Neither more nor less

The guard at the gate said no : the party walked in .Though the staff was likely a bit confused and uncertain , at the beginning  it seemed welcoming as Penley's party made its way under the bright lights to the the central portion of the BMW Guggenheim Lab. During most of the event  staff members sat or stood quietly on the perimeter of the action , some photographing and videoing the party members .We attempted to speak with a few staff members and were told that they had been told not to speak with us .Later these staff members , clearly conflicted  ,did talk about what was happening and how they felt about it all .Seems that they had anticipated this event .They certainly had reason to anticipate , Mr. Penley had previously told them that he was bringing a street party to the Lab.

The same folks that speak out at the corner 7th Street and avenue A to the wreak of bum piss , passed out drunks and  nodding junkies were at the BMW Guggenheim Lab Saturday night  under the bright lights of an utterly sterile stage .Their message was nothing new ,the same messengers too delivering it not to the passing souls on avenue A , but to the Guggenheim staff .

Top billed L.E.S. Jewels made his entrance with his entourage from the opposite end of the Gug Lab .He spoke a poem written for the evening . Amazingly sober and with his pants on he comported himself honorably as one of the main acts of the evening .

The few truly tense moments occurred when Mr. Penley refused a request  from staff members to not smoke . Mr. Penley taunting , challenged a staff member to call the police , opening a hard pack of Marlboroughs and offering cigarettes to other members of the party  . Several lit up and smoke  dramatically curled around in the bright stage lighting .Reasonably the Gug staff seemed not to want cops and the press attention  that their presence would bring . Mr. Penley also introduced a masked member of the group "Annonymous" noting that perhaps BMW and the Guggenheim might be next on the hackers list .

What did this party at the Gug Lab matter ? As we've noted nothing was said  that hasn't been shouted out many times at the entrance to Tompkins Square Park . Some stood Saturday night to power and wealth? Whatever it is that was accomplished its likely as significant as the usual intellectualized drivel that oozes from think tanks .

  

Around 9:45 PM the street party left the BMW Guggenheim Lab for the old Mars Bar. Mars Bar is no longer with us but there is still the sidewalk . Inside the old bar there was some old wine too .Purloined , this wine became the liquid faire of the evening . Ending the party with a revolutionary fervor in a fine drizzle with bad wine , really bad wine  seemed fitting .

A couple of guys argued a bit , a fire extinguisher was tossed aggressively . Folks continued to drink , Jewels urinated . When the wine was consumed folks left , some heading to Ray's. Jewels and Penley made it to Ray's  but Jewels quickly passed out in a familiar doorway . Lucy expressed herself and the "Let 'Em Eat Cake /Eat the Rich/No Comfort Zone  street party was finished .



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He said that he had found the plastic container a few minutes earlier on Avenue A. He noted that his fortuitous discovery was indeed most utilitarian . He intended to use the plastic pickled ginger container as a portable stool this afternoon at the Riot Reunion in Tompkins Square Park .He also enthusiastically volunteered that if drinking all those Reunion beers and later all the free beers at the "Let 'Em eat Cake /Eat the Rich/No Comfort Zone"  street party at the BMW Guggenheim Lab created a need , he would use the covered  container as a portable toilet .




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A group of 20 or so  gathered Saturday night just in from the corner of 2nd Avenue and 3rd street . A familiar group that's been seen many a desperate Saturday evening at the 7th street and Avenue A entrance to Tompkins Square Park . A mix of aging  Yippies , Slaktivists,Communists , anarchists and assorted others .Posters were made , folks socialized and then moved 2 doors east and effected a small anti-gentrification ritual in front of the Economakis Mansion . John Penley then led a march to the BMW Guggenhein Lab  a couple of blocks down 2nd Avenue .