Albanese Meats & Poultry
This block of Elizabeth Street runs just south of Houston, and I know it really well because my good friend Herman Boykin started living there in 1979. Before I moved to the City in 1986 and while I was living there I would spend a lot of time in the neighborhood. There were many more shops like Albanese’s back then, but the area is really different now.
Moe
I took the train into New York City on Tuesday and met Craig Williams at City Hall Park. He took me over to One Liberty Plaza to meet some of the September 11 Memorial folks and have a peek at the WTC site. We then went over to Engine Company 6 which is just an amazing place. / The main purpose of the trip was to photograph the Albanese Meats & Poultry shop on Elizabeth Street. The history is a bit too involved to get into, but Moe has been cutting meat here for a very long time. He worked with his mom, Mary for almost 50 years until she died in 2002 at the age of 97. He is an amazingly nice guy. I’ll post more soon.
Newsstand
The New York State Museum is looking at some older style newsstands that are slowly being replaced by a more modern version. I was in the city yesterday on a mad dash down Broadway starting at 178th Street and ending around Times Square. It was very windy, rainy, rushed and a total blast. We were helped out by Harley Spiller, who is THE expert on the stands and in particular the paperweights used to hold down the piles of papers. An amazing and very cool guy. This stand is on the corner of 46th and Broadway.
Oyster Bar
Without a doubt, one of my favorite places in the world in the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station. Had some Cotuits and Blue Points and then a great pan roast before getting on the train to come home.
WTC
I had a good room at the Millenium for my Binghamton University shoot. I was hoping to get on to the WTC site Friday morning for the New York State Museum, but it didn’t work out for now. This is a huge project and they seem to be working through the night. After I took this picture, Peter, Matt and I had a great meal at Les Halles.
Wall Street
There was lots of action downtown because the president was here talking about Wall Street reform. There were tons of tv people doing stand-ups. They always draw a crowd.
Big Pete in NYC
Peter Carroll and I have been working together on and off for a very long time. He is always willing to stand around while I take goofy photographs. We are in New York for a couple of days and just after this we found an amazing falafel stand for lunch. What a sport!
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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