Neither more nor less

Anthony with Nazi party card
Lawrence's treatise on sperm and other things
Richie with upside- down flag . Loanshark Bob in bacground
Commie John attempting to burn a flag
Mumia organizing committee
Salute to William Kunstler
Above : Richie with bomb. Below : Trilateral commission protest
As we all know cities change and neighborhoods change ; sometimes for the better , sometimes for the worse. The piece of filthy , stained and cluttered sidewalk and the kind of folks that have gathered on it in front of Ray's Candy Store certainly has not been an exception . This special stretch of sidewalk , still filthy and cluttered , which was once a political hotbed has changed considerably and today shows little sign of any political expression .There is still loud crazieness and certainly much drunkeness and drugs but not much is said political . This was not the case as the pictures above , from 5 to 10 years ago, show .This little place was a forum in the classical sense , hosting almost everyday ,at least in warm weather , a demonstration of something .Regularly someone was expressing a particular political affiliation or treatise for any passer-by that would listen . But for an occasional cop or two , free speach was the rule . Pretty much all of the extreme gamut of political alternatives was proselytized ,no matter how strange , radical , rediculous or offensive .One night I actually witnessed some of the local communists and Nazis drinking 40 oz. Buds together ,shaking hands , strangely reprising the Hitler/ Stalin comradeship. But people were not always freindly and they often argued and even fought physically over their differences . Those participating in this forum frequently drank,often buying illegally their 40 oz. Buds from un-licensed Ray's , with the drinking usually making the confrontations and resulting conflict all the more intense .