#10 – LAII’s enhancement of the Haring Mural Recreation

I have heard that the Haring Foundation was not pleased, but these additions by an old Haring collaborator added a lot of life to the memorial.

#9 – MOMO – Construction Shed Paste-Ups

Many of these paste-ups went up in the Lower East Side and East Village,  all decorating the plywood sides of construction sheds.

They were all different, and looked like they were done with giant markers. They soon faded in the sun.

#8 -  Street Art Collectors

This is why I don’t give street locations on most of my street art photos.

More MBW

More of this Collector

#7 – Banksy’s Crack Accountant

Banksy paid to display  his message towards Wall Street on Broadway in Soho.

More Banksy

#6  Swoon’s LES Mural Abandoned

I saw new Swoon art on walls in Brooklyn and Chelsea, but this wall long maintained and updated by Swoon on the Lower East Side was untouched by her all year.

This skeleton angel boy recently pasted there is quite lovely. It was based on a famous Arbus photo.

More Arbus Boy

More Swoon Mural

#5 -  Poets of the Paste

ELBOW-TOE, Armsrock, Gaia, and Imminent Disaster  at Ad Hoc Art in Brooklyn

#4 -  A Maze

A Maze: the largest single collection of Stikman ever assembled, in a show with Celso, Infinity, C-Beauty and LAII.

Factory Fresh Gallery

#3 – The Toy Tower Comes Down

The Famous Junk sculpture by Eddie Boros in the Sixth and B Community Garden,  The Toy Tower, was torn down by the city for reasons of safety.

My Baby – Eddie Boros and his Tower of Toys

More Toy Tower

#2 – Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea

A jaw dropping, crazily ambitious installation by Swoon at Deitch Gallery in Long Island City. Seven hand made ships cruised down the Hudson for this show.

My video and photos of the opening

More Swoon

# 1 – Street Art in the 2008 Election

Shepard Fairey’s Obama became the default icon for the candidate.

More Shepard Fairey

More Billi Kid

More Chico

More Obama

I just finished part two of my Toy Tower Video – Eddie’s Big Wind.
A fierce wind and rain storm, Monday night after the memorial, leaves the tower dangerously leaning into the garden. This accelerates the Parks Department’s plans to tear it down. I again interview the gardeners : Joanee Freedom, Pat Russell, Graywolf and William Hohauser. And we hear from gardeners: Barbara (Improvisational poetry), Steve Jones Daughs (drums) and Tim Young (a sad witness to the final fall of the tower). Plus we hear from various neighbors who were unhappy to see it go, and John, the single angry, vocal protester on the morning of the take-down.

Graywolf tells a great story about how the tower almost came down in an ice storm in 1994, and how Eddie got his friends from Sophie’s bar to save it.

Joanee gives more garden history, and shares her theory about the storm being Eddie’s Wind.

William shares some insight into how Eddie expressed his spirituality.

And Barbara Monoian from the Musee de Monoian gallery says that Eddie was the neighborhood’s keeper of history.

A couple of neighbors expressed glee within earshot that the pile of junk was finally gone, but no one was willing to go on camera to say it.

On Sunday May 11th, 2008, the one year memorial for Eddie Boros the creator of the Tower of Toys was held in the 6th and B Community Garden. The NYC Parks department had just declared the tower unsafe and that it must come down. Eddie Boros was an amazing character, he had to be in order to build and preserve from destruction his 60 foot ramshackle tower of salvaged timber and rotting toys from 1985 until 2008, a full year after he died.  I combined the interviews with the many photos I’ve taken of the tower, plus photos on the garden bulletin board, as well as some that people put on the garden fence after Eddie died in 2007.
In part one I talk to:

I simply asked everyone to give me their stories about Eddie. He touched a lot of people, the stories were great.

Part Two: Eddie’s Big Wind

Eddie’s Big Wind from GammaBlog on Vimeo.

A fierce wind and rain storm, Monday night after the memorial, leaves the tower dangerously leaning into the garden. This accelerates the Parks Department’s plans to tear it down. I again interview the gardeners : Joanee Freedom, Pat Russell, Graywolf and William Hohauser. And we hear from gardeners:  Barbara (Improvisational poetry), Steve Jones Daughs (drums) and Tim Young (a sad witness to the final fall of the tower).  Plus we hear from various neighbors who were unhappy to see it go, and John, the single angry, vocal protester on the morning of the take-down.

Graywolf tells a great story about how the tower almost came down in an ice storm in 1994, and how Eddie got his friends from Sophie’s bar to save it.

Joanee gives more garden history, and shares her theory about the storm being Eddie’s Wind.

William shares some insight into how Eddie expressed his spirituality.

And Barbara Monoian from the Musee de Monoian gallery says that Eddie was the neighborhood’s “keeper of history.”

A couple of neighbors expressed glee within earshot that the “pile of junk” was finally gone, but no one was willing to go on camera to say it.

