The Virgins recently released the music video for “Rich Girls” which they filmed at Lit lair. The video features model Behati Prinsloo losig her dress for the band and other characters such as A-Ron and Dan Colen. It’s a moot point, but the EP version of the song still sounds better than the LP.
Gavin McInness and Derrick Beckles host the first episode of Street Carnage +1, their very own radio show for Street Boners and TV Carnage. Off-Bowery A-Ron joins them as the figurative +1 while figuratively or not “out of his fucking mind on crack.” They play some Ninjasonik, listen to weird beats while A-Ron shouts out cities, then talk about A-Ron’s legal issues, first with aNYthing and now with the Wreck Center.
He brought in a CD of his new band called The Interns which is his interns playing beats while he talks about shit, kind of like what rednecks think rap is. We asked him what the fuck happened to aNYthing and the Wreckcenter and his answers went on for hours. Basically, “I started aNYthing but they say they own it because they put up the money so we’re going to court” and “I started the Wreckcenter but the neighbors complained because they thought it was a whorehouse so the cops shut it down.”
More specifically, A-Ron calls out Kid Robot owner, Paul Budnitz, for starting the complaint. It’s hard to glean much more than that. A-Ron talks really fast.
All day tomorrow, the Dustward is taking over A-Ron’s way way Off Bowery venue, the Wreck Center (75 Sullivan Street), for an “all sensory event” showcasing the art and culture of the Almighty Dustward Nation.
After A-Ron hinted at it last week, the NY Times takes a closer look the Wreck Center, the temporary Soho venue of Off Bowery Productions.
Residents of a sleepy SoHo block aren’t sure what to make of the Wreck Center, a store/performance space/art installation that has invaded their neighborhood like a post-apocalyptic circus. Decorated with graffiti, gold paint and 5,800 feet of Day-Glo masking tape, the space, designed by Rafael de Cárdenas, pops, to say the least. “Finally one came up to me,” said Aaron Bondaroff (above), the project’s ringleader, “and told me it was about time someone did something cool in the neighborhood again.” Until the end of February, when the building that houses the Wreck Center is torn down, Mr. Bondaroff, the downtown impresario better known as A-Ron, has planned a series of invite-only book signings, launch parties, art and music shows, even a little stand-up comedy; a storefront will sell the wares of all involved. “And as soon as everyone catches on,” he said, “it’ll be over.” That is, until May, when the Playboy channel broadcasts a documentary on the whole affair.
Barnum Goes Downtown [NYT]
Photo by Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
Heron Preston recently spoke with Aaron Bondaroff about life post-aNYthing and his plans for Off Bowery Productions which include a “private, little secret spot hangout, invitation only” venue in Soho and launching 15 new brands “like the Wu-Tang of streetwear.” Inexplicably, they’re also “fighting the gentrification, us vs them.”
We hate bearing bad news, but “fighting the gentrification” with another exclusive boutique/club/whatever, the type characterizing Soho’s hyper-gentrification, is a lost cause. Best of luck though!
Why is everyone googling “Aaron Bondaroff” all of sudden? Because he’s he’s hiring interns to be part of “the most historical, legendary, movement of the time” aka Off Bowery Productions. “Think CBGB’s in the 70’s, Supreme in the 90’s, Stussy in the 80’s, Guardian Angels, Wu-Tang Clan in the 90’s, Max’s Kansas City, Studio 54, Factory Records, Hacienda Club, Warhol’s Factory: the history of our entire generation.” Okay, that’s enough. My brain melted.
After a nightlife expose of Flatiron clubland the NY Post turns to Lower East Side nightlife and navigates the obstacle course of velvet ropes, cover charges, bottle service and stripper poles. Kicking off the rundown of problems with the “new Lower East Side scene” is word that A-Ron did too well as “creative director” of 205. His network of friends made the place too popular with the moneyed and boring set and they don’t want to hang out there anymore. Added to the fact they felt like bait and it’s not hard to see why.
But don’t pour out your forty just yet. Doug and Bobby say the LES is still the real deal.
“The Lower East Side is the real deal - it’s not pretentious,” says R Bar patron Doug (”they call me ‘the Bus’ “) Corbus, 24. “And there’s lots of tail.”
“Whores!” corrects his pal Bobby Reynolds. “Whores!”
“I work in advertising in Midtown,” Corbus explains. “This is, like, real New York,” he says.
“Midtown has too many JAPpy girls,” says Reynolds.
“It’s maybe not cooler, but it’s more raw,” says Corbus. “People here will order a drink that no one’s drinking instead of what’s popular, or wear clothes that are the hip s—.”
And further proof that not all is lost: the R Bar (formerly Pioneer) did not install stripper poles in the front window. They already had four in back, and thought six would be “overkill.” Moderation is key.
You can change your name, change your look and change your friends, but you can’t change your past. It’s too bad that 205 Club, the downtown collaboration between A-Ron, Serge Becker, and Guy Jacobson may find this out the hard way. In August, in its previous incarnation as 6’s and 8’s, the club received some violations for underage drinking and drug use and must go to State Supreme Court on Tuesday to fight a possible closure. Earlier in November, the New York State Liquor Authority imposed two fines totaling $5,500 to 205 Chrystie Street for unspecified violations.
Considering the club’s legal troubles, it was quick thinking to keep out Keanu Reeves, aka FBI Special Agent Johnny Utah. It doesn’t matter that he let Bodhi surf that last wave. He’s still a narc.
205, the rumored “bar-lounge-restaurant” alliance of Serge Becker (nightlife impresario of La Esquina fame) and Aaron “A-Ron” Bondaroff (cool kid of aNYthing fame) was confirmed last week. Who cares that New York Magazine broke the news back in August.
On Friday night, 205 hosted the after party for ThreeAsFour’s fashion week show. Rub N Tug fueled the danceparty, free drinks flowed, people got sweaty on the floor, and Vincent Gallo was skeezy as ever (pushing up on Mark, the Cobra Snake’s girlfriend).
Silver walls, tinfoil covered fixtures, exposed pipes, and disco balls on the upstairs level suggest ThreeAsFour’s own loft a few blocks away (and the Factory of some dude named Andy Warhol). Downstairs, the shady carpets and rec room vibe of 6’s and 8’s are replaced by hand lettered plywood and stacks of broken televisions. It’s the aftermath of a night dumpster diving and robbing construction sites.
