The Lo-Down Culture Cast

Photo credit and courtesy: Javier Torres Host Traven Rice talked with legendary street photographers Martha Cooper and Clayton Patterson at a live recording of The Lo-Down Culture Cast at their exhibition, Concrete Chronicles, at City Lore. It was a full house at 56 E. 1st St. The organization works to preserve and foster NYC’s grassroots cultures and heritage, and encompasses a Lower East Side gallery space, performances, lectures, the People’s Hall of Fame, a POEMobile that projects poems onto walls and buildings, and programs throughout the five boroughs. They are kicking off their 40th anniversary with this show featuring these two downtown icons known for documenting the streets of the the city for many decades. The show gathers iconic and rarely seen images spanning the late 1970s through the 2000s, capturing the grit, creativity, and community resilience of the Lower East Side neighborhood. About the show, City Lore wrote: “Widely celebrated for their deep engagement with the city’s streets and subcultures, Martha Cooper and Clayton Patterson have each shaped how the world sees New York. Through distinct yet complementary perspectives, Cooper and Patterson, together with his partner, Elsa Rensaa, have dedicated their lives to recording the human stories that animate the city’s streets. Their photographs capture a neighborhood that became a global symbol of artistic resistance and grassroots resilience. Cooper’s attentive, human-centered images of youth culture, street art, hip-hop, cultural traditions, and neighborhood life stand as enduring records of ingenuity and play. Patterson’s raw, uncompromising documentation of activism, underground art, and the everyday drama of tenement blocks offers a counter-archive to official histories. Together, their perspectives reveal the LES as a crucible of both community-preservation and innovation at the frontlines of urban change.” Special thanks to City Lore's Co-Director, Molly Garfinkel, who helped to curate the show and hosted the live event in their wonderful gallery.

Here's a special episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast, recorded live at Catalyst Records in Essex Market. Pianist & composer Grant Richards and drummer Roberto Giaquinto joined host Traven Rice to talk about the hustle of being a jazz musician in NYC today. They played some music composed by Grant Richards and performed some new music from an upcoming album that they have collaborated on titled Orbits Trio+3.  The sound was great and the vibe was warm and welcoming, thanks to Catalyst owner Gary Guarinello. NYC-based pianist Grant Richards is an award-winning jazz performer, composer, and educator who adapts to a wide range of settings, styles, and genres. A native of Portland, Oregon, Grant began playing piano at the age of eight. By the time he entered college, he had won four Student Music Awards from Downbeat Magazine and recorded his first album as a leader. He went on to Berklee College of Music on a full-tuition Jimmy Lyons Scholarship. After releasing his second studio album Numinous, Grant moved to Japan for nearly three years where he taught at an international music school and performed often in the vibrant Tokyo music scene. Upon his return to the US, he moved to New York City and served as the Musical Director for the 2019 Jacob’s Pillow Tap Program. In October 2024 Grant released  Menagerie, a vast collaborative songwriting project straddling the line between jazz, pop, and neo-soul which features a host of talented vocalists and musicians living in the NYC area. Recorded in 2023 at Keyboard Heaven in Brooklyn, this 15-track album is a genre-bending journey that has raked in over 200,000 streams across the globe since its release. In addition to being a gigging musician, Grant is a music educator, recording artist, writer and composer.  Italian drummer Roberto Giaquinto started out his musical journey with his older brother in Naples, Italy, playing with different local bands around the city while still in middle school. After moving to Rome, he graduated with a degree in jazz arranging  AND  In 2009, he was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music and after moving to Boston in 2010, he was selected to be part of the Global Jazz Institute. 

