November 19, 2022

Down

Special Issue

NYC

The

SET

Portfolio by James Emmerman

Town

Group photo by Daniel Paik

INTRODUCING AIR MAIL’S FIRST-EVER SPECIAL ISSUE … THE DOWNTOWN SET: OUR LIST OF THE 50 YOUNG NEW YORKERS SHAPING THE SCENE LEGS MCNEIL’S INSIDE LOOK AT YOKO ONO’S EARLY YEARS JAMES WOLCOTT’S GHOST TOUR OF NEW YORK’S DEMIMONDE CLUBS WHAT MAKES A NEIGHBORHOOD, ACCORDING TO DEBBIE HARRY, CAT MARNELL, AND OTHERS DUNCAN HANNAH’S WILD 1980S DIARIES STEPHANIE DANLER ON PIANOS AND A PRE-FAME LADY GAGA THE LOWER EAST SIDE RESTAURANT THAT’S SEEN IT ALL PLUS: PATTI SMITH’S GO-TO TRACKS; JANETTE BECKMAN’S HIP-HOP PHOTOS; CORNER BISTRO’S SIZZLING HISTORY; ELECTRIC LADY THEN AND NOW; SAUL LEITER IN COLOR; AND MORE!

Issue No. 175

The View from Here Introducing AIR MAIL’s first special issue, devoted entirely to the theme of downtown New York, past and present

By Nathan King

Read On

Yoko Before John To understand the most misunderstood woman of the last half-century, you have to go back to the beginning

By Legs McNeil

Read On

Bohemian Rhapsody The artist Duncan Hannah’s unpublished 1980s diaries chronicle his run-ins with everyone from Bowie and Basquiat to Warren Beatty and a precocious call girl

By Duncan Hannah

Read On

Empire State of Mind

In honor of Manhattan’s 45th anniversary, AIR SUPPLY celebrates the best of the Big Apple, from sartorial staples by downtown’s finest designers to the gift that will make anyone feel like a true New Yorker

Shop

Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images (Madonna)

My Favorite Things AIR MAIL co-editor and legendary downtown New Yorker Graydon Carter shares his must-have signatures, from hard-soled loafers to one Savile Row robe and more

By Graydon Carter

Shop

Photo: Graydon Carter, photographed by Nigel Parry at the Odeon in 2000.

What Makes a Neighborhood? Debbie Harry, Woody Allen, Cat Marnell, Ian Schrager, Diane von Furstenberg, and others weigh in

Read On

A Night at the Odeon Jay McInerney, Emma Cline, and Iké Udé gathered at the Tribeca restaurant in celebration of AIR MAIL’s Downtown Set

By Elena Clavarino

Photographs by Daniel Paik

Guests sat for Polaroids outside the infamous Odeon bathroom. *Clockwise from top left:* Aria Dean and Antwaun Sargent; David Velasco; Sasha Melnychuk and Adam Zhu; Mike Crumplar; Madeline Quinn and KJ Rothweiler; Alana Champion.

Cosmopolitans, invented at the Odeon, were served. Front row, from left, Anna Carter, David Zaslav, Graydon Carter, John McDonald, Adam Zhu, Jay Strell, and Jay McInerney; second row, Iké Udé and J’Nai Bridges; third row, Laszlo Horvath, Aria Dean, SoiL Thornton, and Georgia Ford; fourth row, Rushka Bergman and Gaëlle Collet; fifth row, Legs McNeil and his dates.

*Clockwise from top left:* Natasha Stagg; Nathan King and Julia Vitale; Sean Price Williams; Emily Adams Bode; J’Nai Bridges; Iké Udé.

Front row, from left, Danny Gallegos, Wade Oates, Sasha Melnychuk, Coco Young, SoiL Thornton, Dese Escobar, and Prisca Franchetti; second row, Zoe Beyer and Jianna Justice; third row, Emily Adams Bode, Joana Avilez, Jazmine Hughes, Doreen St. Félix, Allison P. Davis, Louis Levy, Zoe Ruffner, and Andrew Wheeler; top row, Nate Freeman, David Leavy, Mercedes Kilmer, Ariana Papademetropoulos, Elena Clavarino, Shawn McCreesh, and Maureen Dowd.

