Unlimited Free Space: Comprehensive Waterfront Plan
| ND |
I asked you already what you thought about unlimited free space. You mentioned a kind of a- |
| NICOLE |
[jokingly] "What? you gotta be kidding!" |
| ND |
No. You didn't answer like that. You were more
realistic about it. So... We have a certain theory that we began this on. Do you have any more not so practical ideas about unlimited free space? |
|
NICOLE |
Just that nothing should be permanent.
It should be leased to somebody for three years. Then have a turnover
of different people running it - always community based - giving back
to the community. That way it won't turn into too much of a commercial
hell. You could have two years. The Amazon Club - that was sort of amazing. Did you guys see that at all? It was just a bunch of thatched rooves that were collapsing. Sand dunes and palm trees. |
| VJ |
That was here on this pier? |
| NICOLE |
Yeah. Mostly, it was just a bar. This evil guy - Shimon - ran it. Music would vibrate off all the buildings. So, I think two years is enough. |
| VJ |
How did it work? People had to pay to get in there and they could just hang out? |
| NICOLE |
Yeah. It was a functioning club. In addition to the drinks, they had a bunji jumping crane. They'd get these Wall Streeters to come in. |
| VJ |
You were living in the middle of this? |
| NICOLE |
Yeah. I was living on the ferry boat at the time. |
| VJ |
A lotta people live on these boats? |
| NICOLE |
The catch is, ya gotta work on the boats to live there. |
| ND |
They're run by HRPC or, they're run by the people who-? |
| NICOLE |
They're run by the people that own the boats and - actually, there's a guy named Bob Townlee who leased this pier for the Manhattan Youth Organization. He has to answer to the Hudson River- |
| ND |
P.C. |
| NICOLE |
Yeah. So, there are actually three different organizations on this pier. And then there's a Croatian crowd at the very end. |
| ND |
Yeah, I saw there some names. Veselko -or something. |
| NICOLE |
Yeah. Veso. |
| BK |
Why did you choose to live here? |
| NICOLE |
I'd done a lot of sailing off the coast of Venezuela up to Grenada. I basically landed in New York. I was at a bar and somebody was talking about moving onto a boat. So, I just moved my chair down and- |
| BK |
Do you think that this space is different from the space of the city? |
|
NICOLE |
Yeah. If you walk out here and you look behind you, New York just turns into a big flat backdrop. It looks like a Hollywood set. You wish you could just push it down. Then there'd be a massive rain forest behind it. The way the island used to be. |
| VJ |
This is one of our questions. |
| ND |
Great! You've already answered it. What do you think would happen if all the economic activity left Manhattan? |
| NICOLE |
In a sense, the Hudson River is supposedly getting cleaner. What that's done is it's started to deteriorate the piers - which is kind of interesting because there was so many chemicals in the Hudson River for so long that it actually preserved the piers. They're just made out of concrete and wood. The wood is now starting to be eaten away. The West Side Highway's all landfill. So, I imagine that the whole thing - if it were cleaner and purer - what's supposed to be here would just flourish. |
| ND |
What's supposed to be here? |
| NICOLE |
Trees. Monsters. Iguanas. |
| VJ |
Lots of trees and flowers. |
| ND |
So what would you do about your studio on Duane Street? |
| NICOLE |
Build a tree house. Live above the canopy. |
| ND |
Live in the building with the trees pushing up through the middle of it. |
| NICOLE |
Absolutely. Or just live on the water. That's simple. |
| ND |
Do you ever wander around parts of the city or the waterfront? |
| NICOLE |
I probably - unfortunately - walk in areas that I shouldn't. I walk everywhere. |
| ND |
You walk everywhere in the city without regard? |
| NICOLE |
Yeah. From Morningside Heights to Battery Park. At any hour. I probably shouldn't. |
| ND |
Have you had any encounters? |
| NICOLE |
I've had - over in the Amsterdam-116th area - I've had people definitely - actually - that was more when the Simpson trial was going on. Everybody was going "Hey, Nicole! You're back from the dead!" And it's kinda wierd cuz my name's Nicole. I had all these people yelling. I was suddenly the only white woman for a couple of blocks. Then it switched into a kind of Hispanic area - so it was alright. They didn't hassle me. |
| ND |
But, not physically. |
| NICOLE |
No. I haven't had any run-ins with that in New York. |
| VJ |
Do you have any pleasant encounters with people? Do you meet strangers? Do you talk to people? |
|
NICOLE |
Yeah. I think that's the best part about New York. I wouldn't wanna live in L.A., cuz it's a world of automobiles. You can't just walk out and talk to people. New York is great for that. That's how I've landed half my jobs. I had probably eighty people at my show just from people I met on the street. Cuz you can - at least for my show - you can start targeting people. All the Wall Street idiots up here. I'll probably just go - they've got these tables set up [points to complex across highway] - I'll probably just go sit down one day or three days for lunch. It's sorta like being flypaper. People pick up on you and they'll wanna chat. |
