![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/195-Chrystie.gif\")
<\/a>\n195 Chrystie Ave . . . Lower East Side, today.
\nat one point, me & Simon, we were in the money, and had a good sized studio, on the 2nd floor of this building,
\non the left \/ a chic gentrified storefront, where the Agnes B. ‘Snap Cardigan Photography’ show is currently taking place.
\nback then it was dark, and very gritty. it was a big hub for cheap drug addict prostitution.
\nin fact, RICHARD HAMBLETON used to pimp out his red-haired run-down & addicted Canadian girlfriend, Bonnie out there.
\nyou’d see her out there in torn black fishnet stockings, early in the morning, and late at night.
\nthe streets were lined with dirty needles. the ‘park’ in the center of the avenue, where that row of large trees is . .
\nwas a war zone.
\nenter at your own (very) real . . risk. <\/p>\n
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH \/ except the family portrait which is c\/o SCOTTIE HARRISON<\/p>\n me, and my R.I.P. artist \/ collector \/ art dealer hubby . . SIMON CERIGO, we lived on Rivington and the Bowery . . from 1987 – 1996. most of the time, about 9 yrs \/ rent free – thanks to landlord \/ tenant court. where we raised our 2 young kids, Kate & Theo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41617"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41617"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41641,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41617\/revisions\/41641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
\nour studio was on the 2nd floor, something like that.
\nthe building was so distressed at the time, CHARLIE FINCH \/ the notorious early 2000s artnet scribe, almost had an asthma attack when he came to visit \/ though he did buy a watercolor from me.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nwe lived just down the block, heading south on Chrystie \/ on Rivington St.
\nof course, those are still<\/strong> the original 5 story ‘tenement’ buildings,
\nnow . . very very expensive apartments.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nthat now super chic, cheery bar\/bistro on the corner, used to be a super religious Kosher meat packing plant !!
\ngreat slabs of raw beef arrived there daily, that’s how grubby the area was.
\nI think they made . . smoked meat there ?
\nbecause it had a huge smokestack, emitting huge dense plumes of spicy steam, that coated the block with pungent greasy fog.
\nevery now and then, a stranger to the area would call the firemen, who would show up with many trucks & ladders to put out the ‘fire’\/ that was only . . smoked meat, cooking.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nturning right, at the corner of Chrystie & Rivington, heading west to the Bowery a short block away \/
\non the south side of the street, where a chic up-scale Japanese lifestyle & plant shop, GREEN FINGERS MARKET, now stands . . was our<\/strong> storefront !!
\n5 Rivington St. the East Storefront.
\nvery early on, when we first moved in \/ the west storefront was the original . . Spiritual America gallery.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nalthough the current landlords appear to have have painted over the large white hand-painted ‘5’ \/ that used to proclaim it’s identity above the entrance to the apartments above \/ the original steel ‘door’ buzzer from the 80s, still remains \/ caked with dirt, recalling the grit of the old neighborhood \/ and . . it’s history !!<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nyou can still make out: RICHARD HAMBLETON … APT 1 !!!!!!!
\nI guess if he<\/strong> had been less of a douchebag, and more like ANDY WARHOL, or even BASQUIAT, there might be a plaque there, now \/ stating that:
\nRICHARD HAMBLETON . . once lived here \/ and set in motion the court case that allowed artists . . . NANCY SMITH & SIMON CERIGO .. to live here, rent free (!!!!!) in the heart of the most happening place on the face-of-the-earth at the time \/ for almost 10 years, and then were handed over a $90,000 cash settlement to finally vacate the storefront \/ & get the hell out \/ when the area had gentrified enough. <\/p>\n<\/a>
\nNANCY SMITH & SIMON CERIGO, with our young kids, Kate & Theo . . outside our storefront at 5 Rivington St.
\nca. 1988<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nNANCY SMITH, just before I left Montreal for NYC, ca. 1981.
\nsee: an interview with me \/ NOAH BECKER of WHITEHOT MAGAZINE – published last year, 2019.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nSIMON CERIGO – last photo \/ PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
\nat the Carroll Dunham show, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, Chelsea, NYC \/ Dec 2012.
\nsee: SIMON CERIGO OBIT \/ THE OBSERVER<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"