Friday, March 4, 2011

Lepke Executed!

I hustled to make the 8:15 ferry this morning - a bright start to the day, and I was excited to be early to the island. Fewer schoolkids on the ferry than last time, and the peculiarity and privilege of this experience hit me harder because of it. I am reminded of when I first got a bike in New York and began riding along the river-edge bike path - revealing a new perspective on the city, and making me feel that after so many years living here, it was actually new again. And so it is brand new again.

Worked diligently this morning hanging photos and family trees and comic book pages on the walls. Also found these fantastic decal sheets yesterday and made a little vertical window map of the most important of Lepke's haunts around the city. The panoramic view out my studio windows gives me a look-out over everything from his birthplace on the Lower East Side, to his stomping grounds in Brownsville, Brooklyn, to the site of Dutch Schulz's demise at the Palace Chop House in Newark, NJ.

The three-dimensionality of the space is amazing - I've had these materials in binders and boxes for a long time, but walking around among them makes me feel like part crack reporter (I've got to work on my wise-guy radio voice), part fugitive hunter (true-crime tv producing finally pays off!). I may have to wear a fedora while I'm in here....

PS - On this date in 1944, Lepke was executed at Sing-Sing!

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