» New York

Old in New York City

Wayne — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 07:00:42 +0000

In a city known for it’s extreme weather and a lifestyle that is fast paced, ever-changing, and favors the young and able, it’s no wonder New York City is often seen as a not-so-ideal place to retire and live out the rest of one’s life as a senior citizen. But, there they are, the elderly of New York living by their own rules and walking at their own pace. I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know some of the city’s oldest, as well as capturing them on my many adventures in street photography.

Tony Triolo (1930-2006) in his home. I met him in 2005, about a year before he passed away at 76. Tony was a former staff photographer for Sports Illustrated whose iconic photographs of legendary athletes have appeared on over 50 covers of the magazine.

Monica, who I met in Greenwich Village

Lower East Side

: Chinatown

Grand St. subway station, Chinatown

Leroy, a homeless Vietnam veteran on new year's eve 2006

Union Square Park

On 34th St.

Peruvian muralist and painter Rico Fonseca, Washington Square Park

Jack, a Bush-hating liberal, showing me what people do when he approaches them with his disposable cameras, Union Square Park

Leroy, a homeless Vietnam veteran sharing his spiritual beliefs in the 34th St. Penn Station subway.

On Canal St., Chinatown

Somewhere in Flushing, this man stood in pink.

Legendary Joe Ades (1934-2009) peddling his $5 peelers in Chinatown.

Old man Elmo and co-conspirator in Queens somewhere.

F Train, Brooklyn

In the Church of Our Savior near Grand Central Station

Coney Island

September 11, 2001

Wayne — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:38:13 +0000

These images have never been shared with the public. I had only taken them for myself to remember that day. Most people remember exactly what they were doing that morning, where they were, and how they were reacting as the events unfolded. I was a college student who had lived in New York City for nearly a year and was getting ready to make the commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan. I never made that commute. I remember sitting in my living room that morning listening to the radio with a feeling of deep disbelief and helplessness. The pictures you see below were my attempts to come to grips with reality. Unlike those who witnessed the collapse in person or on television, I was instead confronted with ashes in my face, smoke, and burnt pages of paper floating down like feathers to the ground. The experience wasn’t “like a movie,” something I have heard repeated by detached witnesses over and over. For me, it was the closest I had ever come to mass destruction and death and I was forever moved by that sight.

It is difficult to forget the day of September 11, 2001 when much of what is going on today is in some way a consequence of the occurrences of that day. From the emotionally impacted individual to the drastic reactionary measures in foreign and domestic policy, the character of this country has changed for better and for worse. When historians in the future attempt to trace the roots of this change, this day will surely be marked a turning point.

March 10: Tibetan National Uprising Day in New York City

Wayne — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 09:54:47 +0000

Mat Maneri

Wayne — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 01:24:40 +0000

Mat Maneri, born on October 4th, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York is an American composer, improviser and jazz violin and viola player, specifically derivatives such as the five-string viola, the electric six-string violin, and the baritone violin. He is the son of the saxophonist Joe Maneri.

Maneri has recorded with Cecil Taylor, Matthew Shipp, Joe Morris, Joe Maneri, Gerald Cleaver, Tim Berne, Borah Bergman, Mark Dresser, William Parker, Michael Formanek, John Lockwood, as well as with his own trio, quartet, and quintet. He has also played on various band releases: Club d’Elf, Decoupage, Brewed by Noon, Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band, Buffalo Collision. Maneri has worked with Ed Schuller, John Medeski, Roy Campbell, Paul Motian, Tomasz Stanko, Robin Williamson, Drew Gress, Tony Malaby, Ben Monder, Barre Phillips, Joëlle Léandre, Marilyn Crispell, Craig Taborn, Ethan Iverson, David King and many others.

Maneri started studying violin at the age of five and received a full scholarship as the principal violinist at Walnut Hill High School. He also studied at the New England Conservatory of Music, he then went on to pursue a professional career in jazz music.

He is an experienced educator who has taught at the New England Conservatory and the New School among others. He has taught privately for over 15 years and has frequently presented specialized workshops on improvisation, performance technique, ear training and theory both in Europe and North America. In 2006, Maneri was nominated for a Grammy award in the category “Best Alternative Music Album” for the CD Pentagon.

Mat and his wife Lucy live in Brooklyn.

(Source: Mat Maneri’s MySpace page)

Leroy

Wayne — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 09:28:32 +0000

I would spot Leroy, a homeless Vietnam Veteran, at the 34th St. Madison Square Garden station. He would usually be sitting at the bottom of a stairwell with a box for people to throw money in. A few times he would have some artwork he had made expressing certain spiritual beliefs he held, especially of the Islamic faith. There was also a time when he adopted two kittens that stayed beside him. He got more money and attention by having these kittens. Could anyone blame him for this plea for sympathy? Certainly not I.

Throughout the years, I saw his health decline–he complained of being unable to hold down any food except for bread and water, anything else gave him diarrhea, a swelling eye filled with pus, and when I last saw him, he was slumped over in a wheelchair after having fallen down a flight of stairs. I asked him where he had gotten the wheelchair and he said the VA gave it to him.

I made these pictures of him on two separate occassions, however I saw him at least a dozen times throughout the years.

No First Name: A Tibetan in Exile

Wayne — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 11:19:08 +0000

When Tsering Dolma first arrived in New York City in 2004, she barely spoke a word of English. She came only with a determination to survive and support her family still living in the Tibetan refugee villages of India. Like many other older, less-educated Tibetan women in exile, she went to work as a nanny and house maid to the wealthy elites of New York City.

Her journey to this new life began in 1996 when she escaped her homeland of Tibet along with her husband and three children to the refugee villages in Dharmsala, India. She recounts a life of oppression and abuse by Chinese authorities in Tibet. Rape at 16 by two Chinese soldiers on her father’s farm, jailings, beatings, and intimidation. While pregnant with her third child, Tenzin Sangmo, she was dragged out of her home one evening, placed in jail and kicked in the belly repeatedly. As a result Sangmo was born with neurological handicaps that make it difficult for her to perform everyday physical tasks.

Since settling in the U.S. she has gained refugee status and is on her way to gaining permanent residency. In the two years of working and saving, she was able to reunite with her family with the support of a philanthropist whose children she was a nanny to.

Dolma’s story is just one of millions of people displaced in their own homeland.

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May Day 2006 – Day Without Immigrants

Wayne — Mon, 01 May 2006 09:12:21 +0000