The Lo-Down Culture Cast

Host Traven Rice speaks with Leah Dixon, an artist and founder of Beverly's NYC, the artist-run bar and exhibition space which recently relocated to 297 Grand Street. Beverly's is an art world favorite that has been in the Lower East Side neighborhood since 2012. In spite of hurricanes and the disasters like the global pandemic, Leah and her community of creative collaborators have kept the space going. She told us about building everything in the bar herself, with a hand saw and lumber from the local shops in Chinatown, and how the boundaries between her own work as an artist and her work in the service industry have evaporated.

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."  

We spoke with Roxy Hunt, Co-Founder of The Lower East Side Film Festival (LESFF), for this week's episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. Roxy talked with host Traven Rice about the festival's beginning, founded in 2011 in an interactive storefront, and how they have continued to engage devoted movie fans by creating unique live experiences and surprising programming for the last 14 years. The festival features the innovative work of creative, up-and-coming filmmakers, and showcases those low budget, independent films. They offer a week of curated films, panels and parties "with a focus on diversity, originality, quality, and impact." And they always find new ways to celebrate counter culture spirit. The team's production company, BFD Productions, recently launched the Stay Indie Project as a way to connect visionary independent filmmakers with development, financing, and production support. Their first cohort includes four narrative feature projects and two documentaries, all at various stages of development and production. Learn more about the festival and get tickets here. If you know local "culture changers" that you think deserve to be spotlighted on The Lo-Down Culture Cast, send us a note here: [email protected]

Host Traven Rice spoke with Hester Street Fair's manager and producer Janine Ciccone for this week’s episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. Hester Street Fair kicks off its 15th year next weekend down at the Seaport. Formerly located at Seward Park on Hester Street, off Essex Street, it moved to the Seaport four years ago after losing their lease.  It's been an incredible incubator for small business over the years and The Lo-Down has featured many of the vendors that have successful "brick and mortar" shops in the neighborhood today. Some of the creative food, fashion and art makers that started at the fair include, Melt Bakery, Cheeky’s, Kopitiam, Round K, Petee’s Pie, Party Bus Bake Shop, La New Yorkina. In a preview of what's ahead, they write: "As always, the 2024 season will offer visitors a world of creativity, craftsmanship, and culinary delights. Visit veteran vendors like Hanzawa Market and Red River Vintage for a trove of vintage treasures, or indulge yourself with exquisite handcrafted jewelry from Mottive and Eden’s Harvest. Turn up the heat with Cantina Royal Hot Sauce, or turn down the mood with The Mantel NYC’s signature candles. And discover goods from a lineup of new vendors this year like ceramics from Dune Brooklyn, beauty products from Clear Morning Wellness, and brownie delights from Snack Lab BK. And to our beloved food enthusiasts: indulge in a culinary voyage from the savory delights ofTacos El Guero to Brooklyn’s own Big Mozz, who will make their triumphant return in a newly revamped food truck. For cheese connoisseurs, Sunday is your day to cruise by Coluccio Cooks for a taste of Southern Italy with their Caciocavallo Impiccato — a delicacy dating back centuries. If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing gooey, soft cheese suspended over a grill, be sure not to miss."

Host Traven Rice spoke with Author-Illustrator Ellen Weinstein for this week's episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. Ellen's vibrant picture book, Five Stories (for children and adults alike) is being released this month. The story features five children, from five different cultures (Russian, Italian, Dominican, Puerto Rican and Chinese) through five different decades, who grow up in the same tenement building on the Lower East Side of New York City. Ellen is a third-generation resident of the LES, and the story begins with her grandmother and continues to the present. Her grandparents and great-grandparents came to the Lower East Side as part of the Great Wave of Immigration from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. She writes: "Research for this book was conducted over eighteen months, during which time I met with and interviewed historians, curators, and librarians at the Tenement Museum, Eldridge Street Synagogue, Henry Street Settlement, Seward Park Library, and the principals and students at Public School 1 and Public School 42. I asked my neighbors and friends about their stories of migration and the stories of their parents and grandparents. While listening to all these different stories, I found they had much in common." The book is a love letter to the neighborhood and a poignant depiction of the diverse cultural heritage that continues to make the Lower East Side such a fascinating place.  

Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, PhD, is the Abbot and co-founder of The Village Zendo, a contemporary Zen center based in downtown Manhattan. A Soto Zen priest and modern day American Zen Teacher, O'Hara integrates traditional meditation and koan practice with social engagement and peacemaking.  A Founding Teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order, she taught for many years at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, centering on new media technologies, media ecology and social justice. Her focus is on the expression of Zen through caring, service, and creative response. (Host Traven Rice has studied formally with O'Hara for many years.) Roshi O’Hara’s writing has appeared in Tricycle, Lion's Roar, Shambhala Sun, Buddhadharma and other Buddhist journals, as well as her books, Most Intimate, A Zen Approach to Life’s Challenges and A Little Bit of Zen. Her numerous talks can be found on YouTube here. She was an early pioneer in the field of teaching Zen - and Engaged Buddhism - in America. Today she continues to encourage practitioners from all walks of life to incorporate social action, compassionate care-taking and creative expression into their daily practice.

This week on The Lo-Down Culture Cast we spoke the trio behind the new documentary, Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World. Filmmaker Michael Fiore, who wrote, directed and produced the film, joined host Traven Rice, along with Tom and Jason Birchard, the 2nd and 3rd generation owners of Veselka, the restaurant, to talk about the experience of making the film right as the Ukrainian war broke out. The restaurant has been around for 70 years on 2nd Avenue and E. 9th Street and has been a refuge for Ukrainian immigrants, not to mention generations of New Yorkers living downtown, since it's beginning.  As a neighborhood hub focused on community and refugees, we also talked about what it's been like to keep the business running during these tumultuous times.  

This week on the Culture Cast we spoke with Steven Matrick, Co-Founder of The New Colossus Festival, which is happening at eight different venues on the Lower East Side from March 6 - 10. Over 130 bands from all over the world will be playing at Arlene's Grocery, Pianos, Rockwood Music Hall, Mercury Lounge, Heaven Can Wait, Berlin and Baker Falls. The festival was started in 2019 in an effort to bring live indie music back to the Lower East Side. Steven manages the band A Place to Bury Strangers and recently started his own label, Dedstrange. We talked about the challenges of surviving as an indie rock band in the post-pandemic era, and in the new "Spotify-social media-landscape," as well as what new creative models for musicians might look like and we got a preview of some of the lineups he's most excited about at this year's festival. You can listen to the 2024 Festival Playlist here.

An assemblage piece in Bonnie Lucas' exhibit, "Small Worlds," currently showing at Trotter&Sholer (168 Suffolk St.) This week we spoke with artist Bonnie Lucas, who currently has a show at the gallery Trotter&Sholer on Suffolk Street. Bonnie has been creating intricate assemblages, collages, drawings and paintings that deconstruct the cliches of girlhood for the past five decades.  We first met Bonnie in the early days of The Lo-Down (in 2011!) when she had a show that caught our interest at Esopus Gallery.  Her work is described by Trotter&Sholer as being "focused on feminine themes: domesticity, identity, and childhood. She dismantles feminine objects and reassembles them to new configurations of art." The imagery and stories she creates with found objects and material she scavenges from dollar stores seem sweet and child-like at first glance, but upon closer examination reveal the disturbing and often violent experience of girlhood in our American culture. You can see more of her work on her Instagram page here. Small Worlds is on view at 168 Suffolk St. through March 2nd, 2024.

Kicking off our next series of interviews with culture changers in downtown New York is our conversation with gallery Founder and Director Hannah Traore. She's an up and comer in the NY art and fashion scene who's been widely recognized for taking "old guard" gallery owners to task, especially when it comes to artist representation. Host Traven Rice spoke with her about putting down roots in the neighborhood, becoming involved in the community and what she looks for when deciding to feature boundary-pushing artists in her space on Orchard Street. One of Hannah's early shows, "Beghairati Ki Nishaani: Traces of Shamelessness, a solo exhibition of work by Misha Japanwala," featured a bold new collection of the young Pakistani artist's breast plates and custom nipple moldings. Japanwala molds the body to create casts that are worn as sculptural garments, and notes that her "practice is an insistence for marginalized bodies to occupy physical space, emphasizing the notion that our bodies shouldn’t need to prove anything other than being allowed to simply exist." Hannah's most recent show, "Chella Man: It Doesn't Have to Makes Sense," features the 25-year old deaf, trans, bi-cultural artist, Chella Man, and was his first solo show in New York. Hannah Traore Gallery, located at 150 Orchard Street, opened just over two years ago. It is a space "committed to advocating for and celebrating artists who have been  historically marginalized from the mainstream narrative. Whether underrepresented, overlooked, or  exploited, HTG is building a path forward to share their extraordinary visions with the world."  Born and raised in Toronto, Hannah Traore developed an affinity for art and an appreciation for diverse  perspectives from a young age. Her mother, an art collector and fiber artist, infused art into every part of  her life while her father, a Malian immigrant, immersed her in his culture, which introduced her to issues of representation in the art world  and beyond. Hannah was recently included in the 2023 "Forbes 30 under 30" list in Art & Style and Apollo Magazine’s 2023 "40 under 40" USA list. 

