Visit to 421 Broome Street Today

[Pipedream]

New York loves Heath Ledger;

New York Magazine loves Heath Ledger. I love that it does.

So, see below: New York Magazine's weekly map of visual "taste heirarchies," sometimes snarky, sometimes spot-on. Please note, Heath himself is placed in the upper-right quadrant, very high in "High Brow," and nearly on the edge of the border of "Brilliant." (Please scroll to the right if the image is cut off in the screen.)

Ordinarily this item would go in Bettermost "news" or "magazines," but because the photo is of the 421 Broome Street Memorial, I put it here. Kudos to NYMagazine for caring--it's like a bit of a memorial itself.

(By the way, Maggie Gyllenhaal is coincidentally put on the Matrix this week for performing a reading at Symphony Space. She is also in the Upper-Right Quadrant, of course. While you're looking, please note who and where you see on the LOWest and LEFTest Quadrant, in the corner of Lowbrow and Despicable. Guess Who.)



The Approval Matrix: Week of February 4, 2008


Our deliberately oversimplified guide to who falls where on our taste hierarchies.

Published Jan 27, 2008



http://nymag.com/arts/all/approvalmatrix/43297/

Wow. Even our little Nuremberg polar-bear Flocke made it on the list. So, together with Thomas Quasthoff, that makes two brilliant Germans. Lol.

 

[AngelaNicole]

I would like to thank you all that posted pictures from the memorium. They are so beautiful and I live in Tx, but if I could, I would definately make a trip there to see the memorium for myself. The pictures are so clear and really show how much Heath meant to a lot of people. I am happy but sad at the same time viewing the photos. It seems so REAL that he is gone now He will live on forever in our hearts though! RIP Heath we love you always. Oh and for now, does anyone know if the memorium is up again? It angers me that people would take it down, why would they do that?? xoxoAngela

[Fran]

Oh and for now, does anyone know if the memorium is up again? It angers me that people would take it down, why would they do that?? xoxoAngela

I suppose it's mainly to keep the memorial a manageable size.  They have to keep the sidewalks clear for the pedestrians, etc., and the entrance clear for the residents of the building.  As harsh as it sounds, life goes on in that neighborhood even though many people are still mourning.

I would like to believe that someone is collecting the written messages, the cards, and drawings that have been left and that they will eventually reach Heath's family.  I don't know what the weather in NYC has been, but if the paper messages were left out in the rain or snow for a long period of time, they would be ruined, so maybe it's good that they are (hopefully) being collected each night.

[David In Indy]

I should hope they will forward these items to Heath's family. Since the flowers, cards, paintings etc were left to Heath (and in most cases his name was prominently written on each item) they are in fact the property of Heath. And since Heath is no longer with us, they become the property of his immediate family.

Am I wrong? I don't profess a knowledge in legal matters, but what little I do understand causes me to feel each and every single item placed in that area should be forwarded to Australia. I sure do hope so anyway.

[souxi]

I should hope they will forward these items to Heath's family. Since the flowers, cards, paintings etc were left to Heath (and in most cases his name was prominently written on each item) they are in fact the property of Heath. And since Heath is no longer with us, they become the property of his immediate family.

Am I wrong? I don't profess a knowledge in legal matters, but what little I do understand causes me to feel each and every single item placed in that area should be forwarded to Australia. I sure do hope so anyway.

Yes I agree. I shouldn,t think they would just throw them away would they? I,m sure they,d send all the cards/pictures etc to Heaths family. I would hope it would give them some comfort to know just how much he was loved, and how much people respected him. I still can,t get my head round this. It,s just too bloody awful isn,t it. 
Is there any word on how Jake is doing? Poor Jake.
That statment from Michelle broke my heart too.

[MaineWriter]

I remember reading an article once about tributes left at the Vietnam Memorial (the Wall) in Washington DC. It is cleared up nightly and everything is kept. They have some process for releasing objects to family members if a specific soldier is named on the tribute.

Kim Ledger (Heath's dad) visited the building the other day so I am sure he is aware of the tributes. I hope in my heart of hearts that he met with the superintendent to discuss the disposition of various objects. I don't think he would necessarily want/need to keep dead flowers or papers ruined by the weather but I would hope that he'd find a way to have many of the tributes returned to Australia and kept there.

My 2 cents.

L

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

421 Broome Street, February 1-3, 2008

No Memorial at all this weekend, alas.

Today, Sunday, there were people photographing the building (see below).

