James GrayFreedom Pl between W 70th St and W 69th StHeart Three · Location 263 · Drawn June 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 10Video podcast0:00This drawing's location was on Freedom Place between West 69th and West 70th Street.0:06It's on the east side of the street and on the far north end corner of the fantastically long yellow brick wall.0:15It's on a patch of brick which has been painted to go over graffiti that showed up over the last couple of years.0:20This patch of brick has a long rectangular ventilation exit to the right of it and to the left of it a pleasant yard of plush green grass.0:30This is James Gray. He was drawn in June of 2003. His drawing is counting five people.0:38This drawing was on the calm and easy end of the security spectrum. Near the conclusion of making0:45this drawing, a security guard came by on what appeared to be his normal rounds. He approached0:50us and politely yet assertively asked what I was doing. I showed him one of our little0:55informational handouts and explained to him the greater project. Beyond having as civil an1:00interaction as possible, it is always our goal to get photographs of the people we have just drawn.1:06He was receptive and asked only that he could keep the tiny piece of paper we had given him.1:11He watched for a short while and then went on his way,1:14taking time to read the matchbook-sized explanation in his hand.1:20James Gray, a firefighter for the New York Fire Department,1:24was working overtime the morning of September 11th1:27and called home to wish his two daughters a good day at school.1:30He loved his job as much as he loved us.1:33That was his passion, said his wife, Jean Marie.1:36The former city bus driver had no qualms about leaving his job1:40when he got the FDNY call in October 1996.← Location 262Heart Three · Location 263Location 264 →