| ND |
You're like, "Oh. I have a show. You're a stockbroker. Want some art?" |
| NICOLE |
Guys who kinda wanna feel like they wanna be a part of the scene or part of something. And this gives them a chance to actually be a part of something that - hopefully - they'll like and - hopefully - they'll buy. I'm not that evil. I'd like them to like the work. But you can - if you've been here long enough - you can start picking out who's mind is where - a little bit. You can tell if people are focused or not. |
| VJ |
When you wander, what is it that decides where you go? Are you looking for something special? Is there a certain ambiance? What is it that decides where you turn? Are you drawn to certain areas? |
| NICOLE |
Lately, I haven't been able to just wander. I think in the past, I would probably just - I have really good luck- if there's a certain type of energy of people that I wanna be around - like, this year, I ended up just wandering up to the Grammies. |
| ND |
Where? |
| NICOLE |
The Grammy Awards. And I walked right into Lyle Lovett - so I ended up talking to him for a while. He just had a concert a couple days ago. I saw him again. I know Boulet. |
| ND |
David Boulet. |
| NICOLE |
Yeah. So, I know a network of his people. It's really important - if you're gonna be in a city - to focus on energy that's gonna keep you moving forward. Not - cuz you'll just get dragged down by the parking attendant to the other parking attendant to the guy in the newsstand. Like everybody just wants to siphon energy out of you. If I'm wandering around, it's gonna be someplace where I'm gonna meet somebody that - hopefully - I can give them something and they'll go forward too. |
| ND |
Do you ever meet people who - what they give you is less specific or - |
| NICOLE |
Yeah, sure. |
| ND |
Maybe like another artist who's not necessarily gonna buy your work? Just another person that might not even be an artist? |
| NICOLE |
Hopefully - if you don't know em you can invite em to flamenco. Yeah. You definitely won't make a connection with everybody you meet. But you can at least funnel them into something that they might have fun doing. Flamenco! |
| ND |
[checking the questionnaire] Lemme see what we have here. Does the division of the waterfront into distinct zones - without even knowing the plan - do you think that it's necessary to divide the waterfront into distinct zones? |
| NICOLE |
I should know more about the plan. If there are zones, I guess there would be - what? - residential, commercial and the concept of a free space. I don't even know how there doing it. |
| ND |
Yeah. Basically, those seem to be the three kind of - like, parks idea, residential idea, industrial or commercial zones. |
|
NICOLE |
It's definitely important to have- I think the Chelsea Piers is actually a great idea. But it's a little bit too stagnant. It's too bad they can't switch that around a little bit more. That rock climbing wall will be there forever. This kind of space [pier 25] is great cuz you can tear it down and put things up really easily - there's nothing permanent. As long as they have a few places that are left where nothing's permanent. |
| ND |
You adhere to your three year limit of use idea? |
| NICOLE |
Yeah. We even had En Garde Arts do a play for two weeks here. So many people have been able to utilize the pier and do different things with it. The gay marching guys come down with their pink flags and twirl their batons to practice. |
| ND |
If there was more rain forest - or natural unlimited free space - how do you think that might occur? And, if it did occur, do you think there would be a center to it? |
|
NICOLE |
No buchos. Who is it-? Almstead that designed Central Park? |
| ND |
Yeah. |
| NICOLE |
That's probably the best way of creating a space that does have some focus but, is pretty natural. There's another guy who pushed it even further. A guy named Burla Max, a Brazilian architect. He was able to really take every type of fauna and really go nuts. |
| ND |
Where is this? [to BK, VJ] You know him? |
| BK |
Yeah. |
| NICOLE |
He died in 91. He was a brilliant botanist - in addition to a landscape architect. You have to have some center for the people who are tied into a lower education level. There's gotta be some focus for the other levels of people who didn't have a chance to go to Brown and RISD. |
| BK |
So, you think that unlimited free space can be planned? |
| NICOLE |
It can be what? |
| BK |
Planned. |
| NICOLE |
Yeah. Yeah. |
| BK |
You mention all those landscape planners. |
| NICOLE |
I would have to say I think it can be planned as long as - I guess you have to have enough space where you feel like you can get lost a little bit. Central Park was a brilliant plan. All the cars are funnelled underground. It has lakes. |
| VJ |
What do you think limits space? |
| NICOLE |
All the roads. All the traffic patterns. You could probably eliminate half that and do something else with that property. That's just huge. |
 |
 |
Modified December 23, 1997