One reason I started Tribeca Citizen was to get answers to questions I had just from walking around. Such as:

How come every every film and TV shoot seems to have a trailer with doors marked “Lucy” and “Desi”?
At first, I figured they were code names for actors or characters so that civilians like me wouldn’t loiter outside hoping for a glimpse of Mariska Hargitay. But then I noticed that it wasn’t just Law & Order shoots that had “Lucy” and “Desi” trailers. Eventually, a bell went off: Those were the crew’s restrooms! And they’re not labeled “Men” and “Women” because the crews don’t want just anyone using the facilities! I emailed Haddad’s, the Pittsburgh-based company that leases the trailers, to find out. The reply was: “I spoke with David Haddad and you are correct. :)”

I was walking along Church Street when I saw a sign for Kim’s Video. Is it moving into the neighborhood?
Nope. The signage is an artwork, Drama, Horror, Science Fiction, Experimental, Etc. by Katya Sander, which is part of a new show, “Avant-Guide to NYC: Discovering Absence,” at Apexart. “This exhibition is a viewfinder trained onto the specific sites of the cultural fabric of New York City,” says the description on the Apex Art website. “The past, represented by the memory imprint of an artistic activity that occurred at a certain site, is ‘covered’ by a current artwork focused on the same site. […] Our intention is to draw precise and living connections between artists, their work, and environments across times—the strands of such connections weave the fabric of the exhibition.” In other words, the works in the exhibit pay homage to New York City cultural hotspots that are now gone. Sander was inspired by the transfer of Kim’s DVD collection to the small Sicilian town or Salemi (as you may recall from a New York Times article.) Apex Art is at 291 Church (Walker/White), apexart.org; the show, which is free, is up through December 19.

Previous Nosy Neighbor inquiries:
• What are those words painted on Murray Street, outside the new Poets House in Battery Park City?
• Does anyone know what happened to Steven Paoli, the former partner at Lappin Paoli?
• What’s going on with the half of Lance Lappin salon (formerly Lappin Paoli) that used to be a shop?
• What’s up with that fake supermarket set-up on the southeast corner of West Broadway and Worth?