentrify by whether “the gays” move in… Specifically gay men – since we don’t have the same level of safety issues that women have, and we don’t (traditionally) have kids, so we aren’t worried about how good the schools are. Some of us learned how to fix things from our fathers, and some of us have a sense of style. (I’m always amused by the ones who don’t.)

If you subscribe the the “gentrification follows gay men” theory, then you’ll find the following interesting…

WNYC has done a map that plots where gay and lesbian couples live. Here’s the results for Central and South Harlem…

I’m not quite sure what to think of the fact that we dominate Morningside Park, but you can see that the Mount Morris Park neighborhood is pretty popular with gay men and lesbians. Somewhat surprisingly South Harlem doesn’t have all that many gay and lesbian couples – just right on the border with the Upper West Side. The area between Lenox and 5th Avenue around Astor Row seems pretty popular as well.

Now if we could just get a gay bar somewhere near Red Rooster – that would be perfect

Apparently West Harlem is much less gay…

It seems that the new condo developments just off Bradhurst are popular with gay men and lesbians, but otherwise the neighborhood is pretty average. What’s interesting also is the low number of gay men and lesbians in Hamilton Heights west of Amsterdam Avenue. That neighborhood isn’t as well established as the historic district which is mostly east of Amsterdam.

So the take away from this is that gay men and lesbians seem to gravitate towards quality… Areas with new condos and historic districts have a greater concentration of gays, while areas with large housing projects have far fewer gay men and lesbians. Personally I think the “gentrification follows gay men” theory is generally proven right by the maps above…

I guess it’s a good thing that people are patronizing places on FDB. In the end that will encourage more businesses to open up and make the neighborhood a better place to live. But I gotta say the love for this one particular place sorta mystifies me.

We wound up going to Bad Horse Pizza instead. It was about half full and the kids that were there were very well behaved (unlike the first time we went there).

What’s struck me as interesting is that our block has two churches – one at the corner of Lenox, and another mid-block – but neither were Jewish – they were both originally Protestant.

Closest to us, about halfway between Lenox Ave and Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd, is the Greater Metropolitan Baptist Church at 147 West 123rd St. It was originally built in 1897 as the German-American St. Paul Lutheran Church of Harlem and designed in the Gothic style by architects Ernest W. Schneider and Harry Herter. The German nature of the church fits the neighborhood, but instead of being Jewish it was Lutheran.

Further down the block at the corner of 123rd and Lenox Ave. is the Ephesus Seventh Day Adventist Church. The origins of its building are pretty interesting… It was originally built in 1887 (the architect was John Rochester Thomas) by a Dutch Reformed congregation that could trace it’s roots back to 1660 when they were the Harlem Reformed Low Dutch Church. The church changed it’s name over the years to the First Collegiate Church of Harlem. As the population of Harlem was exploding the congregation, which was then located in East Harlem, decided it needed to open another church in the area, so they built the Second Collegiate Dutch Church at 123 and Lenox and the pastor and 150 wealthy members moved to the new church leaving the poor members over in East Harlem at the old church. The old church, now Elmendorf Reformed Church, is still located over at 121 and 3rd Avenue and is the oldest functioning religious institution in Harlem.

While today we may not care whether someone is Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, etc. back then religion was a much bigger deal. In those days there were “nativists” who saw themselves as “original New Yorkers” – they were all Protestant and rather fiercely anti-Catholic. Today we don’t really understand why the Irish and Italians were so discriminated against, but a big part of it was religion – they were Catholics coming into a Protestant-controlled country. People organized themselves based on religion.

Religion was also important for Jews. There was a big split between the German Jews and the Eastern European Jews. Like their Christian countrymen, German Jews were reformed. German Jews had more money than their Eastern European counterparts and their social service agencies simultaneously took care of Jewish kids and pressured them to become more Americanized (i.e. less orthodox).

Religion was so incredibly important back then you sorta have to assume that with two Protestant churches on one block in a neighborhood dominated by Synagogues, our block was most likely a Protestant block. As I have more time I’ll see if I can’t map the original religious affiliations of other churches in Central Harlem…

As I mentioned in another blog post, there was a murder on our block the week before. Apparently there has also been a couple gun incidents at 120th and 7th Avenue (ACP) where there seems to be an on-going dispute between two drug dealers centered – though no one was actually shot. In addition, in East Harlem there have been 4 shootings in the past 4 weeks, one involving the death of a 15 year old. While that seems like a lot, apparently violent crime is actually down in the 28th Precinct year-to-date, but the 28th Precinct doesn’t cover East Harlem. This is the area covered by the 28th Precinct…

I learned a lot about the neighborhood at the meeting. One of the first items of discussion were the methadone clinics on 124th between Lenox and 7th Avenue (yes, clinics – plural). Two of the clinics were represented at the meeting, and apparently there is a third clinic (Harlem United) on that same block, but they declined to attend the meeting. That’s just that one block. There are other clinics throughout the neighborhood and an even greater concentration of clinics in East Harlem. The methadone clinics are a problem – not so much in terms of violent crime, but in terms of trash and loitering. However, the clinics that were at the meeting talked about how they do patrols from 123rd to 126th several times a day and any of their patients who are seen repeatedly loitering are thrown out of the treatment programs.