Weirdest coincidental thing--walking East along the North side of Broome, just West of Broadway, who should I see but Rufus Sewell of A Knight's Tale, and now the star of Tom Stoppard's play, Rock'n'Roll, at Lincoln Center, here in New York. It was just after 1:00 PM, today. Mr. Sewell was walking along in conversation with a friend, and I'm not that good yet with the camera (well, cellphone, let's be truthful), but, even so--I don't ever want to play paparazzo....

So, no photo of that, but it's interesting never-the-less.

I will post photos of a Broome Street Walkabout later.



421 Broome Street, February 1, 2008, 2:00 PM




421 Broome Street, February 2, 2008, 12:45 PM




421 Broome Street, February 3, 2008, 12:45 PM




Photographers 1, February 3, 2008, 12:45 PM




Photographers 2, February 3, 2008, 1:15 PM

[cmr107]

I wish there were still more tributes, but as always, thank you so much for keeping us updated John. 

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

Thanks, Courtney, I will.

More photos later this evening.

In the meanwhile: 

http://imdb.com/name/nm0001722/bio

(I love Rufus Sewell--but I can now state--he is NOT 6'-0"--I am, and I was three feet away. Oh well, actors! Poetic license! Maybe I should now claim 6'-2"? I always wanted to be....)

Biography for
Rufus Sewell
Date of Birth
29 October 1967, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK


Birth Name
Rufus Frederick Sewell

Nickname
Roof

Height
6' (1.83 m)

Mini Biography

Rufus Sewell was born on the 29th of October 1967 in Twickenham, England. His father, Bill, was an Australian animator, who died when Rufus was 10. He has one brother, Caspar. He attended London's Central School of Speech and Drama and left in June of 1989 after completing three years of training. He made his London Stage debut in "Making It Better" for which he won the "Best Newcomer Award"; he also originated the role of Septimus Hodge in Tom Stoppards "Arcadia" and was nominated for an Oliver Award. On the Broadway stage, he debuted in "Translations" and received the Broadway Theater World Award. His film work has been has been equally varied and acclaimed from the junkie in Twenty-One (1991), the sweet bus driver in A Man of No Importance (1994), and the volatile artist in Carrington (1995). The lustful son in Cold Comfort Farm (1995) (TV), the protagonist hounded Dostoevsky-like in Dark City (1998), the star-crossed suitor in Dangerous Beauty (1998), to the the bitter, acidic, alcoholic cokehead of Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence (1998), he has appeared in some of the most acclaimed theatre, film and television productions.

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

As promised, a 'Broome Street Walkabout' photo album to illustrate three more places Heath frequented, and which were mentioned in the following article (excerpts follow).



In SoHo, Heath Ledger was scruffy loner
THE DAILY NEWS, Thursday, January 24th 2008

Liz Bullis, sales manager of Gourmet Garage on Broome St., said she sometimes saw Ledger with his 2-year-old daughter, Matilda. He usually wore ragged jeans, an old jacket, brown boots and a stubbly chin, but when she spotted Ledger buying organic sausages and bagging his own groceries Monday, he'd cleaned up his act a bit.

"He's usually very scruffy, but he was clean shaven," Bullis said.



Gourmet Garage, 453 Broome Street (at Mercer)




Gourmet Garage on Broome Side




Gourmet Garage Corner Entry




Gourmet Garage Interior 1




Gourmet Garage Interior 2




Heath Liked Organic Sausages




I Bet Ennis Would Have Liked Them Too




The Mirô Cafe on Broadway was another Ledger haunt. Once again, the unfailingly polite young man gave no inkling he was somebody special.

"We were surprised, we never knew he was an actor," manager Max Barrsi said. "He was practically here all the time for coffee . . . always very nice with us."



Mirô Cafe, 474 Broadway (between Broome and Grand)




Mirô Cafe Board




Mirô Cafe Now Serving




At the Spring Street Natural Restaurant, a bartender who asked not to be identified said Ledger often came by in the evening for a drink, which he nursed at a table in the back. He didn't stand out in the crowd.

"We have a lot of celebrities here," he said.



Spring Street Natural Restaurant, 62 Spring Street (Entry on Lafayette)




Spring Street Natural Restaurant Sign Board




Spring Street Natural Restaurant Entry




Spring Street Natural Restaurant (The Daily Lunch Specials)




Spring Street Natural Restaurant (The Dinner Menu)




http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/01/24/2008-01-24_in_soho_heath_ledger_was_scruffy_loner.html


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