Ludlow Street
Ludlow Street runs between Houston and Division Streets on the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, an important cultural street rich with history.
It is a destination street for musicians and music-lovers, and is heavily populated with fashion shops, art galleries, bars, restaurants, and clubs. Ludlow Street currently houses the performance venues Cake Shop, The Living Room, and Piano's, among its many other diversions.
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[edit] History
[edit] 1960 - 1990
As far back as 1962 Tony Conrad, Theatre of Eternal Music member, lived and worked at 56 Ludlow[1] and in 1965 Lou Reed, John Cale and Sterling Morrison of The Velvet Underground lived and recorded there. The earliest known recorded version of All Tomorrow's Parties was recorded there. [2]
Tony Conrad has produced two CDs from the Jack Smith tape archives subtitled 56 Ludlow Street that were recorded at 56 Ludlow Street between 1962 and 1964.[3]
In the mid 1970s Gary Weis made some short films of Taylor Mead talking to his cat in the kitchen of his Ludlow Street apartment called Taylor Mead's Cat. From 1980 to the mid-80s actor/videomaker Craig Calman lived in the building adjoining Taylor Mead's.[4]
In the early 1980s Ludlow Street was well-known as a street where no wave Colab artists connected with ABC No Rio lived; such as Kiki Smith.[5] Other notables there at this time include Fab Five Freddy, Tom Otterness and George Condo.
From 1983 to 1989, the bimonthly cassette publication Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine was based out of 143 Ludlow Street.
In 1989 the Beastie Boys used a photo of the southwest corner of Ludlow and Rivington Street as the cover for their album Paul's Boutique.[6]
[edit] 1990s
In the mid- to late 1990s, the increasing popularity of the area among hipsters, driven out of the East Village by an invasion of yuppies, led to an upturn in activity along Ludlow Street, with several old establishments, such as corner delis (a.k.a. bodegas) closing shop to make way for bars, music venues such as the Ludlow Street Bar & Grill (a basement restaurant and music venue), and alternative theatres such as Collective:Unconscious Theater (before it became an empty lot), Piano's Theater (before it became a music venue and bar), and Todo Con Nada (before it became The Dark Room).
[edit] Today
Since then it has become a small nightlife strip featuring bars and venues with a distinct subcultural flavor. Local institutions still present, including the bistro/cafe Pink Pony, the adjacent artist bar Max Fish, Katz's Deli, which is one of the city's most famous delicatessens, Ludlow Street Guitars, Earthmatters Cafe (hangout of musicians/actors/writers/techies), newly re-opened Ludlow Studio, which was home to some of the top recording artists in the mid 1990s, and the Sombrero Mexican restaurant, better known to a generation of musicians as "The Hat." The art and cultural gallery Ludlow 38 is the downtown satellite for contemporary art of the Goethe-Institut New York. The space was designed by artists Ethan Breckenridge and Liam Gillick.
In 2005 artist Wolfgang Staehle created One day of life on Ludlow Street (New York). The work consists of 6716 images (jpgs, resolution 1200x1600) displayed in approximately 8 second intervals over 24 hours (10/07/2005). [7] Colab activist and experimental filmmaker Coleen Fitzgibbon made in 1980 a video called Ludlow about Ludlow Street.[8]
From south to north, Ludlow starts from Division Street, intersects Canal Street, Hester Street, Grand Street, Broome Street, Delancey Street, Rivington Street and Stanton Street, and ends at Houston Street.
[edit] Ludlow Street in Popular Culture
- Suzanne Vega's song, Ludlow Street, from the 2007 album Beauty and Crime
- The Julian Casablancas album Phrazes for the Young includes a song titled Ludlow St.
- The AaRON album Birds in the Storm includes a song titled Ludlow L
- The Beastie Boys 1989 album Paul's Boutique features a panoramic photograph of Ludlow Street on the cover
- The Digable Planets included a reference to Ludlow Street in their hip-hop song Time And Space ("from 125 right down to ludlow") on their 1993 album Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
- New York-based artist Jaymay mentions Ludlow Street in her song "You'd Rather Run" on her album Autumn Fallin'
- In the song, Clinton St. Girl by the Indie band Wakey!Wakey!, "Ludlow Street boys" are frequently mentioned throughout the chorus.
- Childish Gambino mentions Ludlow Street in his song "L.E.S." on his album "Camp"
[edit] References
- ^ Steven Watson, Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties, Pantheon, New York, 2003, p. 157
- ^ David Fricke, liner notes for the Peel Slowly and See box set (Polydor, 1995)
- ^ Jack Smith - Les Evening Gowns Damnees - 56 Ludlow Street 1962-1964, Volume I and Jack Smith - Silent Shadows On Cinemaroc Island - 56 Ludlow Street 1962-1964 Volume II. Label: Table of the Elements. CDs released in 1997
- ^ [1] Dan Glass, "Taylor Mead, Superstar:The Life and Times of a Downtown Legend"
- ^ Carlo McCormick, "The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene, 1974–1984", Princeton University Press, 2006
- ^ NYC Album Art: Paul's Boutique, accessed April 26, 2007. "According to the album, Paul's Boutique is in Brooklyn...but we all know this photo was taken in the Lower East Side. With a Paul's Boutique sign hanging up on the Lee's Sportswear storefront, the shot was taken at 99 Rivington Street, where Rivington and Ludlow intersect."
- ^ One day of life on Ludlow Street (New York)
- ^ [2]‘LES ON THE SCREEN’ FILM SERIES: SCREENING OCTOBER 3, 2011: COLEEN FITZGIBBON & STEPHANIE GRAY
[edit] Reference texts
- Carlo McCormick, "The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene, 1974–1984", Princeton University Press, 2006
- Alan Moore and Marc Miller, eds., ABC No Rio Dinero: The Story of a Lower East Side Art Gallery, Collaborative Projects, NY, 1985
- Steven Watson, Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties, Pantheon, New York, 2003
1974
[edit] External links
- Ludlow Street Storefronts - photographs of buildings and stores along Ludlow Street.
- Ludlow 38 of the Goethe-Institut New York