Ali Rosa-Salas is a curator whose approach is rooted in the belief that curatorial practice must serve the public good. She talked with host Traven Rice about the history of the Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement and the importance of arts within communities like the Lower East Side. For over a decade, Ali has served New York City arts and culture primarily through curatorial projects in live performance. Currently, Ali is the Vice President of Visual and Performing Arts of Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement, the only cultural organization in New York City that is part of a social services agency. From 2020-2023, she served as an Associate Curator of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

Dora Grossman-Weir speaks with Culture Cast host Traven Rice about making wine fun and accessible at two new delicious spots in the neighborhood. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Dora Grossman-Weir is a hospitality professional with a focus on wine. After spending two and a half years working at the online wine shop and start-up, Parcelle, she left to work with the wine team at Momofuku Ko before returning to the group to open Tolo, a Chinese restaurant from chef Ron Yan (28 Canal St.) and later Sunn's, a Korean spot from chef Sunny Lee (139 Division St.). She also oversees Mitsuru (West 4th and MacDougal St.) as their General Manager and Wine Director. Growing up with a family that loved food, she has always been enamored with great restaurants, exploring different cultures by way of their cuisines, and the intersection of wine and history. Grant Reynolds is the founder behind Parcelle, an independent New York City-based online wine business that began in 2019. He then opened a brick and mortar wine bar in 2022 on Division Street with Chinese chef Ron Yan. The team then opened Tolo (28 Canal) in 2023.

Lower East Side artist and activist Laura Nova speaks with The Lo-Down Culture Cast host Traven Rice. Nova is an artist, educator, and activist who creates festive, absurdist spectacles that unite generations and diverse communities. The first Public Artist in Residence to be embedded in New York City’s Department for the Aging, Nova brings expertise and empathy to her projects and actions, designing each element to enhance social wellness and decrease social isolation. Working in festivals, public monuments, and the city street, Nova delivers spiels to homebound New Yorkers, organizes an older adult cheerleading squad and designs crafting kits, guides, and costumes that help nurture emerging activists of all ages. Nova received a B.F.A. and B.A. from Cornell University and an M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is currently designing and teaching in the CareLab at The New School and an Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts fellow advocating for the care and longevity of humans and trees.

Photographer Whitney Browne talks with Host Traven Rice about her debut Book, "Candy Store - A Behind-the-Counter Look at Ray’s Candy Store, One of NYC’s Most Beloved Sweets Slinging Stalwarts." The book is launching this weekend, just in time to celebrate Ray's 50th year of business in the East Village. Most New Yorkers who live downtown have been into the iconic shop at one time or another, and often late at night, as it was open 24-hours for most of the last five decades. The tiny storefront is located on Avenue A and E. 7th Street, at Tompkins Square Park. It's famous for its egg creams and fried Oreos, a cheap cup of coffee, ice cream and New Orleans style beignets - along with some good conversation with Ray himself, who recently turned 91 years old. Along with many others in the downtown community, Whitney became friends with Ray decades ago, and began helping out behind the counter shortly thereafter. As she got to know Ray and many of the cast of regular characters who came and went, she couldn't resist bringing her camera along to capture the unique New York City establishment that we all know won't continue, or be able to be replicated after he's gone. Browne’s photographs offer more than nostalgia—they capture the joy, grit, and intimacy of a neighborhood stalwart that continues to thrive despite the city's constant transformation. The book launch will be celebrated with a public event at Ray’s Candy Store on Saturday, May 17th, from 5 PM to 8 PM. You can pick up a signed copy of CANDY STORE for yourself, grab a fried Oreo or soft serve, and enjoy tunes from Lower Eastside Record Club along with a classic East Village hang with Ray himself. CANDY STORE is available for purchase at www.whitneybrowne.com and select bookstores.

