Highlighting a Gay Superhero
and seeing some art on a hot ass day
How are you all liking the new newsletter format? Sure there’s a bit less overall stuff, but I get to ramble way more! I’m really enjoying being able to write more in depth about topics and this format also seems much more sustainable to me. As a reminder, I removed all paywalls but left a paid tier option for folks who just like the shit I write and want to throw me a couple bones. I’m also happy to help paid subscribers plan a fun day in NYC - restaurants, activities, I gotchu!
I’m very happy that I managed to pick a slightly less sweltering day last week to drive upstate to hike part of the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail. We started at the New Croton Dam at the top and hiked south about 4 miles. The stretch we did was pretty unremarkable tbh and largely winded through people’s backyards. I’ve heard the section closer to Sleepy Hollow has a little more zhuzh to it, so I may go back for round 2 when this heat breaks.
In this issue I wrote about Stormé DeLarverie, a LGBTQ icon and activist that I don’t see mentioned nearly enough. Last week I also had a double museum day (the best way to spend a hot ass day) and this week you’ll get to hear about my less favorite of the two museums I visited. Any guesses as to what my favorite museum might have been?
Stormé DeLarverie has perhaps the fanciest and coolest name I have ever heard. She was born in New Orleans in 1920; her mother was African American who worked as a servant in her White father's household. Despite being born under less than ideal circumstances, Stormé father moved the family to California and she was lucky to be fairly well educated there. However, she spent much of her childhood being bullied due to her biracial and androgynous appearance. Stormé was a lesbian and eventually hit the road performing as a drag king - she would dress in tailored suits and could pull off looking Black, White, feminine, or masculine - and was very much a pioneer for what we might now identify as non-binary.
She eventually got the fuck outta dodge and toured with the Jewel Box Revue from 1955-1969; they were North American's first racially integrated drag troupe. During shows, audience members would try to guess who the "one girl" was and at the end Stormé would reveal herself as a woman. Her time in the Revue inspired a documentary by filmmaker Michelle Parkerson, Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box. The troupe frequently performed at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem and Stormé eventually stuck around in NYC and would live at the Hotel Chelsea for decades. She would live there amongst other artists and writers and was quite a good singer herself.
Though the exact nature of Stormé’s participation at The Stonewall Riots is up for debate, there’s no question that she was an active participant in the uprising that night in 1969. Some say she’s the person who threw the first brick that night and others say she spurred the crowd on when she yelled "Why don't you guys do something?" while police tried to haul her into their wagon. Stormé claimed that she threw the first punch that night but she wouldn't describe the scene as a riot: "It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience – it wasn't no damn riot."
From then on, Stormé was a crucial member of the Gay Liberation movement in NYC. She was a member of the Stonewall Veterans' Association, eventually holding the title of Vice President from 1998-2000. She was a regular at Pride Marches and through the 80's & 90's she was a bouncer at various lesbian clubs in NY. She could regularly be seen patrolling 7th and 8th aves like a “gay superhero.” From the NYT:
Tall, androgynous and armed — she held a state gun permit — Ms. DeLarverie roamed lower Seventh and Eighth Avenues and points between into her 80s, patrolling the sidewalks and checking in at lesbian bars. She was on the lookout for what she called “ugliness”: any form of intolerance, bullying or abuse of her “baby girls.”
Sadly, Stormé suffered from dementia in her old age & lost many of her memories, but she was always able to recall details from the night of the Stonewall Riots and other significant moments of her activism. My grandma suffered from dementia and the memories that stuck around for her were also the ones tied to strong emotions; it’s a small consolation offered by a nasty fucking disease. She passed away at the age of 93 in 2014 at a nursing home in Brooklyn, alone and largely unknown by today’s activists.
Once, when Stormé was asked why she chose to spend her life supporting LGBTQ causes, she replied "Somebody has to care. People say, 'Why do you still do that?' I said, "It's very simple. If people didn't care about me when I was growing up, with my mother being black, raised in the south, I wouldn't be here." Iconic.
