Come join me and James at ABC No Rio's benefit on May 3rd at Allegra LaViola on the Lower East Side. There will be wine, beer, food, a great silent art auction, and guest DJs including Anna Kustera, Doug McClemont, and Kembra Pfahler.

Tickets start at $50.

James and I are on the benefit committee for this amazing collectively-run center for art and activism founded in 1980 -- initially as a squat where they took over an abandoned building to put on an art show called Real Estate.

The old tenement building is going away to be replaced by a new building by architect Paul Castrucci based on sustainable design principles. Even if you can't make it to the benefit, any donation would be most appreciated!

James has the full details on his blog, but I wanted to make sure my readers knew about this too. We'll be there on Sunday.

PROTEST DETAILS

Sunday December 19, 2010, 1:00 PM

GATHER on the Metropolitan Museum steps Fifth Ave. & 82nd Street

Then MARCH to the Cooper-Hewitt/Smithsonian FIFTH Ave. & 91st Street

Wear your free expression best and be part of the message.

Art+ is a New York City-based art action group - fighting censorship and homophobia

http://artpositive.org/

There will be a great opportunity to get some book bargains and benefit New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth, a group I heartily endorse. It was founded by activist Kate Barnhart, whom James and I met long ago via ACT UP when she was a teenage activist.

Huge Book Sale on July 10
At LGBT Community Center on West 13th Street
Will Benefit Homeless LGBT Youth

“Buy a book, save a young life” fundraiser
Offers ten thousand new volumes on sale
For $10 per shopping bag

NEW YORK, NY, June 28, 2010 – A huge sale of more than ten thousand new and used books will take place in the West Village on July 10, with the proceeds going to charity. The event, called “Buy a Book, Save a Young Life,” will take place on Saturday, July 10 from Noon-6pm at the LGBT Community Center on 13th Street.

The books on sale encompass every subject and genre, including children’s, art, classic and modern literature, as well as collectables and rarities. These books were donated by veteran bookseller Robert Warren, who recently closed his landmark New York bookstore, Skyline Books. Admission is free to this event, and people can fill a shopping bag full of books and pay $10 per bag.

All proceeds of the “Buy a Book, Save a Young Life” sale will benefit New Alternatives, the East Village program based at Middle Collegiate Church. New Alternatives provides desperately needed services to LGBT homeless youth, including hot meals, emergency housing referrals, case management, and life skills training.

There will be a special pre-sale on July 10 for dealers and collectors. For an admission fee of $25 (also going to New Alternatives), shoppers can get a jump on the crowd from 11am-Noon. Admission includes one free bag of books. Additional bags of books will be $25 each.

For hardcore bargain hunters, from 5pm to the 6pm closing, the price plummets to $1 per bag of books.

To match New Alternatives goals of promoting HIV awareness and safer-sex education, each bag of books comes with free condoms, and New Alternatives promises a fun festive atmosphere. In addition to great book bargains the event will include performances from queer and queer-friendly acts such as Circus Amok, Rude Mechanical Orchestra, and The Church Ladies for Choice. Expect music, stilt walking, juggling and a good vibe to abound.

This projected ad, powered by a very loud diesel generator right in front of my building, was on West 23rd Street tonight. It was very easy to switch off the generator. This can't be legal, and if it is, come and get me.

Gentrification pushing out artists has a long history in New York. Via the New York Times:

A 1921 cartoon, courtesy of Duke University, shows a displaced artist walking past Vincent Pepe, an Italian-born real estate entrepreneur, and two rich clients in search of a Village home.

I'm glad the World Series is over so I can stop hearing about it. Here are some data points:

• Estimated total cost of public subsidies to the Yankees for the new stadium: $1.8 billion.
• The city turned over a Bronx park to the Yankees to build their new stadium in 2006, kicking out the kids who played there. They're now expecting it to be replaced in 2011. The high school that lost its playing field has been offered $37,500 by the Yankees to buy a bus so they can play their games in convenient locales such as Staten Island.
• In May, New York City's Education Department announced a $405 million cut, an average of 4.9% per school.
• School budget cuts are wiping out entire departments, with art classes and programs for at-risk students disappearing fastest, according to the Daily News.

[image via University of Nebraska Press]

No, I didn't film it. It's a YouTube find.

Video spotted via enjoybanking. Visit Barbara Celis's blog for more info, James's post, and this flickr stream.

I saw this when we were visiting the Cathedral of St. John the Divine with friends last week. I recognize Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, and Mahatma Gandhi. Who is the woman?

Update: We have a winner. Paul Schmelzer of Eyeteeth says it's Susan B. Anthony.

Here is a blog post on the closing from Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. A larger version of the note is here.