The Walrus Goes to Hell's Kitchen

In honor of the anniversary of the death of John Lennon, a friend of mine posted a picture of the man they’d been given by a photographer named David Gahr. The photo in question was a great shot of the man standing on the median strip of an avenue in, presumably, New York City. Intrigued, I immediately did a bit of Googling to see if I could pinpoint the spot, and sure enough, it was over in Hell’s Kitchen. You can see images from Gah’rs shoot here. But amidst those images came pictures of Lennon standing in front of a landmark near to my heart.

Here’s John standing in front of The River Diner, formerly at the corner of West 37th and 11th Avenue. Why is this significant to me, you ask? Well, this is the diner, as I discussed here, that Martin Scorsese used as a primary location in -- WAIT FOR IT -- “After Hours” (and not, as widely misconceived, the Moondance Diner that formerly stood at the corner of Grand Street and Sixth Avenue in SoHo).

Pour one out for John, gone 41 years today. And, yes, I know the Walrus was Paul.