Did anybody spend time in the Village?

Greenwhich village let's say from 1964 to 1974.
The east village had the electric circus, The filmore east, and the west village had almost everything else. The four winds (where Paul Simon,Bob Dylan,
and many others started) cafe wha?,where Jimmy Hendrix played before leaving to London, and other places where the music just kept going all night, all
within a space of a few blocks.
I got there the year of Woodstock, but I caught a big glimpse of a dying era.

 

Man,and for so long my feeling was that the Village was the sixties.

 

I'm pretty sure my great aunt lived in the village around that time. I dont know how hippie she is though...more like a regular new yorker, very artsy though.

 

There's a Village in Texas missing an idiot! VOTE!!!

 

Too young for that, but I still think the Village and lower east side are the best parts of NY.

 

If you go to NYC, take a subway to eight st, get off and walk west.... your in the west village, walk east ...you're in the east village

Fith ave. is the center.
Before going in any direction head for fifth ave first, and walk into Washington sq park.(Fifht ave ends at the park) Hang out feel the vibes...there's still usually people playing guitar and touristas and locals listening till early morning.

If you can stay for week you'll enjoy just walking around from 6th ave to second ave,on eight st., and if you stayed even 10 years, you wont get tired of it.

The Village begins from 14th street all the way to
Hudsons st.(going downtown) where the streets change from numbers to names. 5th ave is the center.

To one side(west) you have 6th ,7th, and 8th, and to the other(east) 4th .3th. 2th 1st. A, B, C, and D

When you reach either end, you're facing the river. In NYC from the bottom of the island to far uptown, you can walk east or west and run into the river. The lower Manhattan from 14th st. down to Hudson is where you'll find that there are no skyscrapers, and it has been always like that, which gives Greenwhich village a great edge and makes people wanna live there or spend a great deal of time in a place that has so much history and where so many artists began and hanged out a lot; like Hendrix, Paul Simon, The mamas and the papas and many others.

Yep, I miss it sometimes, but I keep myself playing my guitar everyday.
Something I would do there too.



Washington Sq park

 

i love the villiage. although i live in CT, im around there a lot. the jugglers and stuff is always cool there

me and some friends actually went to the villiage one time with the intention on sleeping there on the pavement. we were hoping for there to be activity that night. and what happened? THE FUCKING POWER WENT OUT FOR THE WHOLE CITY. biggest blackout in NY history. there was a huge party in wash square, and we just stayed up all night with the crazy musicians and had one of the best nights of our lives

the east viliage is cool too, but a bit grungy

my dad used to go to cafe wa, he saw hendrix play. im so lucky to have a dad with so many stories to tell about the era. i should write em down. course it would have been cooler if i lived then myself

 

Awesome! was that in 1977 (black out)?

 

Stayed with a girl on Ave.B behind thompkins square park in 1970.
I had run away from a foster home in Norfolk.
I hung out on St. Marks and panhandled all the time except for a couple of weeks when a guy that owned a little shop on St marks called "the gate" let me work there helping him with a big shipment of clothes.
I used to get 2.00 together and go over to "The Naked Grape" and buy used jeans.

I could panhandle 35 cents and eat...a slice for a quarter and a soda for 10 cents. I also hung out on East 4th with some Hells Angels for a little while, I rode with one to Jersey and back on his bike sitting on a pillion pad and no foot pegs, had to wrap my legs around his waist...worst ride of my life...but also one of the best.

I was also snatched off the street and held for 5 days....worst thing that ever happened to me at the hand of others.
I was 12 in 1970.
teepi

 

wow Teepi, you should write a book about what it was like being 12 years old on your own there during that time period...i would like to hear more anyway!

 

WOW! I was still in Ave B, 26 to be exact, in 1970.
I moved there after crashing in a few places since1969 .I was paying I think 40$ with a bedroom and my friends all had their own,,I used to work weekends at St Marks pl and 1st ave San Marcos pizzeria and at that time (still 69) I was crashing exactly in front, in a rooming house.

I was 20 in 1970, and I remember we sold the pizzas still at 30 cents while in the west village they charged 35 cents.

