Recap: Centre-fuge and the First Street Block Party

East First Street sure knows how to throw a genuine block party, evidenced by their annual fall flea which went down Saturday afternoon. No gimmicks; no Portlandification here. Just the standard excuse to shoot the shit with neighbors and purchase tchotchkes you didn’t think necessary that morning. We didn’t find the detachable penis, alas…

Front-and-center was the Centre-fuge trailer, where the crew of Cycle 5 artists was busy putting the final touches on the latest set of colorful murals. Ladder-bound artists donning respirators sprayed art on the facade while graffiti aficionados snapped away. The stench of aerosol paint and sweet spliff permeated the air.

A half-block to the west, Jim “Mosaic Man” Power was perched at his own table, dozens of shards scattered about the work area. While foodies waited endlessly for Prune brunch, Power steadfastly cracked craftwork to create his latest mosaic. Something for the East First Block Association, the organizers of this shindig.

Closer to Second Avenue was the inaugural James Day, a charity event thrown together by Pebbles Russell and Jon Neville of the aforementioned Centre-fuge. This kid-friendly component of the block party was hosted in First St Green, the park annex which also housed the Guggenheim center last year, and featured activities and children’s music. We especially enjoyed the Ramones-esque cutout photo stand