*Top, from left:* Paulina Prosnitz and Carolina de Armas; Mike Eckhaus; Gia Kuan, Rachel Tashjian, Anatoly Kirichenko, Emma Cline, Sam Hine, Ebecho Muslimova, Anjali Lewis, and Lloyd Wise. *Above, from left:* SoiL Thornton; Joey Teeling and Ebecho Muslimova; James Emmerman.

*Clockwise from top left:* Zoe Beyer; Alex Vadukul; Prisca Franchetti; Tracy Ma; Giza and Stephane Timonier; Shawn McCreesh.

Top row, from left, Mike Crumplar, Matt Gasda, Isaac Soloway-Strozier, Judi Wong, John McDonald, Natasha Stagg, Danny Gallegos, Sean Price Williams, and Tracy Ma; second row, Navarre Rice, Camille Pelleray, Mike Eckhaus, and Joey Teeling; third row, Dean Kissick and KJ Rothweiler; fourth row, Georgia Ford, Nick Poe, and Madeline Quinn.

Read On

Sunglasses After Dark A guided tour of CBGB, the Mudd Club, Tunnel, and downtown’s other lost nightlife haunts

By James Wolcott

Read On

How Hip-Hop Was Made After photographing London’s nascent punk scene, Janette Beckman moved to New York to chronicle hip-hop’s early days and founding artists—A Tribe Called Quest, Run-DMC, and LL Cool J among them

By Dana Brown

Photographs by Janette Beckman

The hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest on Seventh Avenue and 28th Street, 1990.

*Top,* the hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa on Avenue B, 1986; *above,* the rapper LL Cool J and his posse outside Jones Diner on Lafayette Street, 1987.

The hip-hop duo Gang Starr on Stanton Street, 1990.

Keith Haring in his studio, on Broadway and Third Street, 1985.

The rapper Roxanne Shanté on Lafayette and East Fourth Streets, 1987.

The artist André Charles in front of his mural commemorating the death of Tupac, at 143 Houston Street, 1996.

Basketball players Julien and Damien on Sixth Avenue and Houston Street, 1996.

The hip-hop group the Afros, on Broadway and Houston Street, 1990.

*Top,* the hip-hop group Public Enemy outside Def Jam Recordings at 298 Elizabeth Street, 1988; *above,* KRS-One and DJ Scott La Rock, of the hip-hop group Boogie Down Productions (BDP), outside the Ninth Precinct police station, on East Fifth Street, 1987.

The hip-hop group Naughty Kreations R Unified (NKRU) on Lafayette and Bleecker Streets, 1992.

An advice sign for surviving New York, in the window of Mott’s Deli on Avenue B, 1986.

The hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim on the corner of Lafayette and Great Jones Streets, 1987.

The freestyle singer Noel Pagan on East Second Street, 1987.

Read On

“Sorry, he has this thing against children.”

Eat Your Heart Out Since opening their restaurant, in 1999, the couple behind Il Posto Accanto, on East Second Street, has served up linguine and community in equal measure

By David Kamp

Read On

Drink Sam Wai Liquor Store Before leaving Sam Wai Liquor Store with slumped shoulders and empty hands, first-time customers will eagerly scour through a massive…

Listen Village Music World Although the red awning outside 197 Bleecker Street reads, “Village Music World,” the store, which sells new and vintage records and CDs…

Cook Pino’s Prime Meat In a narrow, tenement-style building on Sullivan Street, this butcher shop has been supplying New Yorkers with quality meat for the last…

Eat Arturo’s There are plenty of historic New York pizzerias, but none are as relentlessly traditional as Arturo’s. The Greenwich Village staple first…

Shop Artifacts 20th Century Artifacts 20th Century, a cheerful furniture-and-design store on Mott Street in Nolita, has a small-town…

Visit Thompson Chemists Europe still has America beat when it comes to independent pharmacies, which are quickly becoming a relic of the past in our own…

Sparkle New Top Jewelry To an undiscerning eye, New Top Jewelry is just one of many jewelry shops in Chinatown. People who have searched New York…

