Our store is located right where the Lower East Side of Manhattan blends into Chinatown...and to our minds, it is one of the last authentic and un-gentrified neighborhoods left in Manhattan. We love our hood and feel that it is as much a part of our character as the records we play and sell. China and reggae go together like Randy and Chin, Like Ernest and Hoo Kim, like Leslie and Kong and we feel happy to continue the tradition so here's a loose outline of a day in our hood:
This is Eldridge Street and Grand -- right around the corner!
This is Yvette -- She owns a shop called Panade at 129 Eldridge St.. We get coffee from her every single day. She makes great cookies and her ice cubes are the best in NYC. Yvette also worked as a teacher in Chinatown for years and a lot of teachers come to her shop to hang out...and BOY!!! When you get some drinks into a gang of teachers...WATCH OUT!!! She loves reggae and plays our mixes in the shop and she also makes....
Puffs!!! We eat a lot of these and highly recomend the Green Tea puffs!
This is Forsyth St. where our store is located. The great composer and song writer Ira Gershwin lived on this block! On one side is a park where people play soccer and old, Chinese ladies rock hula hoops! What could be better?
This is the front of our store....we have a lot of rules and we search for Visine!
This is Larry Bercow, our next door neighbor and pal. He is a great photographer check his website: www.bercowstudio.com
These are the lovely ladies from Lee Ren Beauty Salon. They cut our hair every month for $8! What a bargain!
This is Eric. His mom works at the Beauty Salon. He is a great, smart kid and plays a lot of soccer and still has no idea what reggae really is no matter how many times we explain it.
This is our other neighbor 1 Hundred B -- They are a graffitti shop and have all sorts of cool ass shit in their shop. I got NO clue as to what it all is, but it looks damn cool to me and they often have some hip hop Deejays playing in there!
Here are the two owners of 1 Hundred B, Claudia & Mario! They are mad cool and have tons going on so check their website: www.1hundredb.com
Chinatown is great for food. Both fresh food and cooked and here are some spots we like to check!
Crabs in a Barrel!
Great hanging ducks!
Pho Grand -- The best Vietnamese in NYC!!!!!
This is our dumpling spot.
These are the ladies who make the dumplings!
And these are the dumplings! They are great and cost only $2!!!!! What kind of meat is in them? We don't want to know!
This is where we get fruit! Grapes are always a sure bet!
This is some cool graffitti on the street around the corner from us.
There is a whole fleet of driving schools that operate on our block. This guy is one of the instructors and he took me and my wife to go get my license. He used to be a chef and taught me how to cook Chinese style lobster. He never drinks but smokes 2 packs a day. His wife is a haircutter so his hair is always super styled!
And finally, here are a few customers that live in the neighborhood and come to check us all the time...
This is Joel -- a legend in NY reggae....For real! During the 80s you could find Joel at every single dance no matter what night of the week. In fact, he was such an obsessive fan that the owners of the famous REGGAE LOUNGE refused to charge him entrance. All selectors and performers loved and still love Joel for his enthusiasm for the music. When Shinehead was in town, Joel came into the shop and the two of them started YELLING!!! JOEL JO-EL!! It was some serious REUNITED shit! This is Joel buying Johnny Ringo's "YOU HA FE FIT". He has bought this record from us at least 6 times. Seriously.
This is Bruno. He is the most polite, nicest guy in the world. And he always has some totally crazy story to tell me. He also likes Schooly D which is a big plus in my book!
So that's it...That's the Deadly Dragon hood!!! We love it and hope you enjoyed our Bloggerific tour!!!