Host Traven Rice speaks with Niki Russ Federman for episode 11 of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. She's the 4th generation co-owner of the esteemed appetizing shop, Russ & Daughters. Known for the best bagels, lox, herring, caviar babka and other traditional baked goods and smoked fish in New York City, the landmark shop has been in the same location at 179 East Houston Street since 1914. Russ & Daughters was the first small business in the country to add "& Daughters" to its name and ownership. Federman and her cousin, Josh Russ Tupper, took over the family business in 2009. They opened their first-ever sit-down cafe in 2014 and have now expanded to Brooklyn and the west side of Manhattan. Rice and Federman discussed what it takes to turn an established shop, that was once considered common place, into what is now known as an iconic destination on the Lower East Side.

Host Traven Rice speaks with tattoo artist and historian Michelle Myles. Michelle started tattooing on the Lower East Side in the early 1990's, before it was legal. She opened Daredevil Tattoo in 1997 with her business partner, Brad Fink. Michelle was one of the first female tattoo artists around. Brad has always been a collector. They ended up with so many interesting historical tattoo artifacts on hand, they created The Daredevil Tattoo Museum, which features artifacts amassed over the last 30+ years of tattooing. Tattoo flash, machines, and ephemera from the early roots of modern tattooing, which was established by sailors on the Bowery in the 1800's. The shop is located on the border of the historic Lower East Side and Chinatown just a few blocks east of the Bowery and Chatham Square where O'Reilly, Charlie Wagner, Millie Hull and other legendary tattoo artists plied their trade. The museum is part of the tattoo shop and is viewable during regular business hours. Michelle is now a licensed New York City tour guide and regularly hosts tattoo history walking tours of the Bowery which can be booked online through Airbnb experiences.

This week we spoke to Orchard Street Runners Founder, Joe DiNoto.  DiNoto created a weekly running group that has blossomed into an organization that is known globally for its creative, high intensity, late night (threshold pace) races that take place on the live streets of NYC. A born and raised New Yorker, Joe DiNoto founded Orchard Street Runners after a successful yet unfulfilling career in architecture. Growing up, Joe spent his spare time helping his Dad out on his bread route, playing basketball, oil painting, and drawing.  Today, his passion for running, design, and knack for bringing people together has enabled him to create a culture-driving NYC running community that emulates both the grit and energy of the city. Entering OSR’s twelfth year, Joe’s creativity and background continues to permeate everything he does, and has led to a series of world-renowned, unsanctioned running races. 

Host Traven Rice speaks with Whitney Browne, an experimental and commercial photographer whose work explores themes of movement and gesture as reflections of mental states. Best known for her involvement in the dance community, she currently works in New York City and Los Angeles. She has spent the last decade developing her own experimental movement photography methods, working to build a visual language between photography and performance. Browne joins host Traven Rice to talk about witnessing modern dance master Paul Taylor working with his dance troupe during the last years of his life, her many hours spent working with and documenting Ray and the people at Ray's Candy Shop in the East Village (which is now a book of portraits ready for a publisher) and photographing her own family, capturing them in the midst of movement - her grandmother, mother and sister are all dancers.  

MM Serra joins host Traven Rice to talk about her career as an avant garde and experimental filmmaker. Serra has been based on the Lower East Side for over three decades. She is also an author, curator, and professor at Parsons at the New School. For 32 years, she was the Executive Director of the Film-Makers’ Cooperative, the world’s oldest and largest archive of independent film. Serra has created over 34 films, and her first five films were preserved and digitized by Anthology Film Archives. In Fall 2010, Serra co-curated, Counter Culture, Counter Cinema: An Avant Garde Film Festival, a seven program, three day event at the Pacific Design Center with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. In 2007 - 2008, Serra was the curator of a six-part experimental film series titled “Cinema of the Unusual” at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center.  Her film, Chop Off,premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and the Museum of Modern Art’s Documentary Fortnight Series in 2009.  In 2021, her films were screened at various international festivals and venues, including a retrospective entitled MM Serra: Portraits curated by Devon Narine-Singh.

