the punkrocker and the photographer

patti smith just came out with a biography.
the focus is on her youth, in particular her relationship with robert Mapplethorpe.

"“Just Kids” captures a moment when Ms. Smith and Mapplethorpe were young, inseparable, perfectly bohemian and completely unknown, to the point in which a touristy couple in Washington Square Park spied them in the early autumn of 1967 and argued about whether they were worth a snapshot. The woman thought they looked like artists. The man disagreed, saying dismissively, “They’re just kids.”"

nyt book review here

An end to the Tavern on the Green

i'm shocked, its closing its doors on Dec 31st.
"Next month, the bankrupt restaurant Tavern on the Green’s famous treasures will be up for sale to the highest bidder."

more of the slide show of treasures from the site, on New York Times, here

"Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Tavern on the Green LP, operator of the 75-year-old restaurant in New York’s Central Park, sought bankruptcy protection after losing its lease on the city property to a higher bidder a month ago.
The restaurant’s name, valued at $19 million and in place since its founding by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses in 1934, now will be sold to the highest bidder in bankruptcy court, according to Keith Costa, a lawyer for the bankrupt partnership.
The lease for Tavern on the Green, the second-highest- grossing restaurant in the U.S. last year, had been held since 1974 by the family of Warner LeRoy, which owns the Tavern on the Green name. The city last month awarded the lease for 20 years starting at the end of Dec. 31 to restaurateur Dean Poll, who runs the Central Park Boathouse Restaurant."
rest of this article here


i'm surprised they are being allowed to dismantle it, that its not a heritage site for the city of NY, etc.