Drink Sam Wai Liquor Store Before leaving Sam Wai Liquor Store with slumped shoulders and empty hands, first-time customers will eagerly scour through a massive…

Listen Village Music World Although the red awning outside 197 Bleecker Street reads, “Village Music World,” the store, which sells new and vintage records and CDs…

Cook Pino’s Prime Meat In a narrow, tenement-style building on Sullivan Street, this butcher shop has been supplying New Yorkers with quality meat for the last…

Eat Arturo’s There are plenty of historic New York pizzerias, but none are as relentlessly traditional as Arturo’s. The Greenwich Village staple first…

Shop Artifacts 20th Century Artifacts 20th Century, a cheerful furniture-and-design store on Mott Street in Nolita, has a small-town…

Visit Thompson Chemists Europe still has America beat when it comes to independent pharmacies, which are quickly becoming a relic of the past in our own…

Sparkle New Top Jewelry To an undiscerning eye, New Top Jewelry is just one of many jewelry shops in Chinatown. People who have searched New York…

Singing the Lady Electric In the five decades since Jimi Hendrix founded Electric Lady, on West Eighth Street, the music studio has kept its look—and caliber—intact

By Chris Black

Read On

Metaphysical Graffiti For the last decade, Blake Kunin has photographed members of the city’s prolific tag crews at work. His pictures memorialize their conquests—and a city whose street-art scene lives on

By Max Lakin

Photographs by Blake Kunin

Read On

Take a Walk and Talk on the Wild Side This week’s podcast celebrates what makes downtown New York great

Read On

“Why Can’t You Write Normal?” Kathy Acker’s journey from daughter of Sutton Place to genre- and gender-bending cult novelist

By Johanna Berkman

Read On

Go Big or Go Home A new generation is discovering the pleasures of classic movies at Alexander Olch’s Lower East Side revival house, Metrograph

By Sam Wasson

Read On

“But the legacy I’d truly like to leave is creating music that future generations will use to sedate overstimulated toddlers.”

Neighborhood Watch Michael Kimmelman, the New York Times architecture critic and lifelong New Yorker, discusses the old Village and new downtowns

By Jim Kelly

Read On

Ludlow, Lady Gaga, and Me In 2006, Pianos, on Ludlow Street, was a divey service-industry spot attracting the likes of Sweetbitter author Stephanie Danler—and a pre-fame Lady Gaga

By Stephanie Danler

Read On

The Nine Lives of Corner Bistro From a gay bar to a butcher shop with a speakeasy in back, the raucous history behind the much-loved West Village burger hangout

By Michael Hainey

Read On

“Good for him. Terrible for Skull Island tourism.”

Isaiah Barr The saxophonist and co-founder of Onyx Collective, an experimental group of artists, is taking on fashion and filmmaking

By Elena Clavarino

Read On

Street Scenes A collection of Saul Leiter’s newly discovered color photographs offers a rare look at his pioneering, painterly vision

By Jay Fielden

Photographs by Saul Leiter

Read On

View on Spotify

In 1995, I moved to the East Village, in New York City, where I would sometimes eat by myself at the Cooper Square Diner, on Second Avenue. There I would occasionally see a fantastical, almost Edwardian-looking elderly person, often alone as well, staring straight ahead, chin up, and wearing a wide-brim fedora, billowing scarf, mascara, rouge, and a large brooch on his lapel. One time we were the only two diners in the restaurant, sitting close to each other, and I asked if he’d mind if I drew him in my sketchbook. “Not in the slightest,” he said. As I sketched, I would ask him questions, mostly to break the awkward silence, and I was a bit floored by his hilarious, thought-provoking answers, which I would transcribe onto the portrait. After I finished, he asked if I would pay for his lunch, which I gladly did, and with a slight nod, he left. The waiter asked to see my drawing and enthusiastically told me all about Quentin Crisp, his book *The Naked Civil Servant* (which I would promptly read), and his storied past. Over the next few years I would see Quentin around the neighborhood, and draw him from time to time at the diner. I would sometimes walk him to the deli so he could buy some tea, or escort him to his door, on East Third Street. “The safest street in Manhattan,” he’d proclaim, and then add in a low whisper, “because of the Angels,” gesturing toward the Hells Angels headquarters across the way. Every now and then I would spot him crossing Second Avenue against the red light, arm outstretched in front of the screeching, horn-blaring traffic. “Aren’t you afraid they might run you over?,” I asked one time. “They wouldn’t dare,” he said dryly. The last time I saw Quentin, in 1999, he looked more fragile than ever and seemed uncharacteristically worried about his health. He was about to go to Britain on a national tour and joked that he was afraid he wouldn’t make it back to his beloved East Village (which, prophetically, came true, as he died the following week in Manchester, aged 90). I walked him one more time to his door, and with one last nod of his head he was gone.

