CBGBs existed from 1973 to the summer of 2008 as a mecca for punks.
Prior to Hilly Kristal’s leasing the ground-floor and basement of 315 The Bowery, the location had served as a The Palace Hotel Bar for the flophouse above it, housing as many as 600 men every night.
There was life at 315 before CBGBs and there is life after as a clothing boutique, but the Palace Hotel remains the same.
A SRO home for the forgotten men on the boulevard of broken dreams.
But not Hilly.
Photo by David Godlis=”margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em”>