NYC Scene: Climbing the Walls

24 Bond Street, New York

Golden dancers by Bruce Williams (1998)

People climbing up the wall

Wearing naught but coat of gold:

These days NoHo prices sting,

Choose between your pants and bling!

I must have passed by this building on Bond Street (24 Bond Street, between Lafayette and Bowery) dozens of times before, but never paid attention to it until recently an out-of-town guest pointed it out while we were walking up Lafayette Street. With a fresh eye, my guest has spotted these golden figures on the wall of an old house, "dancing ivy", as one blog called them. 

A brief search revealed that the gold figures on the outside of the building were created by Bruce Williams in 1998 and had to be approved post factum (and not without resistance) by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2008, when NoHo Historic District was expanded and absorbed Bond Street. It appears that the figures were installed in two batches: the first group perched in front of the second story window followed by the second group that climbs higher up the wall on the left side, which was added around 2010. The authors’ sketches suggest his ambition to extend the dancing troupe all the way to the roof. Note that not all of these agile creatures are human, a few are well endowed and put their assets to good, if naughty use.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission Report (which contains interesting historical information and numerous photos) describes 24 Bond Street as a store-and-loft building constructed in 1893 by Buchman & Deisler, the architectural firm that also created Nos. 21 and 42-44 on Bond Street and a number of other buildings in the city.

Earlier in the 20^th century, the building was occupied by businesses (paper box, photo engraving, and artificial flower companies), but after the decline of the manufacturing in Manhattan in the 1970s, a different crop of inhabitants moved in. Between 1972 and 1989, the space on the second floor was occupied by the studio of Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), a famed photographer known for his sleek, yet shocking black-and-white images. In the 1980s Mapplethorpe moved his studio to a loft on 23^rd Street, which was purchased with the money provided by his long-term companion and mentor Sam Wagstaff (1921-1987), but maintained a darkroom in the building on Bond Street. Both Wagstaff and Mapplethorpe died of AIDS. Not long before the photographer’s death, the Mapplethorpe Foundation was established to promote his work and artistic vision and to support the HIV and AIDS research. A collection of Mapplethorpe prints is kept at the Guggenheim Museum. A video report about a recent exhibition of his photos can be found here (exquisite and explicit).

Update 7.7.13. A rare case when Google's snooping on me (and haven't we heard about this lately?) turns up something useful: here is an interview with Patti Smith, the legend of punk rock, who was Robert Mapplethorpe's lover and lifelong friend, about her memoir of their relationship, Just Kids, quite interesting. To refresh my memory, I listened to her Horses (that is her portrait by Mapplethorpe on the album cover) and was surprised to discover how enjoyable it was.

Since 1986, the ground floor has been used by the Gene Frankel Theatre. Gene Frankel (1919-2005), an influential theater director and acting coach, was one of the key figures in the creation of the Off Broadway scene in the 1950s and 60s and won three Obie awards for his productions. Apparently at one point the theater on Bond Street had its share of troubles with the Landmarks Commission because of its brightly painted facade, and the Commission seems to have won, because now the ground floor looks low-key, if not pristine. 

Photos by LB 2013