 

Man, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that...lol

Actually I have thought about it...but i fear I have forgotten alot more than I remember.
Also alot of it is very painful, and although I have worked through it...those are the parts I like to try to forget.

It was a different world then it seems, I thumbed all over the country and didn't think twice about it....but it hurts my heart now to see young people on this forum talking about running away and hitching rides.....I fear for them so much.

While some parts of my life have been heartbreaking and some lost to memories fading...plenty of it was a grand time....I am happy I got in on the tailend of that generation and got to experience the whole vibe.

There are posts around the forum on some of my times and if you have any questions you may certainly ask me. I like to share what I have..
teepi

 

Teepi ---

Sounds like you've led a life uncommon...
If you ever think you'd like to get some of your thoughts on paper, whether it be an autobiographical type story or fiction based on some(many) of your experiences, I'd definitely be happy to talk with you about collaborating.
I'm not a writer by trade, but do write regularly and am working at honing my skills for the book writing process.

Glad to hear you've not been embittered by your time on the road. That happens easily.

Gina.

 

Gina,

You have given me something to think about...I will PM you soon, after some thought.

Teepi

 

Hey Teepi!

I like writing for free, but if'n you're going to do a book thingee, make sure that you keep your nom de plume a great big secret. There's nothing like a book signing to take the blush off the rose. If you know what I mean.

Back to topic... I was born in Plainfield, NJ, moved to the Flemington area in the very early 60's. So from the time I was 14 (1962), with an altered driver's license, I spent nearly every weekend in the West Village... drinking.

I lived on 1st Street between 1st Ave. and Ave A, on 10th St. up on 59th St. and in SOHO... I worked as a writer for Crawdaddy Magazine back in '69 , the one and only, truly underground newspaper (5 floors below street level on AOA), until it was ruined by Flynt.

Tell me Teepi... did you push the big cube around in St Mark's? I stayed in the hotel just down the street from there for a couple weeks once.

Oh, the Villages... everything open all night. anything you wanted available on the street... drop a couple of tabs and walk up to 5th Ave in the middle of the night... What a life. Glad I'm not there now.

 

HAHA Sam,
I had about forgot about the cube....that is one of the coolest sculptures.
I never did try to turn it though I know it does.

Yeah, the name thing....being the private people that we are that is definatly a consideration.
I have heard of Crawdaddy...don't recall if I've ever seen an issue though, I'll have to ask Larry about that one.
One time I was walking through Tompkins playing a harmonica wearing a "granny dress" and a man took my picture and asked me to sign a release form, he said he worked for a magazine,(can't remember the name).......so I've always wondered if I'm out there in print somewhere..lol

Love your sig pic,
teepi

 

One night we had the cube loaded with folks... Silver Apple, the first synthesizer group, was playing live in the street, and we exhausted ourselves pushing that cube around.

Crawdaddy started out before Rolling Stone. There for a while it was bigger than R.S. I did articles and interviews for them. Interviewed Jopline, Hendrix, Chicago Transit Authority, and many more. The last one I did was Hendrix.

Shoot, I tried to get busted in Tomkin's Square one time. I was involved in a Fed. entrapment thingee and saw it as the only way I could get free. Some NYC cops... they took the oz out of my bag, questioned me, and turned me loose. I finally beat the Conspiracy charges, but I never will forget those kindly police officers... choke, gag, cough-cough.

Yeah, Gravity. Try staying on earth without it.

Love Ya,
Sam

 

The writer of the rolling stone magazine interviewed me once.

 

Hi, Hari! Yep, I lived for a very short time in the East Village, the summer of '68. I lived at 12 E 3rd Ave, right across from the men's shelter. Sometimes we'd sit out on our fire escape and watch the scene below - like a movie many times! My roomates were backdoor men at Filmore East - got to see lots of great concerts! My old man played with Eric Anderson - he was a drummer. Loved the chocolate egg creams at Gem's Spa, cheesecake at Ratners. There are just so many random memories, it'd be hard to get them into words. Thompkins Square Park, some bars on the way there - great hoagies. I really didn't have much money - I got fired from Blackton's Fifth Avenue because I wouldn't wear make-up - so life happened a lot on the streets, the parks, wherever we were. Thanks for bringing up the memories!

 

Right after you I arrived in the winter of 69.