Part Three, the probable final part, is tentatively titled, Some Toys Survive. It deals with the aftermath of the take-down in the garden. For one thing, the area, no longer in the tower’s shadow, is growing lush. For another, Eddie’s toys will likely be given to people in return for gifts of new toys for needy kids, as opposed to auctioning them to support garden needs. There is no date yet on this event, as far as I know.

More Toy Tower on the GammaBlog

They call this wilderness camping, and it is, but most of the sites have a privy, picnic table, and fire pit. Well graded dirt roads lead to the camps. Payaso’s Nissan handled every obstacle that was thrown at it.

At one point we both took refuge from the flies by reading our books in the car. Other campers, out exploring in their truck, came by and asked us how the bugs were treating us. Pretty funny being out in the wilderness and huddling in the car, but the tents weren’t as comfy. They said that at their camp they haven’t even had to put on any repellant. They were staying in the crowded lakeside camp where you are lean over and borrow the salt distance from other campers. Maybe the air by the lake is just saturated with everyone’s evaporated DEET. Our camp was maybe a good mile from the nearest occupied camp, and it smelled sweet and clean.

They told us tales of black bears on their lakeside picnic table. And warned us not to get between a bear and whatever that bear wanted. We’d been keeping our food and trash in the car overnight as a precaution, but I suspect that most of the hungry bears were hanging out near the lake, where they can score junk food, and expect regular mealtimes. The largest mammal I saw near our camp was a chipmunk.

Here’s a news story about some Colorodo campers who took even more bear precautions to no avail. After reading that story, I’m going to be even more vigilent with food handling, and not have the tents near the food area at all. One reading of the news story could be that this particular bear was pissed-off that these campers didn’t even leave him a snack.

We were ten-miles-of-dirt-road from civilization. The night before we made a great fire and burned all five-dollars-worth of the wood we’d brought in. And we went off in search of left-behind logs in empty campsites. In one of the camps we raided, Payaso’s extra keen Payaso Sense detected the sound of rushing water. We lucked onto what must be one of the best sites in the area. It had Beautiful Otter Creek just a few steps down from the campfire. Click to see full-size panorama. We saw evidence of recent felling of a live pine tree, at this campsite. We found green pine branches by the firepit and a freshly cut stump just a few steps into the forest. Really a waste, as fresh pine logs make lousy fires. But the next wilderness trip I will bring a hand-axe and camping-saw to scavenge the abundant fallen deadwood that is available a short walk into the forest.

Ritual burning of the Camp Wetsocki namesakes. The previous campers had done a poor job of policing the area before they left. But we were just glad that they had left, and we got this incredible site.

Camp Wetsocki was missing a privy, but it did have this hollow log with a toilet seat, and a secret lower entrance for mosquitoes to bite your ass.

Mosquito gets second place in the GammaBlaBlog’s 2003 Defender of the Wilderness Award. These little ladies infiltrated my tent every night, despite vigilant flashlight aerial searchlighting into every corner before sleeping. They perpetrated most of the bites on this trip. Natural Mosquito Control Mosquito Information Mosquito image source Sunday, July 13, 2003 – Otter Creek Otter Creek. Chris is futilely trying to read the final pages of his book in some semblance of peace. Click and scroll right to see full-size panorama. Payaso making some kung-foo moves on the deer flies. Payaso again trying to look like he doesn’t know I’m taking his picture and that the flies are not driving him nuts. I nominate the Deer Fly as top warrior in defense of the wilderness. They like heat, sweating humans, and have a venomous bite with killer quick reflexes. They hover and harass you from just behind your head. I ended up waving a towel around my head, like a horse swishing its tail to have just a few seconds of relief. Camp Black Fly had none of these little bistids, but Wetsocki had plenty. They drove me nearly insane. The links below will tell you how use their ultra-annoying habits to trap them. One technique is to put sticky stuff on a blue plastic cup and wear it on the top of your head. They apparently dive-bomb the irresistable bright blue lure when it travels around at their favorite feeding height. Soon you have a hat buzzing with angry dying deer flies. I mean even for a vegetarian like me this has some allure, taking their most annoying behavior and using it against them. But I would not be happy as a ridiculous walking death trap. But I will bring a fly-swatter on the next trip. Deer Fly is the GamaBlaBlog’s 2003 Defender of the Wilderness Deer Fly Trolling Deer Fly Defense Deer Fly image source Otter Creek has clear but tea-colored water. We were careful not to swallow any of this creek water when we swam. You are asked to bring in your own drinking water, and we did, purchasing some insipid tasting “spring water” in plastic bottles at the grocery store in Inlet. But there is a spring in the wilderness camping area that has delicious water. It is off one of the access dirt roads, there is a small sign marking the pipe, look sharp. Otter Creek Monday, July 14, 2003 – Explore Here I am trying to look nonchalant in the cold water of Otter Creek. The water wasn’t really that cold but the footing on the smooth rocks was treacherous, making it difficult to get in and out. Ditto. This is the forest just above Otter Creek. There was a great variety of mosses and ferns. The ground is as soft as a pillow. It feels like you will sink knee-deep through the leaf-litter and moss. I went exploring early Monday morning and saw this sign.”Unsafe Bridge.” Yeehaw! But I went up that overgrown trail three quarters of a mile, and found no bridge. But I did encounter some poison Ivy, that I thought I avoided. Poison Ivy receives the Lifetime Achievement Award in the 2003 GammaBlaBlog’s Defender of the Wilderness Awards. Poison Oak and Poison Ivy identification guide Fact Sheet on Poison Ivy I only got a slight rash on my hands. When I got back to the city I picked up a homeopathic remedy (Anacardium Or. 30C). I think it helps keep the itching down and keeps the rash from spreading. Very hot showers, and calendula gel also helps. Information from Homeopathic Self-Care by Robert and Judyth Ullman Update, June 2008: The very best itch relief comes from applying a hair drier to the rash. Put the dryer on high and blow it very close to your skin for about ten seconds or until you feel it sting. The itch goes away immediately, and the relief lasts for hours. More Poison Ivy Remedies Update Oct, 2008. I must caution that you can burn yourself with the hair dryer if you do it for too long a time. Here’s the Hudson River near Warrensburg, on our way back to the city. I’ve carefully framed the photo to de-emphasize the trailer homes on the right. This was a great trip, well worth the seven hours of travel time out of the city, if only for having a full day or two of not hearing car sounds.

