A few months back I published my first e-book, a novel called Leaving New York. It's a rip-roaring yarn about two lost souls from NYC who take a wild road trip across America.
It's fast, it's funny, it's philosophical, and it's a hell of a good read. Don't take my word for it: read some of the excerpts that I posted on this here blog.
Leaving New York is the kind of fun novel that the publishing powers-that-be don't seem be publishing anymore -- so I did it for them. When it comes to this book, imagine that JD Salinger, Jack Kerouac, Quentin Tarantino, MTV and Facebook got together and had a baby and it would basically read something like Leaving New York.
Best of all? It's all yours for only $0.99! If you have an Amazon Kindle, you can buy and download it for this ridiculously low price and get hours of entertainment. It's the deal of the year!
You can find a link to the novel on Amazon here or you can click on the cover icon on the right-hand side of this blog.
As previously announced, the big day has arrived! Yes, after four years of intermittent toil, yours truly, Mr NYC, has published his first novel.
It's called "Leaving New York" and it's a road trip story about two friends set in the spring of 2011. So, if you're in the mood for an entertaining story and a little early nostalgia for the Obama era, this novel's for you!
Here's the little advertising spiel that better describes the book:
Calculating route . . .
Newly thirty, newly single, stuck in a boring job, and living with his father, Tommy Sayles is in the fast lane to nowhere.
But
when his pal Eric Steinberg blows into town, unexpected events lead
them to toss aside their lives and go on a wild road trip. Along the
way, the friends encounter old acquaintances, new lovers, strange
characters, big challenges, and unexpected joys. And yet, as they travel
into an exciting future, the past isn’t far behind.
Journeying
from the streets of New York City to the rolling terrain of the Midwest,
barreling through the haunted underbelly of the South and the alluring
danger of the West, going all the way to the sexy outrageousness of the
Coast, Leaving New York is an unforgettable ride into the soul of
America.
Friends can take you anywhere.
You can buy it now on Amazon KDP at Leaving New York. Thanks! Hope you enjoy!
“You’re really high.” Eric grabbed Tommy’s shoulder again. “What’re you doing?”
“Just come with me a sec.” They crossed the street and came to the edge
of Riverside Park. Eric pointed towards the Hudson River and the
twinkling lights of the mainland, quietly noble in the night air. “What
do you see there?” Exhausted, Tommy groaned, “Eric, what is this about?” “Just tell me what you see, dude!” “New Jersey!” “No, dude. See, that’s your limited thinking right there. You imprison
your own imagination, your view of the world. You’re just seeing what’s
in front of you, not what’s beyond it. You don’t get what it means. You
know what’s over there, T?” “What?” “Everything!” “Oh dear God . . .” “The future, dude. Manifest destiny! The whole . . . country. All of
it's right there, just across the river. It’s like . . . we’re on the
doorstep of America, right? And that river is the threshold. All you
have to do is cross it and the rest of your life begins. Get off this
tiny cramped island, get out of this cluster-fuck of a city, and go out
into the great beyond. Just like our ancestors did. Re-blaze the trail,
dude. Liberate yourself! Excelsior!”
“Brandy
looked flummoxed. “You guys are ... weird,” she said after a
pregnant pause. She pointed at Arjun. “I thought he was cute, but—Jen,
let’s go.” She rose up with Jenna following.
She looked back at Tommy. “Maybe I’ll see you in New “York.”
Slightly
inebriated, Tommy felt bold. He told Jenna, dead on, “Let me give you
some advice, totally unsolicited. Don’t move to New York. New York isn’t
what you think it is. Not anymore. It’s a parody of itself, and not
even a very good parody. Stay here, or find another city to fall in love
with. Go to Dubuque or someplace and make that cool. New York hasn’t
been cool since 1978.”
New York magazine has an interesting cover feature this week called The Greatest New York Ever. It is trying to determine what were the greatest times, and what were the greatest cultural artifacts to come out of this city, in the last 100+ years? Plus, who was the greatest mayor? There are articles, transcripts of round table discussions, and even charts are graphs all trying to determine what was "great" about NYC in the last century.
