Best Vintage Street Festival!

Fourth Arts Block (FAB) just wanted to spread the word and the love about the Hester Street Market!

Time Out, rightfully so, has given the Hester Street Market a large print spread stating that the
Hester Street Market has been voted as the best vintage market in NYC!!! Check out the full article here.

The Hester Street Market is filled with all kinds of unique and fashionable treasures and FAB is excited to be tabling there this Saturday (07/17/10) from 11am to 2pm. At our table we will be distributing information about local art programs, FAB Passes and selling tickets to shows happening this weekend to the best theater in the East Village. Like tickets to FAB's innovative theater group NY Neo-Futurists show Too Much light Makes the Baby Go Blind.

The Hester Street Market is the perfect summer stop this weekend. If you are looking for some shade come to Hester Street. It is the shady (as in staying out of the sun!) place to be! The market is teeming with friendly vendors who are selling a wide variety of goods from: bikes/bike repairs, raw and organic food, unique and intense ice cream, natural body lotions and oils (they smell spectacular), stuffed animals, vintage clothing, tables of jewelry and much, much more!

For the small size of the space given to the market it is crammed with a large amount of exciting things, making this your one-stop-shopping experience for the weekend!

And if that is not enough there is usually a DJ playing music as well and a ping-pong table with a nearby misting tent! So come eat, drink, shop, cool off, play ping-pong and shake your groove thing in the Hester Street Market this weekend! One stop for cool excitement!

If you stop by, come visit me at the FAB table where I will be eating a delicious Mexican ice-pop from La NewYorkina.

Hope to see you there,
Matt Elliott

The Influencial Neo-Futurists

Playwright Adam Szymkowicz interviews Neo-futurist Kevin R. Free and Kevin gives us some insight into the workings of the Neo-Futurists and how it has helped to set him on his present path.

"Q: You worked with the New York Neo-Futurists. Tell me more about them?

A: I am still an ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists, FYI. I am taking a break for a while, but I could go back in 2011.

Everything I know about myself as a writer, I learned first as a Neo. We don’t play characters and we don’t ever pretend onstage. Because we acknowledge the audience as part of the show, the show is visceral and immediate and dangerous, when we get it right. The show to which I am referring is, of course, Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind (30 Plays in 60 Minutes). We write and perform all the plays and most of them are under 2 minutes. The plays are so in the moment that many people mistake the show as improv (but it aint). Anyway, I discovered when I started writing as a Neo-Futurist, I discovered that I had a lot to say – about myself – but I never really wanted to say it. A Raisin in the Salad: Black Plays For White People is actually an expanded, extrapolated piece that started as a series of plays in Too Much Light…"

Read the full interview here.

Thanks Kevin or “Kay-yuh-vee-yin” (as us southerns pronounce it like Kevin kindly tells us in his interview)! This is a fantastic reminder of the impact and innovative work that the neo-futurists are having on many actors'/playwrights' lives. Helping the world of theater to become a foundation for artistic self discovery. A step in the direction of a shift in theater!

The Neo-Futurists are one of the members of Fourth Arts Block and we are proud of their ability to foster such creative and unique voices. Thanks for all you do Neos! You sure know how to bring out the best!

Come be see other Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind with the Neo-Futurists by stopping by the East village this weekend and every weekend.

Thanks for keeping it fresh on a hot summer day!

~Matt Eliott

BTGay At Gent's Night Out After-Party

After a day of fantastic shopping with Pride Goes East's Gentleman's Night Out store stop by Dixon Place to see the BTGay band perform this Thursday, June 24th from 9pm-11pm. See this youtube clip of the band's previous performance.

Read this statement from the band about the performance and performers not to miss this Thursday, June 24th from 9pm-11pm.

The BTK Band got its real start at The Stonewall Inn. I'd done a drag show as an experiment in character development and met the owner. We bonded over our Philadelphia sports tattoos and when the time came for the band to play, he gave us a spot. It was a lucky break for me, as I look like a post-menopausal Russian bride in a dress. Management gave us free reign, as long as their bar sales went up. That was no problem. Our shows at The Stonewall gave us the freedom to try new things, to implement different kinds of songs, to invite storytellers onstage and create a new type of music: improvised storytelling rock and roll. We slowly built an audience, many of whom had never had the occasion to go to The Stonewall. They all came back for more. It didn't hurt that there were lesbian jello wrestling matches downstairs. When our first June show came around, we wanted to do something different. We became The BTGay Band. We brought our best gay friends to tell their stories of Pride onstage with us. It just felt right. Our rhythm guitarist, Ian Dunn, whom we call The Tennessee Senator, drafted a BTGay Marriage Bill and passed it, effectively legalizing gay marriage (non-legally binding outside of the show). We married two gentlemen in a ceremony during our song "So Says The Lord." In that song, volunteers pick random bible verses and we explain them. Two verses were chosen, both happened to be about love and tolerance. The air in the room lifted. People were all together. The music was loud. The love was flowing. It was beautiful. We are proud to have the friends that we do. We are proud to provide an environment of chaos and acceptance. Come as you are to The BTK Band show. When we are BTGay, you better come fierce.

