Amsterdam/New York

Snow showers in Amsterdam

I left amsterdam for New York on Sunday. Wintry weather, passing snow showers, chilly damp, gave way to early Spring in New York. I took a taxi to my apartment, grabbed my guitar, and headed to the 11th Street Bar in the East Village for a benefit to help save St. Brigid's church on nearby Avenue B. The Catholic archdiocese wants to tear down the church, built in 1848, to make way for more profitable use. In the 19th century, St. Brigid's was a focus of the Irish immigrant community, which had made it's way to New York to escape famine and sectarian violence. Today, a small, mostly Latino, congregation keeps the church alive.

http://www.savestbrigid.com/

Many years ago I wrote a song called St. Brigid's. Here is the sound file. The chorus goes like this:

the bricks fall upon us all
by st. brigid's the church bells chime
and the landlords and the warlords
by st. brigid's they bide their time

I also have a photograph of St. Brigid's from 1980 when I was photographing the Lower East Side with fellow photographer Ed Fausty. Today, I am photographing the neighborhood anew. You can see those pictures here.

Anyway, the benefit went well. I played my St. Brigid's song and two others, and hung around for about two hours. The crowd was a cross-section of the neighborhood, all ages, a smattering of old Lower East Side activists, and some of the current church congregation. I have no idea whether the church building can be saved. A synagogue on Rivington Street was lost to the wrecking ball just a few weeks ago.