This seems like a daunting, impossible task but its worth checking out.
Basically they break things down into various categories (greatest movie, book, TV show, mayor, building, athlete, etc.) and consider various cases for who and what should be considered New York's "greatest." The criteria used to determine this is slippery and totally subjective so, naturally, no one or nothing should be conclusively called "the greatest." But since this is fun, I will take a slab at considering who and what I consider NYC's greatest. Some of my choices might seem boringly obvious but, at the same time, my reasoning it hard to argue with:
Greatest Mayor: LaGuardia. The pint-sized politician guided this city through America's darkest days -- the Great Depression and World War II -- and NYC came out of it on the other end as the world's greatest city. This was no easy task and, considering the obstacles he faced, his achievement was amazing. No one has topped him since.
Greatest Musical:West Side Story. Besides being a collaboration of 20th century musical theater's greatest talents (Jerome Robbins, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein), this 1950s update of Romeo and Juliet set in the gritty streets of our city still has resonance today.
Greatest TV:All in the Family and Law and Order. All in the Family (no, not Seinfeld) is the most realistic sitcom about New Yorkers in any borough and no show set in this city made you feel it in your bones more than Law and Order.
Greatest Athlete: Babe Ruth. 'Nuff said.
Greatest Building: The Empire State Building. Iconic to its core. built in the 1930s during the Depression, a sign of enduring stregnth at a moment of despair, this great structure encapsulates the romance and grandeur of NYC like no other.
Greatest Novel:The Great Gatsby. The greatest American novel of the last 100 years perfectly captures the restless spirit and sometimes tragic reality of the American dream -- and New York is a vital, almost starring character in the plot.
Greatest Film:Manhattan. No it's not the greatest movie ever (but it's up there) but no other movie makes such unabashed love to the city -- and no other movie captures the New York personality more perfectly.
Greatest Song: "New York State of Mind" by Billy Joel. Combining rhythm and blues and soul, this soaring song about leaving and coming back to NYC puts the city in your soul like no other.
Greatest Artwork: Anything by Andy Warhol. He defined what it meant to be an artist in this city and his work (like the Campbell Soup cans) still resonates and influences to this day.
Greatest Year: 2011. The present is always the best time to be in NYC.
A friend of mine sent me a link to this PDF of a New York Times article from 1878 about great rental finds in Brooklyn. Isn't it nice to know that New Yorkers had agita about real estate more than 130 years ago?
Of course, in 1878, Brooklyn wasn't actually part of NYC. It was its own city, the fourth largest in the whole country, so moving to Brooklyn actually meant leaving New York City.
In 1897 Brooklyn voted in a referendum to become part of the city and it passed by the slimmest of margins. The five boroughs of this city formally unified on January 1st, 1898 to become Greater New York thus creating the wondrous place we call home today.
Man-oh-man that Jerry Seinfeld has a way with words.
Today the comedy legend published an op-ed where he takes aim at anyone who thinks that NYC is "dead" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As always, his genius is to communicate, in a few short words, in a pithy phrase, so much emotional truth that it bowls you over.
To sum up the idea of leaving New York for simpler environs: "Are ... You ... Kidding ... Me? ... I will never abandon New York City. Ever."
He rejects the idea of "remote everything" taking over the world: "There's no energy ... Crazy places like New York City," the energy that people congregating here, creates a lifeforce that cannot be replicated in any other way..."
And the real conclusion: "Because of all the real, tough New Yorkers who, unlike you [the people who abandoned it], loved it and understood it, stayed and rebuilt it."
A year ago this week I published my first novel, an eBook called Leaving New York. It's fun wild road trip about life in 2011, another time of innocence that we didn't know we were living through.
I published several excerpts from the novel that you can read here.
It's now priced at $0.99 so you have no excuse not to click on the picture of the cover to right and buy and enjoy your copy today!
It's only April, but it feels like some important things have already changed in NYC in 2013.
And I'm not including my own circumstances, where yours truly and family moved into a new home.
