They say it takes a big man to admit when he’s wrong. Well, in that case, I’m must be a GIANT, as I seem to be having to admit my abject wrongness on a regular basis. You may remember, earlier this week, that I posed a new quiz to readers, wondering aloud where the above David Greenhaus photograph of the nascent Velvet Underground was taken. I projected that the band was captured lounging in what is the now-derelict power facility island for St. Vincent’s Hospital, where Greenwich Avenue intersects with 7th Avenue and West 11th Street.
Well, hey! Guess what? That was wrong.
A reader by the name of Deirdre weighed in, postulating that it might more likely be a plot over on the East Side….which would make sense, being that their base of operations at the time was on the lower end of Ludlow Street.
As if on cue, intrepid Bob Egan of – once again – PopSpots weighed in to set the record straight. Here’s what Bob had to say:
Nice quiz. I was very impressed by your reader’s Diedra’s observations. She had all the background clues correct, but placed it about 30 yards from where the photo was taken. My advise to Diedra: if the rest of the clues add up – like the church and the cornice clues that you found in the background — keep digging nearby - it’s usually there.
In this case, I didn’t think the city would removed a huge concrete bench like that. And since it wasn’t on the traffic island, where Diedra thought the photo was taken, I looked to see the next closest place it might be.
By the way, this was most likely (same photographer) taken on the same day he took a shot of the four of them on the steps on Ludlow Street just 2 blocks away from this photo and , a few doors down on Ludlow from where John Cale lived (56 Ludlow, top floor) and they practiced..
Take a look at the visuals below and connect the dots.
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