I Met Manny Vega!

Walking down 104th St near Lexington, I saw a man touching up the famous "The Spirit of East Harlem " mural. I asked if I could take his photo for the blog, and we got to talking. His name is Manny Vega, and you may know him from his mural and mosaic work around East Harlem. He told me that he had worked as an assistant on the original mural, painted back in 1973. He was fighting off the graffiti artists who had covered up parts of the mural earlier that week. He said it would probably be an ongoing battle.

Vega's work can be seen at the East Harlem Coffee Shop on Lexington and 104th St and the 6 train 110th St stop.

Here's a great interactive piece on Manny Vega on the New York Times' website.





The Spirit of East Harlem

Back in Harlem

I apologize for the blogs lack of posts as of late. Thanks for your patience! I moved to a new section of East Harlem earlier this month and spent most of June looking for my new home and packing up my old one. Moving is exhausting, but I'm finally feeling ready to start exploring my new area of East Harlem. I'm a bit further south then I was previously and there are lots of new restaurants, shops and other East Harlem treasures to tell you about.


Here's the first treasure. Right on the corner of 102nd St and Park is what looks like a gallery, only I live near by and I've never seen it open. Does any one know the scoop?