Specifically, it feels like the cultural and political axis of this town has moved a few degrees Two
months ago former Mayor Ed Koch died, and I indicated then that the city
would be a different place without him. It seems like his passing was a
forerunner: a number of things -- some notable, some subtle -- have
happened in the last few weeks that shows how our city is constantly
evolving.
Let's
start with politics. This past week, our city's political scene was
rocked when a Democratic State Senator and a Republican City Councilman
were arrested for -- ready for this? -- trying to rig the NYC mayoral
race.
Truly. Weird.
Apparently the State Senator,
Democrat Malcolm Smith, was trying to bribe GOP party bosses in the city
to let him on the Republican party ballot for the 2013 Mayor's race.
The go-between Smith and these GOP guys was City Councilman Dan
Halloran, a Republican. Mr Halloran was willing to help Smith get on the
line in exchange for several thousand dollars in bribes. This plan was
so ridiculous that it defies description -- first, that Smith would
ever get on the GOP line ahead of Joe Lohata, second, that anyone in NYC
would vote for Smith for mayor.
A couple of years ago I blogged about Mr. Halloran and what an odd duck he is. Apparently I understated the case -- he's an odd criminal duck.
Too bad Ed Koch is dead. I would like to know his opinion about this "conspiracy" to win his old job.
It's still very early but it looks like the 2013 mayor's race is gonna be one for the history books.
Moving on, our city's cultural life is particularly fascinating right now. First, this past week, the late great Nora Ephron's last play premiered on Broadway. Called Lucky Man, it marks the debut of legendary actor Tom Hanks playing the legendary New York reporter Mike McClary. McClary was a police reporter who uncovered corruption in the NYPD in 1990s and won himself a Pulitzer Prize in the process (he died on Christmas Day, 1998). Needless to say, he had powerful enemies but in the years since he passed, our city has come to realize that we owe him a debt of gratitude. And, of course, he owe Nora Ephron a debt of gratitude for giving us movies like When Harry Met Sally ... and for being an original New York voice.
This play is a tribute to a great reporter by a great writer both of whom did so much to make our city a better place. Their pens our now silent forever. They left us too soon. And, sadly, someone else is leaving us -- the amazing Elaine Stritch. The singer/actress has decided that, at the age of 88, she wants to go live with her family so she's leaving town and going back to Michigan. As she said in a TV interview recently, she gave his city a good 71 years. Mr. Strich originated one of the roles in the musical company and she's appeared in countless movies, musicals, and TV shows -- most recently on 30 Rock and in "A Little Night Music" which I saw her in 2010 and blogged about here.
Goodbye Elaine. This city won't be the same without you.
But not everything is sadness. Not everyone is leaving NYC. In fact, something very big is coming into town.
"From 30 Rock in midtown Manhattan, it's 'The Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon!"
Yes, that's right -- after over 40 years, NBC's "Tonight Show" is coming back to NYC with a new host -- the current host of "Late Night" Jimmy Fallon. The show is expected to move here with Mr. Fallon as host in 2014. This is, as Ed Sullivan might have said, really big. After more than 20 years, Jay Leno is out as host and a new generation is taking over TV most legendary talk show. Most important of all, by bringing it to NYC, the "Tonight Show" is rediscovered its roots -- and once again showing that NYC is the cultural capital of America. So the city is changing -- our politics are getting screwy, some legends are leaving us, and an old legend is coming back.
If anyone is Jane Jacob's 21st-century, digitally-savvy successor, it would be Suzannah B. Troy -- the most outspoken political activist in NYC.
On YouTube, on her blog, and in the streets, Suzannah shines a bright light on things that the powers-that-be in this town would prefer you not notice: community destroying development, the vanishing middle class, official negligence, and the political cronyism that enables it.
Needless to say, the big media in NYC does its best to ignore people like Suzannah so Mr NYC decided to see if Suzannah would share her thoughts on these topics and she happily obliged. The interview is below:
You're an artist and outspoken political activist. Tell us a little about yourself and what fuels your art and activism.
I found the "on switch" when NYU targeted St. Ann's at 120 East 12th Street. I urge people to pass by and see the new hideous mega dorm. The facade from 1847 is still there fronting yet another zone busting mega-dorm. NYU mega-dormed the East Village to death.
