Paul FriedmanW 54th St between Broadway and 8th AveHeart Three · Location 233 · Drawn March 2003Hover over or select the image to reveal a hidden view.PhotographsDownload photograph 1Download photograph 2Download photograph 3Download photograph 4Download photograph 5Download photograph 6Download photograph 7Download photograph 8Download photograph 9Download photograph 10Download photograph 11Download photograph 12Download photograph 13Show all 13 photographsVideo podcast0:00There are only ghosts of this location left, east of Broadway on West 54th Street.0:06Years ago when we drew here, there were stairs jutting out onto the street that invited us up to an abandoned space.0:14At the top of the stairs, we found a place to draw.0:17Those stairs are gone now. The awning is gone.0:21All signs on street level indicating that at some time this was the Bistro Latino are all gone.0:26With the removal of the stairs, an entrance needed to be covered. It was done so with a flat brown0:34plywood covering. To the space's benefit, this brown surface is equally inviting to draw on.0:42Above the brown plywood on the second story to the right are the last remainders of the0:48green awning choices that they had made. The awnings are labeled Havana Rio.0:53This is Paul Friedman. He was drawn in March of 2003. His drawing is counting eight people.1:04You know, when it comes to Times Square, I completely miscalculated the ease and openness1:10of this area of Manhattan to the drawings we are doing. I've only actively known this area1:16and been aware of its changes for the last 15 years or so and change it has. As we all know,1:22It has made brave attempts to transform itself from the seedier side to a commercially successful, theater-fueled, entertainment-inducing photo op.1:31A big injection in this rejuvenation, as I remember, was the Times Square Chamber of Commerce making it mandatory that if anyone bought advertising space in Times Square,1:41that they had to have a minimum amount, extraordinary amount, of bright lighting on it.1:47This minimum amount, of course, when done in great volume, completely reshapes the feeling and experience of the square.1:54Throw in the Disney Corporation's big bucks, re-theme everything you can to something popular, and you have yourself the cornerstones for a revival.2:03The poor folks down on Houston Street are slowly getting their share of the prosperity.2:082,100 square foot billboards with the threat of a 6,000 square foot billboard.2:16in stark contrast to these million-dollar mega imposing public space zappers i stand here on this abandoned eatery drawing one man out of seventy-five cents in tape the contributors to public space are many and varied2:31You could not not like him. The man who at snoozy business meetings kept his end of the2:38table in convulsive Snickers. The human jungle gym for nieces and nephews. The husband who2:43showered his wife, Audrey Aides, with gifts.← Location 232Heart Three · Location 233Location 234 →
