RAT PITS OF NEW YORK

"The Town is taken by its rats--ship-rats. And rats of the wharves. "

~Herman Melville

Saunter down Water Street near that movie set-like section underneath the Brooklyn Bridge and keep thine eyes peeled for a squat brick building that the postmen call #273. That is where the 'lore of a local man named Kit Burns took on its infamy.

Burns ran a well-kept tavern, buzzing with all manner of waterfront types of late 19th century New York. The bar men made good business but the real attraction was the fighting pits that earned the "Sportsman's Hall" its far-reaching reputation. Rats are plentiful along the East River so ol' Burns-ey had no difficulty procuring droves of the wily beasts while his dogs, terriers and ferret chasers, furnished their particular brand of entertainment.

A burlap sack of rats (10-stone) is emptied into the pit which is set up like an amphitheatre of sorts with vile men crowded in on the rough-hewn benches. The dog then goes to town making bloody work of as many rats as he can in the given "time," which is set by the screaming, stomping, blasphemously elated men who gamble upon this venture. Burns' dogs are the gladiators of the night and highly-regarded and even smothered with heroic affections in victory.

One eye witness recalls that some men would, "catch up the dog in their arms, and press it to their bosom in a frenzy of joy, or kiss it as if it were a human being, unmindful or careless of the fact that all this while the animal is smeared with the blood of its victims. The scene is disgusting beyond description."

Rat pits were actually a common attraction in old New York, a miniaturized gladiator affair with all the pomp and primal affections of the ancient Colosseum but none have gained such infamy as Kit Burns' Sporting Hall. We all would do well to remember the crass, ungodly beginnings of a town as tony and cosmopolitan as our modern day New York, Mulberry Bend is here to help.

Sorry for the absences friends, MB will be back up and running now so be sure to come back for more lurid tales...

MB

HISTORY "CAPTURED"

Last night MB witnessed an enthusiastic screening of the new documentary film, "Captured" in an event space on the Bowery. The film chronicles the life work of LES artist and consummate man-of-many-hats, Clayton Patterson, who tirelessly etched scenes of pre-gentrified Lower-East-Side life into a vast compendium of photos, films, and art for over 30 years. Like a modern day Herodotus, Patterson labored, often risking life and limb, so that us future generations and revelers of the L.E.S. could witness the blood that was spilled on this ground before our time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxUZSIf5yjQ


Clayton is victorious as a Lower East Side hero and the film does a good job of picking through his vast collection of divisive if not outright disturbing video footage, but the PBR guzzling audience seemed to walk away unaffected by the woes of lower-east-siders of the last generation. At one point rioters raid the lobby of a upscale apartment building on Tompkins square -a mere neanderthal to today's Avalon or Ludlow monstrosities - in a gesture of angst toward upscale gentrification, but how does one expect the current inhabitants to react to this? As you might expect, the tragedy felt by the LES dwellers of the 70's & 80's was lost on more than a few.

The precious footage that Clayton has rescued from anonymity however, is CAPTURED's greatest gift. The LES as ghetto; a lawless, shameless, bubbling miasma of crime, art, newness, fear, and infamy. MB has often wondered what New York might have looked like during the 1863 Draft Riots and the tapes of the Tompkins Square Riot might be just about as clear a window as we can get into what happens when peace in our city takes a holiday.

KINGS OF LEON TEES BY BARKING IRONS!

The brothers Followill, proud sons of Tennessee, may be hitting their stride in 2009 with a breakneck touring schedule, a string of huge singles, and more fan power than ever before.

On Thursday, the Kings of Leon will take on a sold out MSG -their biggest US show to date and the buzz is palpable here in NYC.

In July, the KOL dropped in on the Barking Irons Bowery digs (as reported by MB) to discuss some new art work that Barking Irons had made expressly for the Kings of Leon. After the guys happily approved the work, Barking Irons set out to produce a limited edition run of three ultra-soft, beautifully made t-shirts to be sold on tour with the band. It is MB's distinct pleasure to showcase them here now:

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<<< align="left"> YOUNG LOVERS - ONLY BY THE NIGHT

Each tee was produced on a super soft washed cotton picked by Barking Irons and sported an artful inside neck label for ultimate comfort and an added graphic punch. The KOL by Barking Irons tees are available for $34 at the Kings of Leon webstore and on tour only.

The whole band was super thrilled with the final outcome. Some joker even caught Nathan wearing TRICERATOPS on his day off (alterations his):

In addition to wearing their own gear, every now and then the Followill boys will end up on stage wearing one of the original Barking Irons pieces that they picked up on their visit to the Bowery.

We wish these boys the absolute best. Believe it or not, the KOL were an integral part of the founding of Barking Irons when back in 2003 their album "Youth & Young Manhood" fueled many a late night of screen-printing in the Bowery basements. Funny that...

Stay tuned for more KOL / Barking Irons collaborations to come.

'ROLE MODEL' TEE

ACTOR, Sean William-Scott was caught wearing the ol' Barking Irons classic "Greensward" tee in his new movie, "Role Models" last week. The film has been advertising all over NYC with a giant pictures of Mr. Stifler wearing this vintage Barking Irons diddy. Aside from Scott, Role Models also stars Paul Rudd -a gallant knight of comedy these days and a Barking Irons fan to boot. The film has been scoring solid reviews as a good ol' knee-slapper, just the thing for our depression era blues.