Is Edited By

Graydon Carter and Alessandra Stanley

Deputy Editors

Ashley Baker Ash Carter Chris Garrett Nathan King Julia Vitale

Design Director

Angela Panichi

Chief Technology Officer

John Tornow

Books Editor

Jim Kelly

Arts Intel Report Editor

Laura Jacobs

Senior Editor

Elena Clavarino

Editor at Large

George Pendle

Photo Director

Ann Schneider

Copy Editor

Adam Nadler

Research & Legal Editor

Matt Kapp

Production Editor

H. Scott Jolley

Associate Editors

Jensen Davis Carolina de Armas Clara Molot Paulina Prosnitz Elinor Schneider

Art Director

Paloma Huerre

International Editor

Isabelle Harvie-Watt

London Editor

Bridget Arsenault

Columnists

Cazzie David Emma Freud Lisa Henricksson
Walter Isaacson Pico Iyer Rachel Johnson
John Lahr Jonathan Margolis Linda Wells
James Wolcott

Writers at Large

Lili Anolik Johanna Berkman Joseph Bullmore Vassi Chamberlain William D. Cohan Rich Cohen Michael Hainey Stuart Heritage George Kalogerakis Sam Kashner James Kirchick Alexander Lobrano Alexandra Marshall

Contributing Artists

Monica Ahanonu Barry Blitt André Carrilho Paul Davis David Downton Andrea Ferolla Josh Gosfield Cathy Graham Eric Hanson Angelica Hicks Pip Johnson Hilary Knight Danielle Kosann Michael Lindsay-Hogg Ross MacDonald Joe McKendry James McMullan Donald Robertson Charles Dare Scheips Grant Shaffer Ed Sorel Ralph Steadman

Contributing Photographers

Jonathan Becker Justin Bishop Alex Board James Emmerman Marcos Fecchino Daniel Paik Art Streiber Sharon Suh Justin Weiner

Architectural Consultant

Basil Walter

Communications Director

Monika Camara Batista

Head of Audience Development

Rachel LeSage

Cartoon Editor

Bob Mankoff

Music Supervisor

Randall Poster

Photo Editor

Emine Gozde Sevim

Designer

Zoé Gillette

Technology

Brooks Oakley Justin Rubaloff Sade Singleton

Interns

Kendra Huber Gasper Tringale-White

OUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER ARE

Bill Keenan and Emily Davis

Shop General Manager and Brand Partnerships

Anjali Lewis

Advertising Director

Michael Pescuma

European Sales Director

Selim Mataraci

Integrated Marketing Producer

Alex Dickerson

Financial & Business Operations

Marc Leyer

Account Manager

Dillon Freeman

Chief Strategy Adviser

Adam Mendelsohn

AIR SUPPLY

Merchant

Jennifer Noyes

Editor

Zoe Ruffner

E-Commerce Manager

Isaac Metlitsky

E-Commerce Associates

Coco Paul-Henriot Roxy Solis

In Memoriam

Peter Bogdanovich Duncan Hannah Douglas McGrath Richard David Story André Leon Talley

View the Archives

The View from Here Introducing AIR MAIL’s first special issue, devoted entirely to the theme of downtown New York, past and present

The Downtown Set

A list of the 50 young New Yorkers who are remaking Lower Manhattan in their own image

Yoko Before John To understand the most misunderstood woman of the last half-century, you have to go back to the beginning

Bohemian Rhapsody The artist Duncan Hannah’s unpublished 1980s diaries chronicle his run-ins with everyone from Bowie and Basquiat to Warren Beatty and a precocious call girl