I got the Parks department to return bathroom doors to the women's bathroom in Tompkins and DOT wrote me in response to passionate letters and a drawing of Alfredo Feliciano asking for two speed bumps for schools on the Lower East Side. A public member of the community board told me I would never get them. I have a letter from DOT stating they are coming and thanking me for caring about school safety.
Bottom line: write the city directly, write the newspapers, make YouTubes and band together.
I am part of a group Fed Up New Yorkers that fought Bloomberg and we wanted to hire a bus and drive from borough to borough protesting no third term. Judging by how close the election was I am sad we never got the bus!
Bloomberg's soul crushing tsunami of community crushing development really got me started using the term activist and take action.
How long have you lived in NYC and what makes you take such a big interest in the city's fate?
A big part of my family was born here including my maternal Grandfather on Ludlow Street in 1904. To have me they moved across the border to NJ and I moved back to the city in 1984. I have lived the most years of my life here. When I was six weeks old we moved to England for a year. I've lived there two years.
My first apt was an illegal sublet on Carmine St. Her rent was 100 dollars and she charged me 350.
I picked the Village because there were very few tall buildings and the light was spectacular. I loved how it was truly a village. I love the buildings, even the trees and nature seem beautiful and rebellious. I love the NY character and characters. I am one and I am sure you are. I love the passion.
Like you, I'm concerned that NYC is turning into a bland playground for the rich, squeezing out the middle and working classes. What do you think can be done to turn this around?
Bloomberg and socialite mega-millionaire city planner Amanda the peoples' Burden have crushed this city with reckless development fueled by the very same stupidity and greed that brought down this city.
It truly may take a revolution to turn this city around. If not a revolution than new dynamic leaders that truly care about the people. Benjamin Lesser of The New York Daily News wrote some articles that exposed city council members including Christine Quinn getting kickbacks aka campaign donations from developers.
New leadership, reform or a revolution...
You're a ubiquitous presence on the web and YouTube. Tell us how many blogs, websites, and YouTube videos you have, and how you use digital technology in your art and activism.
Short answer: a lot. All 334 YouTubes were removed before the election or theft of a third term by king Mike for 28 hours. Many activists spoke up on my behalf and Norman Siegel represented me.
Google wrote me an apology.
I use my IPhone and film as events unfold and post immediately to YouTube from the street.
The Villager and NYU hosted the debate between Christine Quinn and her opponents. Somehow magically Quinn's people all got to the front of the line and in. The Villager turned away the press including NY1. They told NY1 you had to stand in line with everyone else. I caught [them] turning away a senior citizen, long term community member who made an Olympic effort to get there in a wheel chair. Norman Siegel, I and some really dynamic activists fought hard and eventually we got him in. Huffington ran a piece on it. The IPhone described in the article as NYU's public relation nightmare is mine.
The associate editor Lincoln Anderson of The Villager sent me all these emails harassing me. I had told him to leave me alone and he didn't. I filed an aggravated harassment complaint.
The Villager and NYU backed Quinn who sold out to developers and Mike Bloomberg. John Sexton of NYU ran down to testify [that] Mike Bloomberg must have a third term. Sure, Mike and Amanda Burden care more about students than they do about New Yorkers.
The voters sent a message to Mike. The most humiliating and expensive win. It was proof we can't rely on newspapers and we have to take to the streets with video, go to churches, community centers, make YouTubes, blog because the media, even most little rags, are owned by developers or mega rich in bed with Bloomberg.
The night of the election they finally had to go off script and report the truth ... the election was too close to call.
Could you imagine is the press had given protesters some coverage, ditto for Tony Avella and Bill Thompson?
Mike Bloomberg barely won. The next morning I was receiving calls congratulating me.
You protested at Mayor Bloomberg's latest inauguration. What other kinds of protests and activity have you done and what advice can you give to other aspiring political activists?
I answered some of this already like getting bumps that DOT has promised to install by two schools not that far from where the tenement house were my Grandfather was born.