Coss Marte in 2015. photo by Alex M. Smith for The Lo-Down NY. After featuring Coss Marte in The Lo-Down's "My LES" column ten years ago, host Traven Rice connected with him again to catch up on all he has accomplished with his two innovative businesses, both of which have social justice missions at their core. In 2009, Coss Marte was sent to jail as the leader of a multi-million dollar cocaine operation. He was also grossly overweight and warned by his physician that his current lifestyle, if left unchecked, would likely kill him. Faced with this grim prognosis, Coss started to get in shape using the tools he had—his prison cell and his own body weight. Within six months, he lost 70 pounds and replicated his successful formula of body weight exercises with 20 other people incarcerated alongside him. After he was released from prison, Coss launched CONBODY a “prison style” bootcamp that hires formerly incarcerated individuals to teach fitness classes. Since the launch of his company he’s gained over 25,000+ clients , supported many folks coming home from prison, and has been featured in over 200 major media outlets such as NBC, CNN, The New York Times, TED Talks, and Men’s Fitness, to name a few. At CONBODY, the team states that "the mission extends to  creating a more equitable world for returning citizens, especially black and brown returning citizens.  Marginalized groups always need advocates, rarely is there an opportunity for members of a marginalized group to advocate for themselves." The success of CONBODY led to his latest endeavor, CONBUD, which is one of the first legal cannabis dispensaries in the city, located in the same location as the gym, on the corner of Orchard Street and Delancey streets. This is in the heart of the LES, just a few blocks away from where he was arrested for dealing. Marte is one of the people who led the fight to allow formerly incarcerated people who had cannabis convictions and proof of running a successful business after serving their time, to apply for the liscenses.  CONBUD's mission is very specific. They write that the intention is to: "Normalize, Educate, De-stigmatize —— BORN FROM A UNIQUE MOMENT IN HISTORY WHEN NEW YORK PLEDGED OPPORTUNITY AS REPARATIONS TO THE SURVIVORS OF CANNABIS PROHIBITION AND THE FAILED WAR ON DRUGS Our mission goes beyond providing LES's finest bud. We’re here to normalize plant consumption, offer education, and de-stigmatize the formerly incarcerated community. We believe in second chances, and we’re dedicated to easing their integration back into society." We asked him about his journey and what he wants people to know about all that he's trying to do.

Host Traven Rice talks with Immanual Oni and Debra Jeffreys-Glass about the Chrystie Street African Burial Ground's new memorial, HALO. The installation is located at the entrance to the M'Finda Kalunga Garden, on Rivington Street, between Forsythe and Chrystie streets. The project was commissioned by FAB NYC (Fourth Arts Block). They write: New York City’s Lower East Side has always been shaped by the history and presence of Black and Indigenous communities. It is primarily because of the members of the M’Finda Kalunga Garden that attention has been focused on memorializing the unmarked Chrystie Street African Burial Ground, originally at 195-197 Chrystie Street, now built over.  Established by the African Society in 1795, the Burial Ground was active until 1835, when it was closed due to overcrowding.  It is estimated that 5000 individuals were buried there. When the property was sold by St. Philip’s Church in 1853, efforts were made to remove and re-inter human remains in Cypress Hills, but this was not a thorough process, and in 2006, during construction, fragments of bones were found at the site. M’Finda Kalunga means “Garden at the Edge of the Other Side of the World” in the Kikongo language, in memory of the Burial Ground. The Garden has celebrated local Black history and shared the history of the Burial Ground at its annual Juneteenth festivities since 2004. In collaboration with Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc), the Garden continues to honor the Chrystie Street African Burial Ground while advancing public understanding of the history, impact, and presence of Black communities in the Lower East Side. IMMANUEL ONI is a first-generation Nigerian-American artist and space doula living between New York City and hometown Houston, TX. He believes design is not about what he is making, but who he is making it for. As for art, it is religion. His work explores loss, memory, and its deep connection with space. He utilizes spatial justice design and visual storytelling to unearth narratives related to trauma, healing, and ritual. His canvas consists of repurposing existing public space infrastructure such as light posts, fencing, underutilized green areas or mobile spaces to prompt community dialogue and connection. His aim is to fuse the physical with the spiritual. He has led and participated in international art and urbanism workshops in Venice, Hong Kong, and Lagos. He has been a Fellow for the Design Trust for Public Space, Culture Push, New York for Culture and Arts, More Art Engaging Artist Commission NY, and received awards from Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts NY, Office of Neighborhood Safety, Architectural League of New York, the New York State Council of the Arts, and commissioned by Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc) as the artist for the Chrystie Street African Burial Ground Memorial Installation in the Lower East Side. He is a former Director of Community Design at the New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and Adjunct Professor at Parsons the New School for Design. He is the co-founder and Creative Director of Liminal, a non-profit that works at the intersection of art, unity, and space About HALO by Immanuel Oni During the 1800s, at night, the “lantern law” required African-Americans and Indigenous people in New York City to carry a candle or lantern on the street after curfew in order to make their presence known.  HALO reclaims this archaic form of surveillance by illuminating Black spaces, beginning with the Chrystie Street African Burial Ground, honored and celebrated by the neighboring M’Finda Kalunga Garden community.  Using existing infrastructure, HALO embeds symbols and narratives into and around the perimeter of the Garden. Like a halo, a decorated light shade is wrapped around a vintage light post emanating light, African textile patterns, and names of those buried. A map is integrated to show other local sites of remembrance. The light pole is placed in Bob Humber’s garden plot to commemorate his 40 years of service to the Garden and community. Fourth Arts Block (FAB) is a team of artists and organizers working to preserve, strengthen, and grow the cultural vibrancy of the Lower East Side.

