Greenwich Village Bohemia: A Winter Wonderland Turns Into An American Renaissance.(Part I). - Page 4© Robert Edward Bell
Page 4
Oct 1, 2004
which it exactly resembled, were
supposed, forty years ago, to embody
the last results of architectural science,
and they remain to this day very solid
and honorable dwellings. In front of them
was the square, containing a considerable
quantity of inexpensive vegetation,
enclosed by a wooden paling, which
increased its rural and accessible
appearance; and round the corner was
the more august precinct of the Fifth
Avenue, taking its origin at this point
with a spacious and confident air which
already marked it for high destinies."
(4)
It was into this unique atmosphere that the
Beats walked into, probably on some wintertime
evening, as the sun was descending on an old
New York Street. It may have been snowing. The
snowstorms that rain down in the east are known
for a certain ferocity that the western coast
has never known. California, whose shores are
generally known for her mildness has never seen
the strength of a real New England blizzard
breathing down on her brow. The first beats that
arrived in New York must have seen the beauty
and clear white crystaline spectrum of a real
winterwonderland in the making, but they would
have also felt the strong northern wind blowing
down from Canada on their noses and brows. There
is something unique about a New England snowstorm.
It is the sort of storm that turns the face red
from the burning stinging cold that seems to
arrive in such quick bursts from the frozen parts
of the north. They might have stopped at the
old Cedar Tavern to purchase a pint of cold beer,
or a cup of hot coffee to help push away the
harshness of the winter storm. There or around
University place, a young poet may have been
able to discuss poetry and literature with the
likes of such authors as Allen Ginsberg, Jack
Kerouac, Gregory Corso, Diane Di Prima, Kenneth
Koch, or Frank O Hara. The famous school of
New York painters also used to meet at the Cedar.
Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, or Franz
Kline were only a few of these most beloved painters of New York City. Jackson Pollack is
said to have been banned for a month from the
Cedar for kicking the door into the men´s bathroom, and Kerouac infamous for such diabolical deeds was removed altogether for
urinating in an ashtray. Kerouac, a known prankster, who loved to joke and kid around, did
nevertheless have a bizarre habit of taking things
too far at times. By the end of the l950´s as often occurs with most art scenes, the artists
and the writers who had helped to produce the
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