A while back one reader recommended checking out The Whitney’s Biennial exhibit. I’ve somehow never been to The Whitney and wandering around an air conditioned building sounded like absolute heaven in the 90 degree heat. The building is located at the south end of the High Line, so when it’s not hotter than hell outside you can easily double up on activities and get some fresh air after your art fix. Admission to The Whitney is $30 for adults and I couldn’t find any way to get free or discounted tickets.
I’m generally not a big fan of contemporary art and I’m sad to say that the collections at The Whitney didn’t do too much to change my mind. The theme for this year’s Biennial is Even Better Than the Real Thing, “acknowledging that Artificial Intelligence is complicating our understanding of what is real, and rhetoric around gender and authenticity is being used politically and legally to perpetuate transphobia and restrict bodily autonomy.” The exhibit contains works by artists in multiple mediums that explores this theme. Some felt more on theme than others, but art is art and who am I to judge.
One exhibit I really liked was the above by Pippa Garner. Pippa is a transgender woman who worked in writing and illustration; her first book was full of satirical consumer inventions (like the above). One day she began a process she refers to as “genderhacking,” describing it as an “aha” moment of inspiration, she explains, “I never felt born in the wrong body,” but was instead struck by the idea of toying with gender norms and using her own body as an art form. I thought that concept was really cool and I also really loved all of the goofy “inventions” her art proposed. The whole exhibit was like three big ass walls of cool doodle inventions!
There was also a series of neon signs that are set up against a window that overlooks NY’s newest beach (the beach is a joke lol). All three of them contain messages that encourage viewers to stop envisioning worsening, apocalyptic conditions and to instead “pursue + predict + imagine routes toward liberation.” I found this to be a super interesting way to examine some of the stories that we tell. Think about some popular movies or books - Hunger Games, Civil War, Furiosa, Dune - they’re all post-apocalyptic or nihilist at best. Why do we keep imagining dark shit? Are we not even capable of imagining a better future for ourselves? While researching after my visit, I also found out that the letters flicker and occasionally spell the message “Free Palestine.” I love it.
I think I liked The Whitney’s permanent exhibits better than most of the Biennial. Man Ray’s surrealist art was very Dali-esque. I love Edward Hopper’s stuff and I wish I took a picture of the portrait he made of his wife. And apparently Wanda Gag wrote a delightful book called Millions of Cats, which just so happens to be on the book shelf at the home I’m cat sitting in. What a weird coincidence!
If you visit the museum, be sure to bring quarters to grab a mystery print from Ana Inciardi’s print machine in the gift shop. Which one do you think I ended up with?
I know I know, I never post same day events, but this one looks cool! Cool Sips (teehee) is opening at the Seaport today and having a grand opening shindig from 4-6pm. They’ll have a wheel you can spin for prizes! As someone who doesn’t drink, I love anyplace that has tasty n/a sodas for me to sip on.
I still haven’t had time to check out Chef Trinidad’s new Italian place Marie’s in Bushwick yet. On July 2 (and the first Tuesday of every month) they’re offering FREE PASTA. This is not a drill, you can get free pasta the first Tuesday of each month at Marie’s - 5pm til they run out.
Maybe you’ve heard about the Nathan’s/Joey Chestnut Beef and are thinking about skipping this year’s hot dog eating contest? Well lucky for you Father Knows Best in Bushwick is hosting their own Glizzy Games on July 6. Think you have it in you to be the Glizzy Godfather?
I feel like Smorgasburg has been pretty meh lately, but if you’re still down with the smorg you may want to check out their new location at The Shed. It’ll be open every Wed/Thu through August and feature 20 vendors each day. Great if you like spending $$$ on lunch and work in the area!
I didn’t attend the Mermaid Parade because it was sweltering and I don’t do well in crowds. But y’all - Brooklyn fucking showed up! The commitment to being covered in faux fish netting and body paint is goddam inspiring. Check out some pictures from the event here.
If you don’t mind crowds, maybe you’d be interested in attending Spike Lee’s Block Party on June 30. It’ll celebrate the 35th Anniversary f Do The Right Thing With on the same block the film was shot on in Bed-Stuy.
Y’all, if the summer heat wasn’t bad enough now we’ve got armed robbers hitting up restaurants during normal ass eating hours??? Carbone, Marlow and Sons, and most recently Birds of a Feather were hit. Can a girl just eat some pasta in peace?