Host Traven Rice spoke with Lower East Side artist Marja Samson. Samsom is an international artist and filmmaker, whose work confronts and exposes cultural issues with elegant wit. Poised within 1970’s international avant-garde, her early works are experiments in self representation. Her embodiment and simultaneous commodification of the character "Miss Bhave" and "Miss Kerr" pose an elegant, tongue-in-cheek dissection of glamour. Samsom’s current photography explores relationships between objects that illuminate with a pinch of wicked playfulness. Her practice is daily exploration: making 'something out of nothing'. Samson was born in the Netherlands, raised in Europe, and spent time in New York City while exhibiting internationally. Deciding to stay in New York, Samsom created an underground word-of-mouth salon, the ‘Kitchen Club’, in the East Village. It developed into the legendary downtown eatery of same name on Prince & Mott Street. Curating both menu and restaurant space, Samsom actualized her Kitchen Club as a "gesamtkunstwerk" and hosted a radio series "Cooking up a Storm" on Art International Radio, where she was selected for a residency at the Clocktower Gallery with a storytelling performance ‘Shrine’ dedicated to her sister. Recently, she completed a number of performances at Participant Inc. her work is currently included at H’ART Museum, Amsterdam. She lives and works in Downtown New York City.  #podcast #interview #arts #lowereastside #film #culture #podcastclips #nyc #nycart

A conversation with founder Mark DeGarmo, who has been based on the Lower East Side for over 30 years. As an artist and scholar, his work investigates embodied imagination, improvisational composition, and nonverbal/non-discursive ways of knowing. Thus far in his professional choreographic career, DeGarmo has created over 100 dance and performance works and directed multiple tours in 13 countries. The themes of his choreographic work are varied. Since 2022, he’s been exploring dance video. Since January 2019, he’s performed monthly improvisations broadcast in his “Moveable Moments” series. His Mexican family, friends and colleagues inspired me to investigate Mexican culture and Frida Kahlo for the last 30 years. The result was a six-year creative process with a female-female cast in “Las Fridas.” Mark DeGarmo Dance provides high quality, interdisciplinary arts programming for NYC public elementary school students who live in economically challenged and disenfrachised communities.  Partnerships in Literacy through Dance and Creativity© is MDD’s evidence-based seven-year interdisciplinary program. Partnerships empower elementary students to use dance, movement and creative writing as lifelong tools to fulfill their highest potential. This is a Lower East Side NYC Cultural Podcast with Host Traven Rice

Host Traven Rice talks with director Miriam Wasmund and performer Liz Dutton about "Your Faithful Reader," an experiential theater performance that merges the worlds of acting and dance with real letters. Participants were mailed writing prompts—suggestions of letters they may want to write: to others (known and unknown), to themselves, to their most beloved objects, or even the intangible. The response was pages of heartfelt words, ranging from the romantic and fun to the most honest and brutal truths. Now a company of actors, dancers, and creatives have given the letters (both anonymous and signed) new life in "Your Faithful Reader."  Performances of the current iteration are January 30 - February 2 at Teatro Latea (107 Suffolk St.)

