“One of the quirkiest spaces in Williamsburg is Holland Tunnel, on South Third Street, a front-runner for first place as the tiniest gallery in the metropolitan area.”—Roberta Smith, The New York Times November 6, 1998

Williamsburg pioneer Paulien Lethen, a Dutch artist, started the Holland Tunnel Gallery in 1997 in her newly installed 8 x 10 ft Home Depot garden shed. The mini art space rapidly gained recognition in the art world and became a neighborhood icon. On Nov 7, 8 and 9, Lethen and her sister Heleen Schuttevaêr will present their collaboration, the Holland Tunnel Gallery Book. It captures “the land of Holland Tunnel,” the extraordinary things that happened in the gallery over a period of 17 years, as the neighborhood changed from a rough area where artists were moving in — the New Bohemia — up until today’s hipster and developer paradise. The book includes 550 photos, all shows, events, introductions by art critic and curator Dominique Nahas and others, and much more.

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DATELINE: April 21, 2013, Brooklyn. REPORTER: Sarah Schmerler

It was much harder than I expected. I mean, I have nerve. And I have creative ideas. But reality did not cooperate with my over-active imagination of just what would happen on April 18th, official “Poem in Your Pocket Day.”

by 8:00AM:  I had already read a bawdy poem to the proprietor of my local coffee shop. He liked it. See?:

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Is there a poem in your heart? There’s always one in mine, but I never quite know how to get it out. Sometimes you’ll find me, standing on the street, staring out into the distance, trying to put some amalgamation of light and sound and air I’m feeling into words, but, alas. Someone always comes along and interrupts my reverie with a ridiculous question that they’re convinced passes for conversation.

“Hey, you look like you’re in a daze,” they’ll say, adding: “What are you thinking about right now?”

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The Book Thugs of North 3rd Street

Corey Eastwood tells the story of how Book Thug Nation got its name. He talks about a guy named Alan who sounds like the patron saint of book thug ilk: “This guy Alan is kind of the Don of the street booksellers. He’s one of the first guys who started out on West 4th Street — a great old character. He had a store in Park Slope called Last Exit Books. I’ve never been there but I bet it was a great store because he really knows his stuff.”

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By Suzanne Loebl

December First became “World AIDS Day” also called “A Day With(Out) Art,” in 1988. It was started by a New York art gallery owner, who wanted to honor members of the artistic community. AIDS was particularly prevalent in this population; the disease first targeted gay men in urban cultural centers, including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In the beginning, museums closed their doors, or mounted AIDS-related art shows. The familiar red ribbons, standing for charity, unity, compassion, and determination, made their debut. From its inception, Worlds AIDS day has created an annual theme, 2011’s being  “Getting to Zero” (new infections).

We are far from attaining this goal. In 1985, 12,000 Americans had AIDS, and 7,000 died that year. By 2009, 3.3 million were infected worldwide and 25 million had died. Today, in Brooklyn alone, 25,000 people are HIV+. With adequate treatment, many will survive, but AIDS drugs are very costly, and have many serious side effects.

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