The King of the Lower East Side

Check out FAB's homepage to see the video of the route that the King of the Lower East Side took to win Pride Goes East's Scavenger Hunt. Check out David B.'s (the King) blog on the event and his youtube videos with Tamara Greenfield, Executive Director of Fourth Arts Block, and his winning statements as King of Lower East Side. Great job David and we are honored to have you as out King!

Men Shopping Extravaganza

Pride Goes East is excited to invite all the men (or women who are buying for men or like male clothing) to an event filled with fashionable and rare shopping, liquor and an after party at Dixon Place with the BTK Band, NYC's improvised storytelling rock band who in their celebration of Pride will be known as the BTGay Band! Gentlemen's Night Out starts at 6pm and goes until 9pm on Thursday June 24th. Prizes will be given out to the first few individuals who buy $50 or more at each store.

Get a head start on your fall wardrobe at Gentlemen's Night Out with my selection of some of the most fashionable jackets from the Lower East Side.

One of the stores participating is well-tailored designs By Robert James who "aims to make every man feel who wears his clothing feel as handsome as the clothes themselves" which means that every man who shops here will be leaving looking extremely handsome. Check out this photo of Robert James' The Washington jacket.

Another store is Any Old Iron which specializes in rare and UK-specific mensware clothing. This store is the first of its kind in Manhattan. Check out this Green Tonic jacket, I know it is on my wish list for the fall! I love unique clothing stores like this. Come and help bring Euro fashions to the city and the Lower East Side at Gentlemen's Night Out.

If your style is more punk rock check out The Cast who specializes in denim, leather and t-shirt designs with a harder edge. This store is cutting edge with an '80s punk influence. Check out this hot vintage leather jacket.

Vintage-inspired Kai D Utility offers designs that he says are inspired by "wisdom". Every pocket and accessory are placed in the exact and most logical location. This store is perfect for the intellectual and philosophical man. Clean lines and cool colors offer a pristine look well suited for any chic man. Check out this sophisticated jacket from Kai D Utility.

Whether you are shopping for a well-tailored design, Euro fashion, Punk Rock/Vintage clothing or clothing for the sophisticated and wise attend Gentlemen's Night Out to meet your fashion needs. Visit all the stores and get drink tickets for the BTGay show at Dixon Place for the after-party. Make this event a must-do to kick off your Pride weekend.

Peace, Love and Fashion,
Matt Elliott

An Event of Good Fortune

It was a night of grand fortune and posh surroundings. The Fourth Arts Block Benefit, Year of the Tiger, was such a huge success sitting on top of the Cooper Square Hotel's Penthouse looking out onto the glowing city. It excited my southern mindset and I knew that I was a long way from home. As the Knickerbocker Village blog says I felt like "I was sitting on top of the world". Check out his blog on the benefit to see his wonderful slide show. This slide show has pictures to see the view if you missed the event or have trouble remember the what happened because was a wonderful night filled with generous amounts of drinking and socializing.

Coming from Lexington, KY I have never attend an event of such grand proportions. FAB sure knows how to throw a party with southern hospitality: open bars, hors d'oeuvres, dancing and people dressed in their finest apparel. I was so excited to have the opportunity to make reservations and work the line for the fortune tellers. By working the line I met all kinds of wonderful New Yorkers, who are not mean like we are told they are in Kentucky!

The fortune tellers did a magnificent job, people left their readings with goose-bumps and with information to help guide them on their path. FAB covered all the bases of fortune telling from the stars to the cards to the palms. Several individuals made the rounds to all the fortune tellers. No secret was left untold at this party and people's fortunes were made clear.


Sporting my bright pink jacket I felt like I got to be a small part in making this colorful event more colorful. Sidra Bell's Dance company filled the space with color through movement and extravagant costumes.

Tamara, Lauren, Laurel and the multitude of volunteers help create an event that will be remembered in the stars and you can hire Kevin the Astrologer to find the FAB: Year of the Tiger constellation. I predict an even more spectacular benefit.

To see some of FAB's pictures of the evening check it out on our flickr account. FAB would like to express great gratitude for A Ruiz Photography for his spectacular job in capturing the memories of the night.

Thanks for being a part of these memorable evening!

Matt Elliott
FAB's newest intern

The Golden Girls at Pride Goes East

We are excited to announce that the Golden Girls of drag will be making a special appearance at the Ladies' Brunch event for Pride Goes East. Come check them out on Sunday June 20th at 1pm!