The Demise of Shervin's Cafe

I was walking down East 7th Street yesterday, preparing for the excitement of Blizzard Stella, when I noticed something new at the beloved Shervin's Cafe. Namely, its emptiness!

Emptiness.

Naturally, I crossed the street to get a picture of the inside:

Inside.

The name Shervin always reminded me of the name Severin, which is a character in a book called "Venus in Furs", which a band called The Velvet Underground used to write a song also called "Venus in Furs", about fifty years ago.

They were sort of doomed from the start.

#eastvillage #7thstreet #shervinscafe #venusinfurs

Making Movies

She gets rock'n'roll
a rock'n'roll station
And a rock'n'roll dream
She's making movies on location…
"Skate Away", Dire Straits

Movie makers love the East Village, and East Villagers love having their neighborhood in the movies!

I was walking across East 7th Street this morning, past Tompkins Square Park. I felt almost like I was in a movie, and I almost was!

Setting up for another shoot.

It looks like the chess tables will be featured prominently in this one:

They had to take up part of the fence.

I wondered where all the drunks and drug addicts went, who usually sit there. I figured they were around somewhere – they never go too far.

I didn't have to wonder for long! Here they were already, on the next block:

Sitting in their own pew.

This looked to be a big day for the movie makers. They stretched all the way down East 7th Street:

East 7th Street.

and around the corner onto Second Avenue!

Second Avenue.

They were even using an apartment on the corner building:

"Second floor, right?"

And the best part is I won't even have to pay to see it in the theater — I lived it!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #tompkinssquarepark #movies #drunks #drugaddicts #shervinscafe #pew #secondavenue

Pew!

Outside Shervin's Cafe, on East 7th Street:

Pew.

#eastvillage #pew #seats #shervinscafe #7thstreet