Host Traven Rice speaks with the folks from Nonhuman Teachers, a new non-profit that takes a creative approach to ecological storytelling.  Executive Director Christian Cummings, Events Coordinator Joey Valley and Board Director Sandeep Rangi spoke with host Traven Rice about the newly formed project that aims to help deepen the relationship between humans and the natural world. The non-profit sprang out of their creative studio and Cactus Store based in LA. They opened an east coast Cactus Store here in the Lower East Side, which includes a seasonal greenhouse and gathering space at 5 Essex, next to the old Schames Paint Store, a few years ago. Their events are always surprising and experiential, and the programming engages a wide array of people by offering creative ways to talk about ecology.

Host Traven Rice speaks with Yin Kong, Director and Co-founder of Think!Chinatown. Yin is a community-based designer and curator living and working in Manhattan's Chinatown. Think!Chinatown is the culmination of her work in urban design, museum, culinary & cultural instruction, and community engagement.  Think!Chinatown is an intergenerational non-profit based in Manhattan’s Chinatown, working at the intersection of storytelling, arts & neighborhood engagement. Kong talked about different ways to envision the future of Chinatown, the upcoming Chinatown Arts Festival and expansive ways to hold space in the midst of rapid neighborhood change.

Host Traven Rice speaks with Alex Knowlton, Director of Joe's Pub at The Public. Joe’s Pub is an eclectic downtown cabaret space that was named for Public Theater founder Joseph Papp. Since it opened in 1998, Joe’s Pub has been supporting an array of artists at different stages of their careers, offering an intimate space to perform and develop new work. They present a wide variety of live music, comedy and performance nightly. Knowlton was named Director in 2018, after being part of the Joe's Pub team since 2009.

Host Traven Rice speaks with photographer Destiny Mata for the latest episode of The Lo-Down Culture Cast. Mata is a rising star who grew up in the neighborhood. She is a Mexican American photographer and filmmaker who focuses on issues of subculture and community. After studying photojournalism at LaGuardia Community College and San Antonio College, she spent 2 years as Director of Photography Programs at the Lower East Side Girls Club. Mata and has had work published and featured in The New York Times, The Nation, VICE, The Culture Crush, and Teen Vogue. She recently led the LES : Free Film initiative, which we featured here.  It was a monthlong project offering free roles of film to local residents and students in the area. People interested in documenting their neighborhood were encouraged to pick up a free role of film distributed at an “Airstream-darkroom” parked outside the Lower Eastside Girl’s club this past spring.  Mata also has an exhibition up on the fences at the Martin Luther King Jr. Garden as part of Photoville 2023. (In)Visible Guides connected her with residents of a Lower East Side shelter for domestic violence survivors to explore notions of memory, safety, and loss. The exhibition features photography taken by shelter residents. Be sure to check out her work on Instagram here.

Host Traven Rice speaks with artist and documentarian Clayton Patterson. Patterson has been living and working on the Lower East Side since 1979. He's known for his portraits of the wide array of people representing the street culture of the LES in front of his front door on Essex Street as well as his rebellious designs for what became known as the "Clayton Cap," which he created with his long-time partner, Elsa. Clayton is a street photographer who has always been interested documenting outsiders, renegades, activists and people creating art on the fringes of the cultural mainstream. The New Yorker has dubbed him "The Lower East Side's Folk Historian." For a photo exhibit called “Clayton Patterson: L.E.S. Captured” in 2009, Clayton told the New York Times, “I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was capturing the last of the wild, free, outlaw, utopian, visionary spirit of the Lower East Side.”

Host Traven Rice kicks off The Lo-Down Culture Cast with a conversation with gallery owner Natalie Kates. She's the founder of Style Curator, Inc. and co-founder of Kates-Ferri Projects. An early supporter of urban art, Natalie has established herself as a leader in discovering and promoting emerging artists.  She has curated numerous exhibitions and site-specific art installations, developed close relations with artists, galleries and museums and produced art events for both corporate and non-profit clients. In 2020 Natalie Kates, with her husband Fabrizio Ferri, launched Kates-Ferri Projects. A nomadic Artist Residency program committed to supporting and mentoring the next generation of creatives. Starting in 2022 KATES-FERRI PROJECTS opened their anchor location at 561 Grand Street, NYC, in the heart of the Lower East Side - a creative community that continues to serve as a cultural and artistic incubator. The Lo-Down NY is a local news site dedicated to covering news, events and – most significantly – the people who live and work in one of the world’s greatest neighborhoods, the Lower East Side.