About the Author
James Boorstein moved to NYC in the Spring of 1977 after giving up on finding a live/work space, up the Hudson River where he wanted to live. With rural living out, he decided Manhattan was the place; there was a lot to choose from then as there is again in late 2020.
Boorstein wanted to spend one year, to see if he could learn something about the art world. Since signing a two-year commercial lease for a raw ground floor space in Chelsea, he has seen the Hudson river rise over its banks reaching frighteningly far into the city’s grid. He has bid on in rem buildings, walked around the very edge of the island, watched arson, then gentrification move from one area to the next in an unstoppable wave.
He has been held up and gun point, grown vegetables, showered with hose for months in the neighbor’s backyard. He made a lot in the studio, learned to write, traveled a bit, started and ran a business. He watched fancy restaurants move downtown, watched hardware stores, machine shops and nearly all remaining industry fold up. He has biked on nearly every street, been beaten up by the cops, arrested and along the way observed many small acts of kindness.