Jeff

Tompkins Square Park
East Village, Manhattan

Reminder to myself

Living life to its fullest isn't about
checking off thrills from a list;
It's about being fearless in following my dreams,
courageous in accepting
that some will go unfulfilled
(but the joy is in the pursuit)
and taking the time to savor
something as simple
as a cup
of tea

Scream

Lower East Side

Manhattan

Interlude

James De La Vega
East Village
Manhattan

Wild horse

East Village
Manhattan

Adama update

Washington Square
Greenwich Village, Manhattan

My friend Adama Dembele is returning to his native Burkina-Faso this month for what he expects to be a yearlong effort to raise funds and devote time to his children's center.

Since 2002, he has traveled the world for six months a year to raise money for the center in Ouagadougou, his hometown. There, children receive education in academic subjects and in music.

To learn more, contact him at adembelefr@yahoo.fr.

Music from India, guru to the world

Musicians from Kalavant Center for Music and Dance
Tompkins Square Park
East Village, Manhattan

Speaking out against East Village gentrification

Saturday, around 7 p.m.

Seventh Street and Avenue A
East Village, Manhattan

Priorities take a hit

It was Saturday evening about 6:30 in the East Village.
Shots were reported fired from an SUV on 14th Street in Alphabet City, police said.
The SUV was surrounded by a swarm of police cars on Avenue A between Ninth and 10th streets, across from Tompkins Square Park.
Two suspects were taken from the vehicle, the man put in handcuffs.
Inside, a newborn kitten was mewing plaintively.
An officer took the kitten from the SUV and handed it to the woman suspect. Another officer fetched a baby bottle of milk for the kitten.
The woman was soon put in cuffs, she and the man were put in separate police vehicles and the SUV was towed away.
The most frequently asked question among the bystanders wasn't "What happened?" or "Was anybody hurt?"
It was, "Oh, the poor kitten ... what happened to it?"

Mosaic magic

Saturday was repair day for a vandalized Jim Power mosaic at Eighth Street and Broadway in the East Village.
I came across Jim at about 3 o'clock as he was assessing the damage to the light standard and deciding the best course of repair. We struck up a conversation -- I hadn't seen Jim in a couple of weeks -- and I began taking photos.
Soon, a throng of passers-by stopped to ask questions and take photos of their own.

What began as a solitary project quickly turned into a community effort as Jim offered pieces of tile to people to patch the battered artwork.

Jim is a living legend in the East Village after crafting a 25-year-long trail of mosaics throughout the neighborhood in the form of decorated light standards, storefront signs, benches and more. Many of Saturday's onlookers were intimately familiar with Jim's work but had never had the chance to chat with him.

As always, the Mosaic Man's youthful exuberance drew people like a magnet.
"HAHA!" he exclaimed. "I'm living one crazy existence!"

Jessie Jane, Jim's ever-present sidekick

Tools of the trade