Caffe Cino

In previous blogs I've referred to this as Caffe Cino, the birthplace of the off-off broadway movement.
The double 'f'' is the Italian spelling, probably because the founder of the club was a first generation Sicilian-American.
Joseph Cino was born in Buffalo, NY on 11/16/31 and died in a NYC hospital on 4/2/67.  He came to NYC at the age of 16 to become a dancer.  His career was shortened because of his continuous battle with his weight and he retired in 1958.  The coffee house at 31 Cornelia Street was to be a place for his friends to socialize.  Perhaps some poetry and folk music but it became a place for playwrights and plays.   
Some of the artists whose works were performed at Caffe Cino were Tennessee Williams, Jean Giraudoux, Doric Wilson, Sam Sheppard, Lanford Wilson, Tom O'Horgan, Marshall W. Mason, William Hoffman and Robert Patrick.  For many of them it was their first public performance. 
Caffe Cino also became a social center for gay men at a time when bath houses and bars were the only places available.  That may have been the reason for frequent police raids and the payoffs that Joseph Cino often complained about.
His partner in life, Jon Torrey, an electrician, was electrocuted and died on 1/5/67.  On 3/30/67 Joseph Cino, with a butcher knife, hacked both of his arms and his stomach.  He died a few days later on 4/2/67, Jon Torrey's birthday.
Friends and colleagues tried to keep the Caffe going but citing cabaret laws a young, ambitious councilman named Ed Koch had it shut down.
In memory of Joe and Jon:

Chelsea Galleries

It's a beautiful April Day.

The lilacs at last in the dooryard bloomed

 1832 home on land once owned by Aaron Burr

And at the Galleries

Photo?

Photos

A lot of good photography on display.  I usually like to credit the artists, but this day I bumped into my friend Sandra, and was distracted.  I did pick up some info on two artists Andrea Galvani and I believe the people at the bank etc are by Robert Overby.

And from The newspaper:
David Schwimmer, of the TV show 'Friends', bought a 4-storey 1852 house on 6th Street between 1st and 2nd Aves for $4.1 million.  When the Landmarks Preservation Commission informed him that the building was being considered for landmark status he tore it down.  He's putting in an elevated six story residential building. Tuesday, scaffolding collapsed on a pedestrian who was then taken to the hospital "with non-life-threatening injuries.

What I'm watching:
'Ruggles of Red Gap'.  [Excellent choice Frank.  Glad you told me about it.]
It stars Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, Charles Ruggles, Zasu Pitts, and Roland Young.  Written by Harry Leon Wilson, who wrote both the novel and the play.  Adapted by Humphrey Pearson, with the screenplay by Walter De Leon and Harlan Thompson.  Directed by Leo McCarey, who also did 'An Affair to Remember', 'Duck Soup', and 'The Awful Truth'.  The movie was nominated for Best Picture but lost to 'Mutiny On The Bounty'  also with Charles Laughton.  1935 was a banner year for Laughton.