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It looks like they are clearing some of the junk from beneath the famous Toy Tower of the Sixth and B Garden

Search for Junk Tower on the GammaBlog

It would be practically impossible to mention Eddie Boros, a charismatic, sometimes cantankerous artist from the East Village, without describing his most ambitious work, a looming sculpture made of scrap wood and salvaged objects that rises 65 feet above the southern end of the Sixth Street and Avenue B Community Garden.

Mr. Boros’s sculpture rises 65 feet above the southern end of the Sixth Street and Avenue B Community Garden

The wood of the ramshackle tower is aged and graying. The flotsam suspended from it includes a string of red and white buoys, toy horses and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Mr. Boros called it the toy tower, but others likened it to a psychedelic treehouse.

Mr. Boros died on Friday at 74, and now his sculpture will be the most visible reminder of his long presence in the neighborhood.

A wake was held yesterday for Mr. Boros at a funeral home on East Seventh Street, but before that, members of his family visited the garden, where photographs of him were taped to a tall iron fence and candles sputtered in the breeze.

“He had a great soul,” said one of Mr. Boros’s nieces, Helen Boros, 50, from Massapequa on Long Island. “He was a very giving man.”

She said her uncle had undergone surgery to have both legs amputated below the knees at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Manhattan in the winter. He had been recuperating at a veterans center in St. Albans, Queens, but was taken last Monday to Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, where he died.

His relatives said that Mr. Boros was born, and until recently, lived in an apartment on East Fifth Street. He served in the Army and worked delivering ice and painting apartments. But he was always an artist, and the Avenue B sculpture was his masterpiece. And its mere survival over more than two decades has elevated it to the status of neighborhood institution.

Mr. Boros began constructing the sculpture on a 4-by-8-foot garden plot in the early 1980s, initially as a form of protest because the garden’s founders wanted to relegate him to one plot. Before the garden was formally organized, he had been using a bit of empty space on the site to work on wood carvings. For years, Mr. Boros added to the structure until the base expanded to cover six times the original space.

Not everybody was pleased that Mr. Boros had turned a significant chunk of the garden into an outdoor folk art studio. As the sculpture rose, some gardeners accused the artist of insubordination born of bitterness. There were angry meetings. In the early 1990s, some of the garden members spearheaded an effort to evict Mr. Boros and his sculpture. In the end, they settled for an agreement in which Mr. Boros accepted a height limit.

As time went by, the sculpture became a local landmark. People used it as a meeting place, and feral cats used it as a home, climbing their way through the intricate interior of the piece. Sometimes, Mr. Boros himself was known to clamber to the top, where an American flag flew. He sat there, like a lookout on the Pequod straddling a spar, while surveying the streets and skyline.

A documentary featuring Mr. Boros was broadcast on PBS in 1998, and for a time, an image of the sculpture was among opening shots of the television show “NYPD Blue.”

In recent years, Mr. Boros’s health declined and he quit climbing. Instead, he could sometimes be seen sitting near the sculpture in a folding chair and chatting with visitors.

Yesterday afternoon, a garden member, Pat Russell, gazed up at the sculpture.

“It’s given so much to this garden,” she said. “It’s been a talking point for strangers walking by and for longtime neighbors.”
By COLIN MOYNIHAN – Published in the New York Times: April 30, 2007

Search for Junk Tower on the GammaBlog

Search for Junk Tower on the GammaBlog

Search for Junk Tower on the GammaBlog

Skewville sneak on the 6th and B Junk Tower.