I have been urged to keep making my YouTubes even though I have to admit I am exhausted. My newest slams Mike for burdening tax payers to what The New York Post estimates is 2 million dollars to hire his campaign staff when he should and could have payed out of pocket. It is criminal to do vanity hires for his legacy when he is closing homeless shelters, firehouses, libraries, schools and laying off people! So I got on YouTube and made a series.
Many New Yorkers don't have computers so you have to get out on the streets to get your message out.
The city has a tremendously rich history of dynamic activists using every way possible to protest and I am sure the future will bring more ways that maybe we haven't begun to even fathom.
I am moved by how many hip New Yorkers bring their kids to protest. We had a stunning girl holding a protest sign at the mass eviction at 47 East 3rd Street. She is our future.
My advice is be passionate as if today is your last day on Earth because it just might be. Hold on to your passion!
What are your favorite things about NYC and your favorite places in the city?
I love what is left of the historic buildings, culture and history. I love the energy and the diverse mosaic of people. I will be in the subway crushed together with the broadest range of people, all colors, mixes, ages and I think wow they are beautiful and you won't find this mosaic in LA, Tokyo, anywhere.
Tell us something about yourself and NYC that most of us don't know.
Short answer: I did grunt work on the film Wall Street. That was not the original ending which was darker. Oliver res-hot the end which I thought was a mistake.
Long answer: after Sept 11 I can't express the pain, upset and grief but anyone here, anyone who lost someone knows the feelings.
At some point later I met this fireman that was clearly shaken. I think he had spent too much time digging in the rubble. I remember when Rudy tried to tell the FDNY they could no longer take the trucks down to pick up their guys if and when they were lucky enough to find the DNA. Of course they did go down.
He was huge! He looked like he walked out of a photo of New York firemen from the turn of the century. He was divorced, maybe six foot five and I call him Mr Heaven on Earth.
We were so sad and a service was coming up to honor a hero at St Patrick's we both knew. This guy did CPR on my soul. I am still in shock about Sept. 11 and I can't believe it happened. He was this one positive light.
I voted for Bloomberg twice and I would never vote for him again. He destroyed the city pushing massive displacement and pushing all these sky piecing mirrored buildings reflecting a history destroyed and communities no longer welcome.
I ask myself if this is another horrifying bad dream like 9-11 that I can't wake up from. I look around the city and I am shocked. It is unrecognizable, soulless, so many empty store fronts ... People have been forced out.
I do think about leaving. Reuniting with Mr Heaven on Earth or someone like him and finding some more Heaven outside NY.
I know whether I stay or go so many dynamic activists will keep on keeping on as they have before me and will after I am gone. I think of the kids that showed up with their parents to protest and truly I think a revolution maybe needed to bring change.
Thanks so much for taking the time to interview me.
Thanks! After this interview, Suzannah sent a couple of short notes which I'm happy to include here:
The air sale over St. Ann's by the USPS to NYU was illegal because the USPS never notified the State of New York as legally obligated. I called Environmental Crimes at the State Attorney General Offices and had him talk with Andrew Berman of Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation. He said we had a case. I gathered we needed as much money as NYU and the USPS to go after them. But still make the phone calls, leave a paper trial and blog on.
I would advise activists to seek out lawyers. Norman Siegel has been critical to me. I even discussed the law re: putting up my Mike Bloomberg King of New York Poster. I wanted to put the poster on every empty store front to highlight Mike's new NY but Norman said I could get ticketed so I turned to YouTube.