Still, where there are drug addicts there’s going to be drug dealing, and where there’s drug dealing there’s usually violent crime. Compounding the problem – once the addicts are thrown out of the program the clinics can’t do anything about them. At that point it becomes a police issue. Deputy Inspector Harrison was incredible in that respect – he gave out his personal cell phone number and e-mail address and told people to call/text/email him when they saw things. While 911 and 311 are great – going directly to the precinct is more effective. The police have zero tolerance for loitering – the exception being people hanging out in front of their own buildings.

One important point was made – do not get confrontational with loiterers (or anyone for that matter) – let the police take care of it. You never know who has a knife or a gun on them – it’s just not worth it.

When it comes to serious/violent crime the vast majority of it happens in the lower part of the precinct – around Lenox Ave – between the park and roughly 116. I know someone who lives on 113th between Lenox and St. Nick (a Russian guy who’s a friend of my nephew) and his experience with the neighborhood is completely different from mine – he talks about how rough and dangerous it is. Deputy Inspector Harrison mentioned that 114th Street was one of the most dangerous streets in the precinct. In fact he suggested that when people walk around the neighborhood they avoid problem spots like 114th Street, and the corner of 120th & 7th Ave.

When asked what the community could do there were a number of things…

First, be the eyes and ears of the police – when you see something, call the precinct.

Second, install cameras – they make a big difference – crimes are solved much faster when there’s a video available. It costs homeowners about $1,000 per camera. Given that most of us are investing over $1M in our places, it’s a very small price to pay to have a camera or two (or in our case 5 or 6). The cameras the police use are targeted to areas with lots of tourists and lots of violent crime. Inspector Harrison called the cameras “million dollar cameras” – I’m not sure that they actually cost $1M, but they aren’t cheap – so there aren’t many of them around. There are cameras on 125th Street and a few other areas, but getting more of them is difficult. However, the precinct actually has a crime prevention officer who will help you choose and position cameras you buy. His name is Vic Peña – call the precinct and ask for him.

Third, petition politicians for more police and more money for the precinct. Because crime has been going down the City has felt justified in cutting the number of police in Harlem, but when there are fewer police the crime rate goes back up (as is happening in East Harlem). The City does give support when a precinct is having a spike in crime. The 28th is getting help from the narcotics unit for 120th & 7th Ave, and the precinct in East Harlem is getting reinforcements. We live in Washington Heights at the moment and there’s increased police presence here as well because of all the rapes. But the precinct needs more than that. More funding means they can do more outreach programs to teens in an effort to prevent the crime from happening in the first place.

One other thing Inspector Harrison talked about was that iPhone and iPads are particularly popular with criminals right now. He’s finding that criminals aren’t mugging people for money – they just grab your iPhone and run. The simple way to avoid this problem is to try to not use your iPhone/Android much when you’re on the street. If you need to use it, be aware of your surroundings.

In the end there’s violent crime everywhere and violent crime is generally down in Harlem. It’s really not that unsafe. With a few basic precautions (like avoiding problem areas, not being confrontational, reducing the use of your iPhone on the street, and not being involved in drugs) you can feel pretty safe in Harlem.

IMHO, what Harlem needs most to prevent crime are residents who simply don’t put up with crime. If criminals know people will cooperate with the police and if they know there are cameras that will see what they do – they’ll move to another area.

Wednesday was Dan’s birthday, but we put off celebrating it until Thursday. We met a friend (who was celebrating his 50th – the same friend who was in the photo op last year) at the house at 6, showed him the progress, and at 7pm we walked over to Red Rooster for a drink. Apparently about two hours later there was a shooting – one guy was killed and another received a non-fatal wound. Here’s the police announcement about the investigation…

On Thursday 6/16/2011 in front of 135 West 123 Street, a young black male was shot multiple times.  Responding officers of the 28 Precinct found victim in front of location where he was rushed to Harlem Hospital and was pronounced dead at 9:24pm. 30 minutes later a second victim walked into Harlem Hospital with a non life threatening gun shot wound.  It was discovered by 28 Detective Squad that incident was linked to 123 Street shooting.  This case is still currently under investigation by the 28 Detective Squad, any information please call 28 PDU at 212-678-1608.  You will remain anonymous!!

