Our new YouTube video Episode 9: Bushwick - Punk Alley, Pizza & Cold Brew is live!

Full episode: https://youtu.be/C9KkQno1XUY

In this episode, we travel to Bushwick, the Brooklyn neighborhood around the Myrtle Avenue/ Broadway stop on the J, M, and Z train.

We visit Punk Alley, the world-famous re-purposed shipping container-filled alley on Broadway which hosts a punk rock flea market with Rebel Rouser, a record shop, Book Row- Better Read Than Dead, Video Eye, a used VHS shop and Street Level, an antique shop/ tattoo parlor.

We also check out a few thrift shops along Broadway including OG Flea Market and Lion's Den and see lots of graffiti and street art along the way. We finish the tour with a cold brew from Jones Beach Bar & Cafe and stop in at Norbert's Pizza, a go-to spot for vegan pizza in Bushwick.

We would love for you to subscribe to our channel and hit the thumbs up if you enjoy the video. We will be posting more new videos to our channel soon.

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https://www.youtube.com/c/JamesandKarla

Photography from our visit to stamp artist and Rivington School rebel Ed Higgins' LES apartment of 40 years for 6sqft...

Full article: https://www.6sqft.com/my-450sqft-stamp-artist-and-rivington-school-rebel-ed-higgins-shows-us-his-les-apartment-of-40-years/

"Upon arriving in Manhattan, the Midwestern-born artist became part of an art scene that was antithetical to what was happening anywhere else. Ed was a founding member of the Rivington School, a group of anti-commercial artists who took the city’s open land as their own, creating make-shift gallery spaces and performance centers in basements and on vacant lots. A painter and printmaker by trade, Ed is a part of the mail art movement, which involves sending art through the mail via postcards, decorated objects, and original stamps."

In our Midtown West Episode 8 we visit shops and historic places along 57th Street near Seventh Avenue.

To see the interior and hear more about the Brooklyn Diner and its famous patrons, please visit: https://youtu.be/FW-aTXeat58 

Brooklyn Diner, despite its name is actually located on West 57th Street in Midtown West. This classic-styled upscale #diner was founded nearly 25 years ago by Shelly Fireman. 

Please SUBSCRIBE TO NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: https://www.youtube.com/c/JamesandKarla

Our Instagram and YouTube channel @JamesandKarla are featured in today's amNY cover story "LOVE FOR THE LITTLE GUYS- Couple Documents NYC Mom-and-Pop Shops- and You Can Help".

The article features our ongoing mission to document on film and in words the many small businesses in NYC that make each neighborhood unique. It also talks about our free public photography and oral history workshop, "Capturing The Faces & Voices of Mom-and-Pop Storefronts" and its mission to foster public awareness and advocacy and its dedicated Instagram feed @momandpopstorefronts

We are currently raising funds for the workshop and resultant exhibition to highlight the participants' work in September at the The Theater For The New City Gallery in the East Village. To learn more and contribute please visit:  http://spot.fund/JamesAndKarla

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: https://www.youtube.com/c/JamesandKarla

Our new YouTube video Episode 8: Midtown West- Donuts & Coins is live!

Full episode: https://youtu.be/FW-aTXeat58

In this episode, we travel to the Midtown West neighborhood of Manhattan and visit shops and historic places along 57th Street near Seventh Avenue.  We stop in and have a artisanal donut from The Doughnut Project, look at some rare coins and bullion at Stack's Bowers Rare Coin Galleries, visit a free art gallery at the legendary Art Students League and have a bite to eat at the Brooklyn Diner, which despite its name is located on 57th Street.  We also see some wonderful architecture, including Carnegie Hall and the historic Alwyn Court building.

We would love for you to subscribe to our channel and hit the thumbs up if you enjoy the video. We will be posting more new videos to our channel soon.

SUBSCRIBE TO NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: https://www.youtube.com/c/JamesandKarla

Gem Spa, located on Second Avenue at the corner of St. Mark's Place has sadly removed its iconic Zoltar fortune 🔮 teller booth.

They also removed their newspaper 📰 racks outside. We hope that Zoltar returns soon! • Gem Spa was founded in 1957 and is still famous for its egg creams 🥛a quintessential New York beverage originally served in candy stores throughout the Lower East Side beginning in the 1920s. The egg cream, is said to have been invented at this #candystore @besteggcream . Contrary to its name, the #eggcream does not contain eggs 🥚 or cream but is a mixture of very cold milk, seltzer, and flavored syrup. Gem Spa is where Jack Kerouac and other beat poets got their egg creams in the 1950s and it also became a hangout for many musicians in the 1960s and 1970s, who performed at the Fillmore East and the Electric Circus, which were located on either side of the store. @thisispattismith is also a long-time customer.

Pre-Zoltar:

Cafe Belle, NoLita, NYC

Full episode: https://youtu.be/TiGlHY5tFRA 

Cafe Belle in NoLita. We just recently posted on our YouTube channel JamesandKarla our latest video Episode 7: NoLita - Italian Shops & Books in which we visit Cafe Belle on Mulberry Street and @moethebutcher on Elizabeth Street. @cafebellenyc was founded in 2017 by Noelle “Belle” Scala, whose family has owned and operated successful Italian 🇮🇹 bakeries for over 70 years. Everything the cafe serves is made in-house using her Grandpa’s original recipes!

To see and hear more about this modern cafe with a traditional coziness please subscribe to our YouTube channel JamesandKarla  if you have not already as we are trying to raise awareness of the importance of small neighborhood businesses to the community.
https://www.youtube.com/c/JamesandKarla