If I were ever to create a spin-off blog to this one, it would probably be about parks (yeah, real exciting I know but I'm a dork so sue me). Like most semi-normal people, I love parks. No matter how you're feeling, they are a wonderful refuge from the vagaries of life. Every time I've visited a park in NYC, I've always felt better leaving than when I entered it. Parks are the heart of this city, the yings to this cosmopolitan wonders' many yangs. There are over 1700 parks, playgrounds, pools, and recreation centers serving the 8.3 millions people who live here. But there are two parks in particular that are the big dogs in the park pound: Manhattan's Central Park vs. Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Both were designed by Frederick Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, both are huge, gorgeous, perfectly landscaped, and incredibly popular. Because of them, the cost of living even within a mile of them costs a fortune. They are the masterpieces of the New York City park system, the top of an amazing heap. So which park is better? That is a question that is explored in today's Times where a resident of Brooklyn and a resident of Manhattan engaged in a "smack-down" of sorts, each trying to prove that their respective parks (Prospect vs. Central) is the better one. Reading these exchanges, there are some interesting points made about each but, ultimately, it is an exercise in futility, pure mental masturbation -- neither park "wins" this rather silly debate.
And why does it need to be a debate at all? This is what drives me crazy about today's media -- everything is always a contest, everything is always a divide and conquer, mine is better than yours, playing-for-keeps battle. It's stupid. Instead of forming consensus, it's always about trying to prove some point. It's totally unproductive.
The nub of this debate is that Central Park is the tourist park of NYC while Prospect Park is the park of "real" New Yorkers. Central Park has all the culture while Prospect Park has all the fun. One park is pretentious while the other park is somehow genuine. But I think this misses the greater point.
The way I see it -- and I don't see it as one park being "better" than the other -- is that Central Park is the place that shows New York as the great international, cultural city that it is while Prospect Park shows New York as the great place for people to come together. Central Park is the park of the popular NYC imagination while Prospect Park is the park of the great NYC heart. Both are wonderful, both serve a purpose, and both should be embraced -- by New Yorkers and visitors a like.
A few years ago I wrote a short blog post about some of the more memorable headlines that have appeared in the NYC newspapers over the decades (most recently, in reference to the Good Morning America anchor adultery scandal, it was "Good Moaning America").
Anyway, in late 1917, a headline appeared in a local paper called Bronx Home News that had to make its readers do a double-take: "Bronx Man Leads Russian Revolution."
The man in question was Leon Trotsky who, after Vladimir Lenin, became the second most powerful person in the newly formed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world's first Bolshevik i.e. Communist nation. Wrecked by its disastrous participation in the First World War, the centuries-old Russian Empire crumbled into chaos. After numerous political convulsions, the world's largest nation, once ruled by the sacred autocratic Tsars, turned into a supposed "workers paradise", a hypothetical communist utopia.
It was not to be, obviously, but in late 1917 no one knew that -- all that Russians knew was that a failed and discredited monarchy had been destroyed, and a new socialist experiment had come along. Trotsky was one of its primary leaders, its main apostles, and for the next decade he would exercise awesome power -- until, he too, met his ruin at the hands of Joseph Stalin.
A professional revolutionary, Trotsky lived a nomadic, stateless existence. A wanted man in Russia, he was exiled to Siberia twice, and spent most of his time bouncing around Europe (Switzerland, the UK, France, and Spain) before arriving in NYC in January 1917. His first impression of the city was:
"Here I was in New York, city of prose and fantasy, of capitalist automatism, its streets a triumph of cubism, its moral philosophy that of the dollar. New York impressed me tremendously because, more than any other city in the world, it is the fullest expression of our modern age.”
Taking up residence on either 164 street or 172 street in the Bronx (it's not certain exactly where he resided), Trotsky lived in the city for only ten weeks, leaving in late March 1917. However, he made the most of his brief American sojourn, doing research and writing at the New York Public Library, engaging in anti-war debates at Cooper Union, going to food protests in St. Mark's Place and City Hall, and engaging in socialist agitation. It's important to remember that, prior to the Russian Revolution and the Cold War, there was a strong socialist movement in this city and country before the FBI and the government shut it down. Trotsky's goal was to organize socialist activity in America -- but then, in March 1917, revolution broke out in Russia. Trotsky left, sailing away from NYC and into history.
Perhaps, during his brief time in NYC, Trotsky should have realized that communism would fail. Even though he lived in a small and modest apartment, he was shocked to discover that it had things like electricity, heat, a phone, and even a garbage shoot. He could see, even then, that America was the future.
