steveb leatherworks: the blather

Unless you sucka’s live here in my ‘hood, i respectfully have to posit that you don’t know shit about bread….real bread. “B” you says – i DO know shit about bread honest.

Well…I says ya dont. This is real bread and it is right from the mother of all sources – Arthur Ave, in the Bronx, NYC.

This sad house is just about disappeared, soon to make way for a strip mall, no doubt. This is a pretty common occurrence in area that have grown up from rural beginnings where “everyone” lived on or just off, the main road. 

It’s all about Artur Avenue in the Bronx, – thats right N-Y-C- and no I dont mean the tourist-y part either – ok, ya don’t got a problem with that? doya? This area is home to the very best italian food in the tri-state area, hands, down bar none, fact – plain and simple.

deer – like rats they are… I liked it better when Bambi’s kind were behind some kind of fency-y kind of thing, because once they are moving around in traffic, we are all in big trouble especially if you are on a bike. This shot was taken  on Freddy’s property, in the middle of the afternoon. This deer, clueless and fearless was pretty damn stupid.. 

This laser eyeball uniform wearing babe is not loving her job and she is not loving me. She has one of the worst, most unenviable jobs a person in NYC can have – NYC Traffic Enforcement. These guys get kicked, cursed and spit on.  I’d imagine the owner of this car also has some strong feelings about the scene unfolding here …

no love

It is a rite of passage for many kids. A horror for some… I am talking about Little League … here seen in Newton Massachusetts a town i was visiting in a few weeks back. A truer slice of American culture you’ll not see anywhere. This same scene plays out all across our great country, in each and every town – if you stop and look… 

I guess some pizza, not quite fit for human consumption is fit for the birds as evidenced here. Wanna bet some of these pigeons become part of the “landscape” as they chow on this feast…in the busiest of  streets..  5th Avenue…lol

Up at Bear Mtn. the other day, I saw an old dude….well..an “older” dude..riding what i can only describe as a work of art – truly this is a beautiful piece of machinery. This is a high-dollah collectible, a Bimota DB6R, a handmade, painstakingly crafted piece of  Italian two wheeled engineering that is so far beyond my ability to describe in any accurate way,  I am going to show you these pictures and give you this link – so see for yourself.

Along the lines of Swanky Frank’s I present for your hot diggity doggin pleasure – Botsford Hot Dogs. Good food, but no place to squat makes stopping here kind of an iffy proposition – unless the weather is good in which case you can sit at some of the picnic tables placed outside along the edge of the parking lot. The ambiance doesn’t do alot for me, but the food is good and cheap – and it is NOT a national chain. Props to the Botsford Stand!!

Saw a mismnatched pair at Bill’s Drive In. Guys looked like friends from way back with the Harley rider of the two saying the “he tried” talking sense into his Honda riding buddy when he bought the Honda…ha.. bless our friends… whatever would we do without them?

Back in the day, I worked around the corner of this Hotel. This was a rough and tumble neighborhood that hosted at this location – a SRO homeless squat of a place, I dont know i’d classify it as a hotel, more like a residence – nasty, drunks, druggies, fighters and troublemakers all called this dark, all business block (no residences) block home and hung out. It was crazy I scrambled past this block a few times, leaving the office late at night.. The park on the flip side of this block – Madison Square Park – was also a pit, with an analogous set of challenges.. Well – 26 years later and this is what happened to the SRO – it turned into this. – a fancy pants, but weird as hell Hotel. ha, if they only knew the nature of the ghosts that haunt this place…

the Boss turned me on to a really pretty spot right in our own backyard, so to speak. The property (a well known horticultural landmark)  as I understand it, was donated to the community by a wealthy resident some many years back as a Public Trust kind of thing. Tucked away right in the middle of a well-to-do neighborhood, this little gem is not on anyone’s radar. Ya got to keep you peepers peeled if you want to find these spots in your ‘hood. 

**FLASH** I am selling one of my personal pieces- the famous flying wheel fin – perfectly broken in, so come and get it! I have to begin getting some of the stuff i have sitting around in people’s pockets – they do no good in the drawer!

Clean, simple, beauty of a color, great brass chain and hot shit fob all add up to a sweet package for the new owner of the Arrowhead Fin.

So – I had a cool request from one of our serviceman currently overseas, a fine gentleman by the name of John. He had an idea for a wallet that originally was borderline not doable, at least by me. We went back and forth a bit and finally settled on this idea… I developed the art, carved it up , did a little coloring on the lines and poof, a fine wallet that made John a happy man, as evidenced by his note to me weeks later.

Steve – I want to thank you for the GREAT wallet!!  I must apologies, I have been out of pocket (so to speak) and am just now able to ‘connect’ with the outside.  The wallet arrived in great shape, all of the stickers are fantastic!!  Also, I have been passing all of the cards you sent out to all that ask about the wallet. Thank you again and I have no doubt I will be in touch inn the near future for additional pieces. Take care and  Semper Fi!! 

It was alot of work, but it came out great – really a cool idea and i was thrilled that he let me loose – hooya!!!

I was walking around NYC as usual, camera in hand and met a proud rider. He loves his bike and worked hard to get it…pretty obvious.

One from the old archives, a sweet custom Squire -unusual in that the customer asked me to NOT include a chain. Horizontal flamage from front to back, cool coloration and a multi-material interior. Nice!

No secret here, I like to visit scary places. There are some people who are urban explorers who do lots of research and really drill down into the whole thing of it all, get the full history, sniff the place out first and are highly prepped about the nature of a site, its longitude, latitude, security, etc and there are some people, like me, who will do all that if they have to, but really at the heart of it… are opportunists… if i see something juicy- I jump on it, if it looks within reason and i see a cheap shot of an “in”. I think this kind of fearlessness comes partly from growing up in NYC and being around weird stuff my whole life and being pretty sure i can manage most any situation i put myself in. The Boss thinks I am not so smart.

