Walking Down 10th Street

 

Hanging on Tenth St in the 70's

I lived in several different buildings along East 10th Street, on the Lower East Side during the 1970's. My first book, Belinda and Her Friends, published in 2008, was based on the block between First and Second Avenue. Belinda was the real name of my friend Cougar, who lived across the street from me in an abandoned building with a number of other people who kept it going, including the famed late jazz saxophonist known as C Sharpe and his wife, China. The second poem in the book was originally titled "Belinda sits at her window" but was later changed to "Walking Down Tenth Street." Under that title, it has been recorded and filmed.

In May, 2016, while visiting Prague and opening for New York Junk at their shows,

I had the opportunity to do some poetry events of my own. This one was filmed by Jackie Barnett. "Walking Down Tenth Street" is the second poem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPou2ICapRg

With Louie's father, Jon, outside our apartment at 223 East 10th St, 1975, pregnant with Louie.

More recent days on Tenth Street.

Photo, Alice Espinosa-Cincotta