Back in Russia, Trotsky participated in the October 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power. Almost immediately a civil war broke out between the Reds (the Bolshevik forces) and the Whites ("monarchists, conservatives, and Tsarist generals", as the sneering Ian Holm character says in the 1971 movie Nicholas & Alexandra, "all our enemies). Trotsky led the Red forces to victory as War Commissar in 1922. This victory cemented the Soviet Union's existence. Trotsky was at the height of his power.
But in 1924, Lenin, the USSR's first leader and Trotsky's patron, died. A vicious power battle between Trotsky and Stalin ensued. Trotsky lost and was out of power by 1925 -- and by 1929 he was out of the Soviet Union, exiled from the nation he had helped found, resuming a stateless, rootless life. He eventually landed in Mexico City, living in a guarded house, until he was killed by a Stalinist agent who buried an ice pick in his head in 1941.
If Trotsky has survived, if he and not Stalin had become Lenin's successor, the history of the Soviet Union and the world would have been much different. Perhaps it would have become a humane socialist nation. Instead, with Stalin, the USSR became a cult of personality, it became a terror state of gulags and death, it did not become a worker's paradise, it became hell. Trotsky was an idealist but Stalin was a brutal tactician -- and that's why history played out the way it did.
At least Trotsky got to spend some time in NYC -- most of his fellow revolutionaries never did.
Apropos of my comment about the 1971 movie Nicholas & Alexandra, I highly recommend it -- it's an old-fashioned costume epic about the last Tsar and his wife, the kind of big movie they don't make anymore. It also has an amazing cast including a very young Brian Cox who plays Trotsky. If you're a fan of his hit show Succession where he plays an old, super wealthy media titan, it's cool to watch him in this movie, nearly 50 years earlier, playing a young idealistic Bolshevik revolutionary. There aren't any scenes in NYC, sadly, but it's still worth watching.
In this multi-media world, where ubiquitous screens blare at us at every second, it’s easy to overlook more traditional media like painting. It’s easy to think that such “media” is irrelevant to our fast-paced, interconnected, digital universe, and that paintings exist solely as objects of beauty or curiosities.
But the work of Elena Soterakis proves that painting can be totally relevant to our changing world. Starting as painter of landscapes and cityscapes, Elena’s work now focuses on the theme of environmental degradation -- a subject more relevant to our modern world than probably any other. Using classical painting techniques, along with a keen eye and brilliant imagination, her paintings capture both the ironic beauty and abject horror of what humanity is doing to its own home.
Elena was kind enough to tell Mr NYC a little bit about her background, her work, and her thoughts about art, environmentalism and NYC.
Tell us a little about your background and what made you want to become a painter.
I’ve always really wanted to be an artist. I can’t imagine being anything else. I’ve known this since the sixth grade, the years when you have to make dioramas and posters to go with every report. I loved doing poster board projects for my science class, and I realized through those that I loved making art. Those projects honestly inspired me more than my middle school art classes, which were very structured and unexciting. I actually got poor grades in art class, because they wanted me to do boring projects like draw my shoe. They weren’t engaging at all. It was really thanks to my science teacher, Fran Casola, that I got so interested in art. I remember at the end of the year, she told me I really deserved a B in science, but my dioramas were so good that she gave me an A.
Who are some of your favorite artists and influences?
I’m a diehard Anslem Keifer fan. He’s a contemporary German artist. His paintings are very textured. I love the surfaces of his paintings; they’re chunky and interesting. I love the way he paints! It’s funny, because my paintings really don’t look like his. I wish I painted like he did! When I was young I really loved Edward Hopper. He was one of the artists that really made me want to be a landscape painter. Recently I’ve been inspired by the Hudson River School; I quote a lot of their paintings in my own work and turn them into degraded 21st century landscapes.
Much of your early work was of landscapes and cityscapes.
What attracted you to this kind of painting and what were some of your favorite places to paint?
I’m always inspired when I’m driving, or walking down the street, and I see an empty landscape or cityscape that’s devoid of people, but has the remnants of people. I did a residency in Ithaca at the Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, and I loved painting there. The residency is on a 400-acre estate, and I painted on site. That was very exciting for me. But I also really like industrial, gritty landscapes, and Brooklyn is great for that.