I’ll post a picture of the building when I get a chance. It’s the 1930ish apartment building next to the old lodge (that’s now under construction). It’s roughly across the street from the place where lots of people hang out on the stoop (136 West 123). The guys were hanging out on the stoop when we went past. They never concern me – they all seem to be pretty nice. They’re older guys who are pretty mellow. But younger “thugs” are the ones who worry me. (If you don’t want to be called a ‘thug’ – don’t dress the part – or at a minimum look people in the eye, say hello and smile). Just statistically most hate crimes are committed by guys in their teens and early 20s who are trying to prove themselves. It would be interesting to find out more about the two victims and the shooter – to see if they fit the profile and to learn what triggered the shooting.

I’m not all that put off by the shooting. It’s a bit concerning, but especially with Windows on 123 selling well, it’s just a matter of time before things change. What’s really important it to just not put up with stuff, but also distinguish between things that are just unsightly (like guys hanging out drinking) and things that are dangerous (like drug dealing). It’s the stuff that leads to violence that needs to be stamped out…

If you’re doing a renovation make sure you have a security camera on the front of your building that’s aimed at the street. It makes a difference. With security cameras the police can solve crimes much more quickly and guys with violent tendencies find other, less visible, places to conduct their business.

UPDATE:

From the NY Post Police Blotter…

A dispute in Harlem escalated into a deadly shooting, cops said.

Kwabena Poku, 23, allegedly argued with a foe at 8:50 p.m. Thursday before returning to his apartment building at 135 W. 123rd St. to talk to his girlfriend.

He stepped outside moments later and was gunned down in a hail of bullets, cops said.

Poku, who had been arrested this month on marijuana charges, was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital.

Another victim, Tony Graham, 48, was shot in the leg, cops said, and was in stable condition at Harlem Hospital.

The marijuana charges are sorta expected – I was talking to someone who said he was hanging out with the victim a little before the incident and he said the guy was smoking up. I wasn’t exactly sure what drug he was referring to (and didn’t want to ask). I’m a little relieved it was just pot.

Apparently there are security cameras on the building, so hopefully they’ll catch the shooter quickly.

There’s an MMPCIA meeting tonight at 7pm at Rice High School where it will be discussed. We’ll be going. Hopefully we’ll learn more…

UPDATE #2:

Last night the police said they have clear video identifying the shooter and they know who he is, BUT they can’t make an arrest because no one is willing to step forward to be a witness. When we passed by less than two hours before there were probably 15 or 20 people hanging out across the street around #136. I’m sure a fair number of them were still there when the shooting happened and if nothing else the other shooting victim saw the shooter. IMHO, it’s sorta absurd that a murderer is walking the streets because people don’t want to talk to the police.

That said, the “good” news is that it apparently was not random violence. The shooting stemmed from a dispute over a woman. Still, a bystander did get shot, so there is an element of random violence.

UPDATE #3:

Dan was talking to someone on the block today and got a slightly different story. The person saw the shooting and said neither the shooter or the victim lives on the block or even in the neighborhood, though the victim was the “baby’s daddy” of a woman in the building where the shooting occurred. Apparently both were African guys (as opposed to African-Americans), and they both lived in the Bronx. He also said the dispute had something to do with rival bootleg DVD businesses in the Bronx. Given that the Police said the dirt bike guys who create problems are from the Bronx, it seems like crime from the Bronx is spilling over into Harlem.

Yeah, (unless he and his wife had an open relationship) chasing skirt less than a year after he got married makes him a bit of a schmuck, but if we took all the schmucks out of Congress there wouldn’t be many people left there to get stuff done.

The only person who should really care about what he did is his wife. It’s not really anyone else’s business.

(BTW – nice chest!)

There used to be concrete covering the back yard. We’re not sure if they were under the concrete or whether they’ve been thrown there recently. Given the oxidation I’m guessing they’ve been there a while.

What’s the proper way to dispose of bullets? Should we take them to the police precinct?

UPDATE:

So I gathered the bullets up and took them into the precinct. They were NOT happy to see me – they said I should have called 911. But seriously… flashing lights and sirens for a bunch of old bullets? They also thought I was bonkers for waiting two days to deal with them since I saw them on Saturday and didn’t do anything until Monday. But it’s not like they were going anywhere… I think they were most upset that they couldn’t get someone else to do the paperwork. They seemed to agree with me that the bullets were quite old – probably under the concrete for decades.

I stopped counting bullets at 30. I think there were probably 50 bullets there – at least three different calibers. There were these little baby bullets – I’d never seen anything that small before. The big ones seemed like they were on the small side of what you’d use in a rifle.

In the end Jay & Dean stole £16,000 worth of jewelry. They eventually got caught. Jay has been sentenced to 30 months in prison, Dean hasn’t gone to trial yet.  Richard, the hapless £10 getaway driver, has been sentenced to 8 months in prison even though he hadn’t intended to be involved in robbing a jewelry store.