Lower East Side NYC arts and culture podcast host Traven Rice interviews Filmmaker Stuart Ginsberg about his new film "It’s A to Z: The Art of Arleen Schloss." Schloss was a downtown performance artist who invited other artists to collaborate and perform with her on a weekly basis.  The film explores Schloss’s creative work and evolution and how it changed over time. A highly original cross-disciplinary artist, she was known for her boundary-pushing, idiosyncratic performance art, video, and installations. Through exclusive never-before-seen archival footage shot by Schloss herself and mixed with commentary from people from the scene, we trace Schloss’s story and see, from her point of view, the texture of New York City's downtown art scene from the 1970s through the 1990s. Known as an “artist’s artist,” Schloss became influential through A’s, her loft space that was a hub for genre-defying music, gallery shows, performance art, films, and other happenings. A hotbed of experimentation, A’s featured the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Eric Bogosian, Glenn Branca, Kim Gordon, Shirin Neshat, Thurston Moore, Alan Suiclde, Ai Wei Wei, and John Zorn, among others. #artist #podcast #artsandculture #interview #lowereastside #film #nyc #nycart #performanceart

Host Traven Rice spoke with Gary Guarinello, founder of Catalyst Records in Essex Market, for this episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. Gary is a drummer and a music lover who is also a former butcher. He was working at The Market Line Food Hall at Ends Meat when he pitched the idea for a record store, which he opened in 2022. When the food hall shut down in the lower level of Essex Market, he moved Catalyst Records upstairs, across from Top Hops Beer Shop, and began hosting live music events, podcasts, and other local art openings and book signings.

Host Traven Rice spoke with author Dan Slater about his new book, "The Incorruptibles - A True Story of Kingpins, Crime Busters, and the Birth of the American Underworld," which focuses on the true stories of the Lower East Side underworld and the secret efforts by wealthy uptowners to eradicate them during the late 1800's and early 1900's. It's a "harrowing, true-life tale of an immigrant underworld, a secret vice squad, and the rise of organized crime" in New York City. And most of it took place right here on these very neighborhood streets, as waves of Eastern European Jews were immigrating to the U.S., (pre-WWI) and in turn created one of the largest ghettos in the world. In the mayhem of these teeming streets, a dense web of crime syndicates emerged. Slater writes: "Gangs of horse poisoners and casino owners, pimps and prostitutes, thieves and thugs, jockeyed for dominance while their family members and neighbors toiled in the unregulated garment industry.   But when the notorious murder of a gambler attracted global attention, a coterie of affluent German-Jewish uptowners decided to take matters into their own hands. Worried about the anti-immigration lobby and the uncertain future of Jewish Americans, the uptowners marshalled a strictly off-the-books vice squad led by an ambitious young reformer [Abe Schoenfeld]. The squad, known as the Incorruptibles, took the fight to the heart of crime in the city, waging war on the sin they saw as threatening the future of their community. Their efforts, however, led to unforeseen consequences in the form of a new mobster class who realized, in the country’s burgeoning reform efforts, unprecedented opportunities to amass power." Dan Slater is the author Wolf Boys, which was a Chicago Public Library best book of the year, Love in the Time of Algorithms, and The Officer & the Entrepreneur. His new book, The Incorruptibles, was selected as an editors' pick by the New York Times Book Review. A graduate of Colgate University, New York Film Academy, and Brooklyn Law School, he has written for more than a dozen publications, including the Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, New York magazine, the Boston Globe, The Atlantic, Texas Monthly, The New Yorker online, and GQ.  

