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.

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...

A RARE SPECTACLE

On Dec 10th, The Barking Irons had the good fortune to attend the premier for P.T. Anderson’s latest film, 'There Will Be Blood'. I would like to offer up a brief impression of the film for those who are yet to see it.

'There Will Be Blood' takes place in the western United States during the 1890’s. It's inspirations were partially based on Upton Sinclair’s novel ‘Oil!’, which is now out of print and quite difficult to find. Anderson wrote the screenplay which sees the anti-hero Daniel Plainview go about his affairs in pursuit of oil, money, blood kin. However these elements are dipped in metaphors for an altogether vibrant comment on men, capitalism, religion and manifest destiny. The main study, I believe, is focused on a man who’s veins course with oil. A capitalist so fully consumed that he ceases to be human. You can see a desire in Plainview to find his blood or his kin or even someone he can trust, but instead he devours the people around him with his saw-toothed anger and his unforgiving standards.

That being said, the character study of Daniel Plainview is nothing short of a spectacle. It is a trance inducing warp that displaced me in such a way I felt genuinely frightened at times. This is also in part (quite largely) due to Daniel Day Lewis’ performance. To that, I’d have to say watching this almost sequel performance to Bill the Butcher, but obviously different and with better direction, should make other performances blush by comparison. It is stunning. The film's score is nothing to forget either. Composed by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, the music is at times out of frame and almost abstract. Period sounds of strings and percussion lead you into emotions. Instead of laying on top of the acting and cinematography, the compositions sometimes precede the impending sequence by minutes. This was a brilliant plan. Much of this film reminds me of Citizen Kane, heralded as one of the greatest films ever made. And even from a layman like myself, I can say that this film, this performance is so important that it should be talked about for decades.