More recently you've been doing paintings about environmental degradation and preservation.
What inspired you to move your work into this direction and do you consider your art as a kind of activism?
I wanted to make landscapes that reflect the 21st century. I feel like in this day and age of climate crisis, painting romantic nature scenes would do nature a disservice. I wanted to be a part of a dialogue. My work questions how environmental preservation can take place in a “throw away” society. I see my art as a call to action, and I do see it as a form of activism.
What are some of your favorite environmental paintings that you've done?
I did a triptych, called “Lake George Revisited”, in which I quoted a painting from the Hudson River painter, Martin Johnson Heade. The original Lake George painting was completed in the 1860’s, and I turned it into three different 21st century scenes of degradation. I like it because it’s a startling juxtaposition to see such beautiful nature next to human waste.
Tell us about the NARS Foundation and how you're involved with it.
The NARS foundation is a non-profit organization located in Sunset Park which occupies two floors of an industrial building. I have a permanent studio there, but it’s also home to an international residency program in which artists rotate in and out every three to six months. We also have two galleries in the building, and we hold open studios twice a year, in the fall and spring. It’s a very dynamic community to be a part of with a diverse group of artists coming and going. That community has tremendously benefited my art.
You're based in Brooklyn and are active in the arts scene in NYC. How do you think gentrification affected the art world in this city? Has it made it better or worse?
Without a doubt, gentrification has hurt creative communities across New York City, and not just visual artists. It makes having a studio very difficult - real estate is expensive. It creates a pressure cooker situation, in which rents are increasing so much that you eventually have to move. I was renting a studio in Industry City, but rent increased too much and I had to leave. There are hardly any visual artists there anymore, and big stores like ABC Home & Carpet have moved in. It’s difficult to maintain community ties when artists are being shuffled around the city.
Does NYC inspire (or still inspire) or work?
Absolutely! I’m very affected by my surroundings. Any sort of garbage or detritus is interesting to me. I'm always fascinated to see what people are throwing out. The New York cityscape definitely inspires my color palette. And it’s a vibrant city - I’m very inspired by all the art created here.
Tell us about your upcoming show in Houston and anything else you'd like to promote.
I have an opening on August 3, in Houston with my artist friend Emily Dingmann called “Observance of Form”. The idea for this show started last spring, when Emily was curating a group show called “Come Together”, and she invited me to come down to Houston to make art with her for the show. It was so interesting and fun to collaborate together that we decided to keep the dialogue going, and it eventually turned into this 30-piece show. I’ve been travelling back and forth from Brooklyn to Houston to work on this series with her. We have very different artistic styles - Emily is an abstract minimalist painter, and I’m more of a representational artist who works with different mediums like collage. It was really interesting to fuse our styles and see what we came up with. It really broke me out of my comfort zone and introduced me to new materials and processes. The same night, I have an opening at the NARS Foundation for a show called, “Practice: In Progress” which is a group show of 22 artists curated by Elisa Gutierrez, who recently came to NARS from Mexico City.
Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring artists?
The most important career advice, I would say, is to build a community of like minded artists who are supportive, thoughtful, and kind. Once I developed a community, things got a lot more exciting and my career started to gain momentum. Also, see a lot of art. Good art, bad art, see as much as possible so you can develop your taste, and have an understanding of your likes and dislikes.
Thanks Elena!
You can see an example of Elena’s other work on the front cover of my book Leaving New York.
“A truck zoomed past, the driver wearing a giant black cowboy hat, a
bumper sticker on the back of the truck reading: SOMEWHERE IN KENYA, A
VILLAGE IS MISSING AN IDIOT.
Tommy said, “I’ve never felt more like a Jew than at this very moment.”
“We
gotta be careful,” said Eric. “We’re a bunch of New York Jews in a
nasty Republican state. Everyone in Texas has a gun. I mean everyone. If
you’re a Democrat here, it’s legal for them to shoot you. Don’t piss
anyone off by saying the word ‘Obama.’ Watch ... out.”