Host Traven Rice spoke with writer-director Claire Ayoub for this episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. Claire's first feature film, Empire Waiste, is out now. The boundary-pushing film tells the story of Lenore Miller (Mia Kaplan) an overweight, insecure teen whose talent for fashion is discovered by her confident, plus-sized classmate Kayla (Jemima Yevu), forcing her into the spotlight—and into the path of both bullies and new friends.  Claire shares the story of her brave journey to get the film made and how it stemmed from her own childhood fears and challenges. Claire is a writer, director, and performer on a mission to create entertaining, educational, and empowering stories through her production company Try Anyway Productions. Claire launched her career in the New York City comedy scene as a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater where she wrote, directed, and performed both sketch comedy and storytelling shows. The EMPIRE WAIST script was named the #1 Comedy on The Black List and selected for both the Black List Feature Lab and Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriting Fellowship at Sundance. The film has since won Best Empowerment Film and Best Social Impact Film at Sedona International Film Festival, Wavemaker Award: Best Future Wave Feature, and Best Feature at the Coney Island Film Festival. Claire is also the creator of The Gyno Kid, an award-winning solo comedy show about growing up as the child of small-town gynecologists that encourages audiences to laugh and learn about their bodies.

This week's episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast features a conversation with musician and activist Fury Young. Fury grew up in the neighborhood, and recently released Tree Indeed, his first solo EP as a musician. His music is "artland rock meets surrealist rap, a melodic record about growing up in the LES and life."   His late father, the artist and social worker Lee Brozgol, helped turn a once derelict building on Eldridge Street into a fully functioning co-op back in the 1980's.   Fury is also the Founder of FREER Records, the first known non-profit record label for prison-impacted musicians in the US.

"Culture Cast" Host Traven Rice speaks with Luis Fernandez, a partner in the popular "Forsyth Fire Escape" (of the amazing scallion pancake burrito creation) which started in 2021 during Covid. Founder Isabel Lee created the "burrito" with inspiration from her Chinese and Thai roots and Luis's Dominican background. During the pandemic, they served burritos out of their apartment by lowering them in a bucket off of their fire escape. The burritos were an instant hit and when they started to gain traction, their landlord served a cease and desist letter threatening a lawsuit by the end of the day. So they pivoted and partnered with their local bodega, Don Juan's on Forsyth Street, to serve burritos, which sold out every Sunday, on a preorder basis. They also created other special events and pop ups. They have since opened a 6-month residency at Olly Olly market in Chelsea. Luis is prepping for a new solo popup project, "Feitos," coming back to Don Juan’s Deli on the corner of Forsyth and Broome on Sunday, Sept. 8th. The premiere item on the menu will be a Dominican-style fried chicken sandwich that you can pre-order here. He’s also an indie rap musician, makes paintings and has a clothing label. He's been featured in Grub Street, Eater, and Bloomberg's "50 Ones to Watch."

Host Traven Rice spoke with Alexandra Aron, Founder and Artistic Director of Remote Theater Project, about the upcoming production that will take place in Sara D. Roosevelt Park on Saturday, June 8th at 2pm and 4pm. The show, titled "Thank You For Listening," is a community engagement project that's been in the works for over a year. It's based on conversations and workshops with three different communities that intersect in the park; the unhoused community, Chinese seniors and more recently, migrant workers who are temporarily living in hotels near the park. The team explains the background of the project here: "In September 2022, Remote Theater Project produced "Embrace the Tangle" as part of Little Amal Walks NYC, a project involving over 1,000 community members in the Lower East Side/Chinatown. The event was a celebration of diverse communities coming together to welcome newcomers, like Little Amal, a Syrian refugee. How can we continue build on this experience to connect diverse groups of people who share the same public space? From this question, The Sara Roosevelt Park project was born." Playwright Carmen Rivera wasn't able to join the conversation in person, but did offer some thoughts about her experience with the project in a phone interview with us after the episode recording.  “We’re living in this divisive time when everyone is screaming at each other," she said, "so let’s take a step back  and remember that we are living on the same planet. Everyone wants to be heard - giving space to their stories, and giving space to the idea that we should all listen to each other was the work...'open your heart’ is what we want to say with the piece." In the play, the park itself is a character. Carmen said, in thinking about bringing everyone's stories together, she thought, “Where can we find intersections? So …it’s the park…what has the park seen? For me it was, let’s bring the park to life….so we started exploring the history of the park and also the relationship the community has to the park." The park has been a witness to the community and their struggles.      

