Civil Servants

Some people think of civil servants as nebbish folk who spend the day inside an office, filing important papers. That's certainly one type, but there are others, many of whom we see regularly!

Here is one such civil servant, cleaning Avenue A:

Street sweeper.

And right behind him was another:

Civil servant garbage man.

It reminds me of a song by a band called Talking Heads. They never lived in the East Village, but they were very popular with those who did, a long time ago in the 1980s!


So on this Cinco de Mayo, remember to thank the civil servants, who keep the East Village so spic and span!

#avenuea #civilservants #garbagetrucks #streetsweepers #talkingheads

John Varvatos Store

The John Varvatos store on The Bowery at Bleecker Street is a very cool, but very expensive clothes store in the East Village.

John Varvatos store.

There used to be a bar in this space, called CBGB. Back in the 1970s (40 years ago!) a lot of popular bands played here. You might have heard of some of them: Talking Heads, Blondie, The Ramones, to name a few.

These bands played in other bars and theaters too, not just CBGB. I don't think it can be said that any of them became famous for having played there. It's more the other way around — CBGB became famous because of them. The owner made millions, setting up stores in other cities, and with his on-line store. I think there's even a store in Las Vegas! Eventually, he got old and closed the bar.

Anyway, that's all in the past now, and this is the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #bowery #johnvarvatos #bleeckerstreet #cbgb #talkingheads #blondie #theramones