VOLUME 27, NUMBER 15
JANUARY 1-JANUARY 14, 2015
Repairing strings with an ear for Tribeca’s past
W
B Y M I CH A E L LY D O N
alker St. between Broadway and Church St., two short blocks below Canal, looks like Tribeca before it became Tribeca: battered loft buildings with dusty windows, a couple of unobtrusive art galleries, a semi-fancy restaurant at the Church St. corner, and one textile company left over from the days when this block was the bustling home to New York’s cloth market. Number 36 Walker, despite the aging coat of red paint around its front door, blends in with its gray-faced neighbors: five weather-beaten floors, three tall windows per floor, and a few old air conditioners clinging precariously to the sills. Come close and you can read the small oval sign that’s made the building known and loved by musicians all around the world: “David Gage String Instrument Repair.” Step inside the scarred door, say hello to the shop’s two cats, Luna and Oscar, and you’ll see why this no-frills address is so beloved: in our Continued on page 6
SOME FEAR THE W.T.C. TOUR BUS PROBLEM MAY GET WORSE B Y D U SI CA S U E M A LE S E V IC he tour bus congestion conundrum at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum has been a topic of discussion for years, but no one even seems to know how many tour buses are actually frequenting the site. What is clear though, is the frustration of the some residents who live near the World Trade Center and the fear that it might worsen when the campus security plan calls for buses to line up on Trinity Place. As of now, the plan is for buses to queue there in order to get searched before they are allowed to make a left onto Liberty St. and
T
Continued on page 3
Downtown Express photo by Ellen Mandel
Mike Weatherly, one of the craftsman at David Gage String Instrument Repair on Walker St.
1 MET ROT E CH • NYC 112 01 • COPYRIG HT © 2014 N YC COMMU N ITY MED IA , LLC