Street vendors would pop up on corners throughout Uptown during the mid-1970s. This man was a rug merchant who proudly displayed his goods to all passing by. I know of at least one person who purchased one of these to cover a hole in his wall. The merchant was a Palestinian from Jerusalem who spoke little English when I photographed him in 1974. Some of his rugs showed shots of the crucifixion. Ironically, on the day I photographed him, he chose to set up outside of a funeral home. Readers wrote to tell that they spotted him on Broadway for about 30 years. When he died, there was a memorial for him at Gigios Pizza for a while.
