Tuesday, June 22, 2021 – Remember Orchard, Ludlow, Grand, Hester, Delancy, the shopping streets of the Lower East Side

By admin

Be advised that the NYC Mobile Vaccine Clinic is on site to provide the COVID-19 vaccination to the Roosevelt Island Community. 
 
The mobile van will be located in the Riverwalk area outside of 460 Main St., Monday, June 21st through Friday, June 25th, each day from 8 AM to 6 PM.  

TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2021

The

396th Edition

From  the Archives

What an artist captured

on

1950s Orchard Street

FROM EPHEMERAL NEW YORK

What an artist captured on 1950s Orchard Street

When Joseph Sherly Sheppard painted these three scenes of Orchard Street in the 1950s, this eight-block stretch of the Lower East Side was devoted to cut-rate commerce.

Unglamorous tenement storefronts jockey for space, merchandise spills onto the sidewalk, and sign after colorful sign advertised such utilitarian items like coats, linens, eyeglasses, and hosiery.

Orchard in the 1950s seems emptier than it had been in the early decades of the 20th century, when it was a packed Jewish immigrant enclave.

Commerce continues to reign on Orchard today, and some blocks still have the feel of a mid-20th century flashback. But like so much of today’s Lower East Side, this old city street (named for the orchards that once graced the 18th century DeLancey estate) is glammed up with new condos, restaurants, and trendier, higher-end stores. Older ladies carrying bulging shopping bags are a rarer sight these days.

Born in Maryland in 1930, Sheppard has had a long career as a realist painter. He painted unique scenes of humanity, from sunbathers to circus performers to grape pickers. Most of his work depicts places other than New York City. But something drew him to Orchard Street.
Sheppard once again painted Orchard Street in 1982: it’s a scene outside a clothing store that displays its wares like an open-air market.

The 1982 painting is similar to those from the 1950s (the “I Love NY” shirt confirms its era): clothes hang over the sidewalk, pedestrians and delivery people go about their business, and the occasional curious customer contemplates a deal.

[First and second images: Artnet.com; third image: Invaluable.com; fourth image: Artnet.com]

Tags:Joseph Sheppard New York City paintings, Joseph Sheppard Orchard Street, Joseph Sherly Sheppard painter, New York in the 1950s, Orchard Street 1950s New York, Orchard Street Shopping 1950s

TUESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

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MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

THE ICE CREAM FREEZER AT CORNELL TECH CAFE
VICKI FEINMEL, LISA FERNANDEZ, JOAN BROOKS, GLORIA HERMAN, JINNY EWALD,
& LINDA BECKER HAVE ALL HAD PERSONAL VISITS TO THIS SITE

OOOPS!
WE FORGOT TO THANK THE 400 VOTERS WHO TOOK THEIR TIME TO VOTE EARLY AND SUPPORT THE EFFORT.

THANKS TO RICK AND DAVID FOR PUBLICIZING THE EFFORT.

JUDYB

A VERY BIG THANK YOU!
THE LAST 10 DAYS WE HAVE PREPARED AND HAD A EARLY VOTING SITE AT SPORTSPARK.
WE THANK REBECCA SEAWRIGHT FOR GETTING THE SPACE DESIGNATED BY THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS.
WE THANK RIOC FOR THE USE OF SPORTSPARK
WE THANK THE SPORTSPARK STAFF WHO WERE GREAT HOSTS
WE  THANK PSD FOR GETTING US IN THE BUILDING AND PATROLLING.
WE THANK NYPD FOR BEING ON SITE EVERY DAY
WE THANK CORNELL TECH FOR BEING SUCH GREAT NEIGHBORS AND THE CORNELL CAFE FOR FEEDING US.
WE THANK GRADUATE HOTEL STAFF FOR WELCOMING ALL OUR CURIOUS WORKERS.
WE THANK FOODTOWN FOR REFRESHMENTS
WE THANK EVERYONE WHO MADE MANY OF OUR OFF-ISLAND WORKERS WELCOME ON OUR ISLAND.
THE VISITING POLL WORKERS WERE SURPRISED TO SEE OUR WONDERFUL ISLAND AND ENJOYED WORKING HERE.
ALL OUR WORKERS WERE GREAT
THE ONLY THING WE MISSED WERE
VOTERS
WE HAD SUCH A POOR TURNOUT OF VOTERS, THAT WE DOUBT WE WILL GET EARLY VOTING ON THE ISLAND AGAIN.
JUDY BERDY

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter  and Deborah Dorff
Sources

EPHEMERAL NEW YORK

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff

FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD

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