This week's episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast features pioneering Lower East Side gallery owner James Fuentes. Host Traven Rice spoke with Fuentes about how growing up in the neighborhood influenced his creative aesthetics and the intention behind the gallery, which he opened in a live/work space on St. James Place in 2007. Those were the early days when the Lower East Side was just beginning to be recognized as an art gallery neighborhood. Fuentes was born on the Lower East Side to Ecuadorian immigrant parents and was raised on the Lower East Side, residing in the Vladeck Houses during his early years, and later in the South Bronx. The gallery moved to its location at 55 Delancey Street in 2010 and quickly became a lynchpin in the gallery scene. Its final exhibit in that space is a large group show curated by Arden Wohl titled "A Study in Form (Chapter Two)." The show closes on May 25th and a block party will ensue. Since its inception, James Fuentes has "championed a gallery program that is led first by exceptional contemporary artists who are atypical from the conventions of their field. The gallery is known for its focus on humanity, history, and society with a non-exclusionary approach, positioning itself as a leader in the field as our contemporary institutions seek to do the same. In the spring of 2023, the gallery opened an outpost in the Melrose Hill neighborhood of Los Angeles, and in March 2024 it inaugurated its new location at 52 White Street in Tribeca."     

For this edition of The Lo-Down Culture Cast, host Traven Rice speaks with photographer Alain Levitt. Alain is well known in the neighborhood as an artist and the co-owner of the beloved restaurant Bacaro. Alain recently celebrated the publication of his first official photo book, "Alain Levitt, NYC 2000-2005," edited by Tim Barber. It features a series of photos of the downtown "creative class" in New York during the early 2000s and serves as a celebratory time capsule from this time period. Along with the book, Alain has a solo show at the gallery Whaam! (15 Elizabeth St.) on view through May 25. Alain talked with Traven about his arrival in early 2000 from Los Angeles. He ended up on the Lower East Side, working for the NY Post as a street photographer and then later at the (in)famous bar, The Cock. From there, he went on to co-host a party at The Hole, a bar where all sorts of creative people crossed paths and hung out, and eventually became co-owner of Bacaro with his wife, Kama Geary. Living Proof NY writes, "In the early 2000s, New York’s economic landscape created a world in which one could survive off of little. Artists, skaters, graffiti writers, poets & musicians inhabited the city, organically creating style & culture in a way that permeated into the life of the neighborhood. Common streets became legendary as the 14 block radius of downtown New York housed a thriving underground scene flourishing in a carefree time of unhindered creativity. At this time Alain Levitt was hanging out in the Lower East Side on a daily basis with a small film camera on his person. Spending the early 2000s living amongst the people, Alain shot the downtown New York Scene during an era that laid the foundations for events & people that went on to deeply influence the world of skate, graffiti, art & culture. His debut book 'NYC: 2000-2005' is a collection of these photos." Alain writes that he "grew up free range on the west side of Los Angeles. Skateboarding, Graffiti, Raving - the trifecta of 90’s subcultures- helped inform his world view and gave him a home amongst the outcasts. The same world he would focus his lense on after moving to New York in 2000. Not yet a photographer, Alain picked up a camera out of necessity. His first job in NY was shooting street fashion for his sister’s, Danielle Levitt, Sunday style column in the New York Post- a job that required carrying a camera 24/7. Alain recalls showing up to Max Fish and being gently made fun of for his oversized Paparazzi rig. His second job, at the infamous gay bar The Cock, gave him a front row seat to a wild NY that was quickly being choked out by Mayor Giuliani and provided enough income for this budding photographer to only work two evenings a week. More time to run the streets. Alain quickly found his community on the Lower East Side. Alife by day, Max Fish at night. And after starting a bi weekly party, with Spencer Sweeny, at The Hole, Alain planted his seed in the downtown scene."