Quentin Crisp promised that I could bunk up with him in NYC

In November, Butt magazine posted pix of Quentin Crisp’s NYC apartment.

The men who organize Crisp’s archives recreated the decor for the MIX festival, so attendees could hang out in Quentin’s one-room hovel.

In 1996, Quentin said I could live with him there.

(Well... he didn’t say I couldn’t live with him.)

Anyway, here are the posh digs, below, of what could have been if I shared an address with Quentin.

•••

KUSNER: You told me that in order to rule the world, that I needed to move to Manhattan.
CRISP: Yes. That’s right.

When I do, can I come stay at your apartment?
Very well. But it’ll be too small. I’ve only got one bed and one chair.

Do you think smaller living spaces are kept clean — like how a dog will keep its kennel clean?
Well, I don’t think you’ll be clean here. This place hasn’t been cleaned in 15 years.

Never? You don’t even wash the sink out with, like, Comet cleanser or anything?
Oh, no.

 

A touch of Grey Gardens in the Bowery. [Photos: Jan Wandrag.]

Quentin’s letter describes New York’s friendliness, “Where bus drivers shake your hand.” [Photo: Jan Wandrag.]

SHELF LIFE: Paperback volumes by Harper Lee and J.D. Salinger, and a photo with Sylvia Miles. [Photo: Jan Wandrag.]

What a dump! [Photo: Jan Wandrag.]

Vaseline, calamine lotion, hairpins, blush brushes, hairspray, shoe polish and scarves. [Photo: Jan Wandrag.]