Greenpoint
Lorven Pharmacy
Culture on the Cheap
From The New York Shitty Photo Pool, Part III: Luis
Chris Arnade (who took the above photograph) writes:
Luis, a day laborer from Mexico and heroin addict, has been living with Jamie and some others for the last month. I found them soon after the sanitation department had come and taken away all of their possessions: Winter blankets, carts, clothes, everything. They spent the cold, wet day collecting new beddings.
Luis and the rest were in good spirits. He insisted on having his picture taken with the Santa hat. I asked him if he was okay with me posting his picture, and he said “Yes, who knows, maybe my family in Mexico will see it.”
You can view Chris’s set, “Faces of Addiction”, by clicking here.
From The New York Shitty Photo Pool, Part II: Nicky, Vanessa & Alice
Chris Arnade (who took the above photograph) writes:
Nicky, from Baltimore, is now homeless and a heroin addict. She was standing on the same busy street corner as her two friends Vanessa and Mary Alice, waiting for the guys buying liquor on the way home from work.
Prostitution gets the attention, but most of these women are driven by their addiction. I have found almost every one of the heroin addicts to be thoughtful, empathetic, and too trusting, holding huge emotional pain they are looking to numb.
Nicky, when asked how she wanted to be described said, “don’t judge me till you get to know me! That holds for all of us girls out here.”
From The New York Shitty Photo Pool, Part I: Brother
Chris Arnade (who took the above photograph) writes:
Brother owns Bodegas, multiple apartments, and many top flight pigeons. He also has the first in-apartment coop I have seen; a specially constructed sealed room filled with birds who come and go through vents in the windows.
Brother, funny, charismatic and smart, went out of his way to show me around, a gracious host. I struggled to capture the scene, a stark but yet well lived in apartment with a pool table, scattered liquor bottles and a massive sealed room filled with prized pigeons.
From The New York Shitty Photo Pool: Seasons Greetings From The Bronx
Chris Arnade (who took the above photograph) writes:
The weather has been warm, work anything but jolly, so I was happy to find some holiday cheer in the Bronx. This plot of land, complete with a club house and chickens, is hemmed in by the surrounding apartment complexes. Its the tree fort for the block, with Pigeon guys on the roofs above and a classic bike club across the street.
Raoul, a bike nut, helped with the Xmas tree. My favorite decoration, the skeleton, was his contribution. I love Christmas, especially in New York, a city that gives everything a unique spin.
From The New York Shitty Photo Pool: Jamie & Mimi
Chris Arnade (who took the above photograph) writes:
In the interstate jumble where the Bruckner, Major Deegan, and Robert F Kennedy Bridge come together, there is a middle triangle, filled with construction detritus, that also houses a few homeless people. James “Dragon” lives under an exit ramp with his cat Mimi, a hard to access space that he keeps tidy. He earns money collecting cans and bottles. I asked him if he needed anything, he asked for some winter blankets, which I hope to bring next time.
From The New York Shitty Photo Pool, Part II: All-America City
Chris Arnade (who took the above photograph) writes:
At the extreme southern tip of Soundview is a small collection of bungalows, old summer homes across the LI sound from Laguardia. Its a cultural mashup, a New England coastal village mixed with the Bronx.
This occupied the field across from Maples house, directly on the water. The bumper car on top? Her son used to work at Coney Island Amusement park.
NYS Flickr Pool