Nova Dye was definitely NOT within reason and i didn’t have a clue what I’d find beyond the “door”,  but i jumped on it anyway…it was just too juicy and i was just too itchy. This place is huge (bigger than a city block) and i stayed close to the perimeter, because i could see from a distance outside the facility that huge sections of the roof on certain floors and sections had collapsed – this place is a time bomb in terms of total collapse and fire, there was alot of asbestos, all kinds of shit hanging and dangling from walls, ceilings, stairwells, open pits of evil liquid in the floor – this place is a big, dangerous fucking mess and has already been designated a SuperFund site. Ya got to love that it is smack dab in the middle of  a busy, “lower/poor” cash flow kinda folks neighborhood. I heard voices walk by as i went about my activities – and not a one of them was English….makes ya wonder, no? …well it makes me wonder…but you knew that…ha!

So anyway my first visit to Nova was a totally assault on the senses – this place was simply overwhelming in every way: danger from the environment, photographic beauty, danger from pirates and opportunistic robbers, security – oh man – this was a smorgasboard of “you have got to be kiddng me”. But the place was amazing and i really think i got the flavor of it captured for you to see (it took two visits)..which is my goal.. I want you the viewer, to feel the way I did when i first explored it myself…. My reaction was …holy shit.

During my second visit, about two hours into my shooting i felt itchy and knew i was being stalked by pirates, they were trying to locate me in the complex but I am patient, and quiet, and i was dressed darkly- and so waited out the bad guys. It took some time, but i finished my mission, slipped my rig back in its quiver and was infinitely patient as i waited for the perfect moment to exit. There is no bolting in these situations, you need to tuck yourself in an out of the way, scary dark corner – and wait, and be calm.

I want you to react, I want you to feel your heart rate rise as you look at these pics – knowing that people are stalking you in the dark and scary places, I want you to send me your comments, I want you to comment publicly – how can you see images like this and from Fairfield Hills and NOT be affected in some way? Is it just me? I find these environments compelling and beautiful in a way that no “inhabited” place does – i hope you do too!

See the full set of Nova Dye images >here<

And yea, i will be getting back to yakking about leather work soon, promise!!! 

Pupkin and I went and  visited the Greek the other day. The trip is a southbound 2hr slog through the NYC/NJ urban sprawl – which we made is surprisingly good time, flying the entire way (and if you’ve ever travelled with the two of us, i do mean flying)..with nary a lick of traffic – quite amazing. To boot, we saw very little evidence of State Troopers, allowing us to spin bearings unimpeded. The day started off a little cooler than Pupkin had anticipated, requiring we pull over to layer up. 

This was a big hospital for the mentally ill. It was open for about 63 years . It is not far from the secret location and over the years I have seen all sorts of things take place there. Movies have been shot, buildings have been knocked down and some buildings have been rehabbed and others are in the process of being rehabbed.

As those who know me will attest, back in the day I was an avid urban explorer and recorded my exploits in photographs, although I didn’t know thats what i was doing (urban exploration). I just liked weird, lonely and desolate places. I visited the Love Canal’s, the Bethlehem Steel’s, The Dunlop Rubber and Goodyear Plants, the grain elevators that pepper upstate NY, abandoned hotels houses and movie theaters, I dig ’em all.

So, i had a bug – i wanted to see this place – front the inside – only that isn’t allowed. I asked, they said no.. ok.  So with some improved digital mapping tools to get a sense of the site and the layout of the campus and information from another local photographer about access – I went a visitin’ Fairfield Hills. This type of exploration is not for the faint of heart

As it happens this was one jamming place back in the day with 4,000 patients. Lots of action here. Lots of horror here. I have been in so many weird places over the years that I feel kind of immune to the bugginess of these environments for the most part – but just recently a few places have gotten my attention and under my skin a bit. Pleasure Island was once such place, as is this former mental institution.   This house of horrors finally shut its doors in 1996, the last building was locked…but i can tell ya’ll the ghosts have not gone away. For real, there are some mighty strong vibes in this place. I would NOT want to spend a night here… no sireee.

Exploration of the institution is totally prohibited and visiting its many buildings requires great knowledge, stealth, cunning and “balls”. The “in’s” are not easily spotted and the “out’s” are even more sketchy. Many of the buildings have been lightly vandalized, and for the most part the buildings are devoid of contents like furniture.  If it wasn’t for some help from a fine Photographer who has captured this site on his own in the past, I’d have been a wasting time in a  big way and might not have ever cracked the nut. Thanks Rob.

To see more of this adventure, click here.

Farms, here’s a little dairy operation not too far from the secret location (killer ice cream too!!) – ayuh, still a couple of them farms left although most are turning into strip mall and condo developments. These guys rock 

I am so stuffed – and man, I’d kill for a nap. Went to Pepe’s today with Freddy and had a white clam pizza, Freddy had the 1/2 sausage, 1/2 plain. We both had medium pies. I had a Sam Smith Lager. Stick a fork in me.

Just a typical day in the hood. Fireman on the street, folks running around. All is good.
Fo youse not in the know – Bx.  – it stands for “da bronx” – aight? 

Visited a most historic battleground recently..It was good and kind of reminded me that this country has some great history. Check out the pics and then do a little research on the significance of this battlefield/historic site. Can’t help but feel the sense of “big stuff a happenin” when you are here…

Although i am a Harley fan and devotee, i am no hater of metric brands… at all. Owners show pride the same as the HD riders.. and here is a fine example…You can only imagine it is not easy to keep a nice bike in the city or keep a bike nice in the city – but this owner has accomplished it – kudos and props.