Gary Panter blog

FORGOTTEN MOMENTOUS EVENTS

In 1974 I visited New York for the third time. Friends from college, John Harrison and Mike Schwab, were living in the Chelsea hotel and attending SVA.

I was finishing school, trying to decide what to do with myself and was considering moving to New York or L.A. Mike and John graciously allowed me to crash with them for a few days.

Mike said that they were in Janis Joplin's old room.

One night a guy yelled "Vivian," at an 18-story building across the street from the hotel until the sun came up.

One day I saw a little shopkeeper armed with a two-by-four beat a naked dirt-man who was hanging out by the front door of the shop.

Moondog was on the street in those days.

Barbara Nessim and Ruth Martin were very nice to me and allowed me to hang around and waste their time.

The thing I forgot was that Mike and I went to look at a $300 apartment in the Village. It looked like a nice building. The address was a basement apartment. Mike rang the buzzer.

Two girls tattooed from head to toe answered the door. They led us into a very nice room with old ornate furniture.

"Gosh" Mike said, " This is really nice and it's only $300?"

One of the blue girls said, "No, it's not this room. It's the room in back."

We followed them back to a room that was dark. In the center of the room was a cage. The walls and ceiling and floors were covered in shit. In the cage was a sad man-sized ape.

I moved to L.A.