Marty After Dark - Almost Live...From New York

Entries in Salsa y Salsa (1)

Saturday

Jul022011

July 2, 2011

I was going to meet MAD commenter Jason Hwang tonight, but he bailed on me at the last minute because he’s super busy this weekend. The reason he’s so frantic is that he’s moving to France this Sunday to be with his wife, the infamous, Zioum Zioum. I know how it goes to uproot yourself and how at the last minute there’s a billion things to do. It was that way when I moved here and I can’t imagine what it’s like getting ready to move to a new country. Anyway, I just want to take a second and wish them both the best of luck and please keep in touch!

Alright, since I have no plans and it’s the start of a holiday weekend, I thought I’d just shoot some pictures on my way home and maybe stop and have a drink somewhere. No plans, just my camera, my feets and a somewhat powerful thirst! Let's go wandering.

And we're off, we'll travel down 7th Avenue in search of something to do and more importantly, something to drink.

Look at this, a few blocks into the journey and I've stumbled upon a brand new deli on the block called the Green Tomato. Let's check it out.

It's nice and streamlined in here and I can guarantee you there's beer in those coolers.

There's lots of wooden tables in here and the gentlemen behind the counter told me it's open 24 hours. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Fortress of Solitude number three! I think I'll sit at the table up front with a nice view out the door of the people on parade at the sidewalk.

Gumby's all settled in...

And I've got a giganzo 24 ounce can of Budweiser, so all is well in my world.

It's relaxing in here just drinking beer and watching the world go by outside on the sidewalk.

There goes a hipster couple...

There's a woman talking on a phone and gesturing wildly. At least 75 percent of the people walking by are talking on phones or doing the Zombie text walk. I always wonder what the fuck everybody's talking about.

Fuck, I didn't get a shot of this, but a one-armed man just walked by and made eye contact with me. Whenever I make eye contact with crippled or disfigured people I feel like I've been hexed. I hope I make it home now. One time I was in midtown about five years ago and at the corner of 55th and Broadway a nun in an electric wheelchair whizzed past me and not only made eye contact with me, she scowled at me. I was so freaked out, first of all you rarely see a nun in the oldtime penguin habit, but she was decked out in one from head to toe. And to make matters worse, you know who she looked like? Burt Young, the actor! It took me a couple minutes to figure it out after she had rolled past me, but then it hit me, she was a dead ringer for Burt Young. I remember leaning against a building with chills running down my spine and feeling like I had been hexed for life and I still wonder if I am. I mean, Burt Young as a crippled nun in an electric wheelchair? In midtown? Sheesh!

Okay, enough of creepy memories. The beer is empty and Gumby's getting antsy, so it's off we go.

Further on up the road we go.

This block is always lit up like it's Christmas time, it's a cheery little block in Chelsea.

And smack dab in the middle of the block is Salsa y Salsa. I came here on the bar crawl last year. And now I'm craving a Michelada. Let's go inside.

It's crowded inside, but the bar is wide open, let's go snag a seat.

Hey, there's a familiar face behind the bar...

It's Rubens the bartender who was on duty last year when I was there. He remembered me and after a brief reunion, he set to work making me a Michelada beer cocktail.