Empire State of Mind

In honor of Manhattan’s 45th anniversary, AIR SUPPLY celebrates the best of the Big Apple, from sartorial staples by downtown’s finest designers to the gift that will make anyone feel like a true New Yorker

My Favorite Things AIR MAIL co-editor and legendary downtown New Yorker Graydon Carter shares his must-have signatures, from hard-soled loafers to one Savile Row robe and more

What Makes a Neighborhood? Debbie Harry, Woody Allen, Cat Marnell, Ian Schrager, Diane von Furstenberg, and others weigh in

A Night at the Odeon Jay McInerney, Emma Cline, and Iké Udé gathered at the Tribeca restaurant in celebration of AIR MAIL’s Downtown Set

Sunglasses After Dark A guided tour of CBGB, the Mudd Club, Tunnel, and downtown’s other lost nightlife haunts

How Hip-Hop Was Made After photographing London’s nascent punk scene, Janette Beckman moved to New York to chronicle hip-hop’s early days and founding artists—A Tribe Called Quest, Run-DMC, and LL Cool J among them

Eat Your Heart Out Since opening their restaurant, in 1999, the couple behind Il Posto Accanto, on East Second Street, has served up linguine and community in equal measure

Singing the Lady Electric In the five decades since Jimi Hendrix founded Electric Lady, on West Eighth Street, the music studio has kept its look—and caliber—intact

Metaphysical Graffiti For the last decade, Blake Kunin has photographed members of the city’s prolific tag crews at work. His pictures memorialize their conquests—and a city whose street-art scene lives on

Take a Walk and Talk on the Wild Side This week’s podcast celebrates what makes downtown New York great

“Why Can’t You Write Normal?” Kathy Acker’s journey from daughter of Sutton Place to genre- and gender-bending cult novelist

NoHo

Cabaret night: Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater kicks off a new season with performances by the cabaret singer Justin Vivian Bond …

SoHo

On the pill: at the Drawing Center, the modernist force Ibrahim El-Salahi channels chronic pain by drawing on the backs of pill bottles …

The Lower East Side

The female gaze: the International Center of Photography presents works by 12 of Magnum’s women photographers …

TriBeCa

Better by design: R & Company features the work of female designers who reimagined object-making, including Ray Eames …

The Meatpacking District

Radical rebirth: modernist works capturing the Zeitgeist of the early 20th century go on view at the Whitney …

Go Big or Go Home A new generation is discovering the pleasures of classic movies at Alexander Olch’s Lower East Side revival house, Metrograph

Neighborhood Watch Michael Kimmelman, the New York Times architecture critic and lifelong New Yorker, discusses the old Village and new downtowns

Ludlow, Lady Gaga, and Me In 2006, Pianos, on Ludlow Street, was a divey service-industry spot attracting the likes of Sweetbitter author Stephanie Danler—and a pre-fame Lady Gaga

The Nine Lives of Corner Bistro From a gay bar to a butcher shop with a speakeasy in back, the raucous history behind the much-loved West Village burger hangout

Isaiah Barr The saxophonist and co-founder of Onyx Collective, an experimental group of artists, is taking on fashion and filmmaking

Street Scenes A collection of Saul Leiter’s newly discovered color photographs offers a rare look at his pioneering, painterly vision

Is Edited By

Deputy Editors

Design Director

Chief Technology Officer

Books Editor

Arts Intel Report Editor

Senior Editor

Editor at Large

Photo Director

Copy Editor

Research & Legal Editor

Production Editor

Associate Editors

Art Director

International Editor

London Editor

Columnists

Writers at Large

Contributing Artists

Contributing Photographers

Architectural Consultant

Communications Director

Head of Audience Development

Social Media Manager

Cartoon Editor

Music Supervisor

Photo Editor

Designer

Technology

Interns

OUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER ARE

Shop General Manager and Brand Partnerships

Advertising Director

European Sales Director

Integrated Marketing Producer

Financial & Business Operations

Account Manager

Chief Strategy Adviser

Merchant

Editor

E-Commerce Manager

E-Commerce Associates

In Memoriam