Stolen

Found at 5th Avenue and 10th Street.

My instincts were right - there is dognapper loose in the neighborhood. "Peter" might also have stolen this dog and this one too.

When you read about this in the New York Times you can say that you saw it here first.

Nice, right?

Posted in the Bleecker Street area by If You Don't Know, a website whose stated purpose is " to take control of our public space by promoting racial, social and economic consciousness; to take back our public space and combat the infiltration of commercial propaganda with messages that will liberate the minds of the members of our communities and reshape the value system distorted by commercialization and materialism, helping to redirect our priorities toward things which will promote a more prosperous and long lasting form of economic development of our community, such as education and self empowerment."

It's time for Advertising 101. This flyer uses what is called borrowed interest - that is putting something sensational and irrelevant in an ad to rope in a reader. This example uses sex. You can tell that a woman's bust has nothing to do with at-risk young men by putting any other message after the lead in:

Nice, right? You know what else would be nice?

$99 round trip fares to Rome.
The New York Times delivered free for one week.
Anal Holocaust live in Stockton.

The worst part is that this is a PSA, a category which ad creatives love because it gives them a good chance to scoop up awards. If You Don't Know wants to combat ad industry messages with their own but first they have to learn how to create print that is just as compelling.

Live.

I found this bolted to a traffic sign on Spring Street in Soho. Soho used to be an artist's neighborhood. Now it's fancy boutiques.

The East Village used to have more of this sort of thing, but with every new luxury high-rise that goes up we'll see less and less artistic espression at street level.

Wealth lacks imagination, and uses its means to create the monotony of more wealth.

Boycot Saigon Grill

The move to boycot the Saigon Grill has been going on for several weeks and I can hear the chanting of the protesters all the way from my apartment. This Saturday they were especially loud so I went around the corner to investigate.

The New York Times ran an article about the boycot on April 15th. That and the beautiful spring weather brought out a gaggle of casual protesters, mostly college students. Also in attendance were a video crew and some of New York's Finest.


This is the flyer that the protesters have been handing out. The deliverymen claim that they are being paid below minimum wage and are otherwise mistreated by the restaurant. I'll believe every one of their claims and for that reason I have joined the boycot of Saigon Grill. Also, the first time I ate there I got diarrhea.