For the curious among you who are wondering aimlessly about the history and meaning of the "greensward" shirt, rest easy and you may now unfurl your brow:

In 1860, the city commission of New York issued a design contest for a landscaping plan to fill the center portion of Manhattan island. Over 1000 entries were submitted from all over the globe, but it was a submission by Fredick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux entitled, "The Greensward Plan" that ultimately won the day.

The ambitious Greensward Plan proposed roughly 8 years of massive terraforming and redirection of waterways in order to reconfigure the feral, rock-strewn land into a sprawling opus of open public space in the center of the country's most crowded city.

It is remarkable to remember that while it may seem like a preserved natural space, Central Park and the Greensward Plan represent the totalizing efffect of man-made space. Every square foot of Central Park was mapped out and reformed by steam shovels and good old-fashioned Irish labor, more than anything else it represents man's ideal vision of nature.

Thank you Sean-William Scott for your wearing on chest a most memorable homage to manscaping.

The Greenward shirt is available on the Back Door section of the Barking Irons webstore, get yours NOW!!!

THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND

In the closing weeks of this year's historic Presidential election we've all been hearing a lot about Barack Obama's ties to Weather Underground co-founder, Bill Ayers. For those who don't know, the Weather Underground was a radical student activist group that carried out (among other things) a string of terrorist bombings on Government buildings from 1969-1975. Typically the bombs were detonated at night so as to focus on the buildings themselves and not any their personnel.

Without fueling any more hype around the overblown controversy that continues to haunt Mr. Obama, the Mulberry Bend wishes to take notice of an inconspicuously quiet, leafy block in Greenwich Village and the footnote in history that transpired there.

It was March 7th, 1970 - A thunderous explosion from within No. 18 West 11th Street suddenly rattled the entire block. Fire immediately broke out amidst the the thick smoke and building wreckage. Two soot-covered young women emerged, one completely naked after narrowly escaping her shower. Confused neighbor, Dustin Hoffman stumbled out on the street...


A concerned neighbor saw the nude woman and took her in to get her something to wear. The stunned neighbor then returned to the street briefly, when she looked back the two women had disappeared. Three bodies were discovered in the ruins, all members of the Weather Underground.

No. 18 West 11th was discovered to be a Weather Underground safe-house and bomb factory. Someone had been tinkering with a pipe-bomb when it accidentally exploded. Police later found blasting caps, pipe-bombs, and anti-tank shell, and 60 sticks of dynamite in the house, enough explosives to "level both sides of the street."

Nowadays, if you find yourself walking along West 11th, look out for the somewhat angular building jutting out from the flat-facades of the 19th century row houses. It is a chilling reminder of this haunted house of American terror.

One cannot help but think that Bill Ayers was a pretty despicable person for advocating this kind of thing, but the idea that Mr. Obama would for some reason secretly hold some allegiances to this group or its dead ideas requires something of an overactive imagination.

Nevertheless, I don't think Mr. Ayers will do anymore damage than he has already done, and Barack Obama can remember like the song does,

You dont need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows...

KINGS OF LEON @ BARKING IRONS

Preeminent rock band Kings of Leon dropped in on the Barking Irons Bowery digs last week to pick up some of our latest spring wares and to discuss a potential partnership with the Bowery Boys -more details to come.

As the band rifled through racks of t-shirts, woven shirts, accessories and more they found special interest in the various Civil War relics that populate the Barking Irons showroom. Caleb & Nathan Followill walked away with fistfulls of t-shirts and other Bowery paraphernalia.

Many beers were consumed in a relatively short period of time which eventually led to some unsteady picture taking (above). Occasionally, the band would incidentally drop a hint pertaining to their new album due out in October.

This is the second time that the Kings of Leon have come hunting for those rare Barking Irons goods -not currently available in Tennessee- however, this time was a much more spirited encounter as the band had a few days to kill before jetting off to Europe.

The Kings of Leon will be appearing at the All Points West Festival this August at Liberty State Park, NJ along with Radiohead and many others. The KOL continue to be a leading force in homegrown gritty rock'n'roll and they are proud friends of the Barking Irons gang. Stay tuned for more great things...

THE TORCH AND STEVE

When Steve Varon, a valiant supporter of Barking Irons, asked us if we would help promote his cause by posting this video on Mulberry Bend we didnt have to think twice about it. Not only is Steve one of gentlest souls one could ever hope to meet, but his intended goal of getting the Dalai Lama himself to carry a torch at the opening ceremony of the controversial Chinese Olympics in 2008 is both inspiringly ambitious and ingeniously simple.

Perhaps in lingering reverence for Axl Rose we are all still resolved to wait in vain for a Chinese Democracy to ease us all in to the 21st century. The Chinese government continues to thrill in showing us its unbending will and superpower muscles. In our lifetime we are likely to see China noted as THE global power. If such is the case it seems onerous for them to begrudge this man of peace and prevent what would be a symbolic gesture of unity and peace to the world. As Steve says, "why don't you stop standing up and showing how strong you are against ...one man."

After all, this is the Dalai Lama not Kim Jong-il we are talking about. In China I guess it doesnt matter who you are -Axl may have said it best: "its hard to hold a candle... and we both know hearts can change..."

Good Luck to you Steve! We're pulling for you from the Bowery way 'down to Chinatown.

Go Check out Steve's Video:
"The Dalai Lama, The Torch, and Steve" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLYvTQMORt4 The more views the better.