Ride with Norman Reedus (2016) s02e06 Episode Script

Look, Look, look, Look, look, look.
Look, look, look.
It's.
Look, look, look.
It's showtime! You ever seek, look.
That movie "Saw"? Time! We've literally scoured the globe to find the strangest, most exciting, most exotic acts we could find and bring 'em here for you.
This is the greatest New York slice available.
It may be the world's playground, but to me, New York City is home.
The most murder than any other street in America.
And I'm back, ready to catch up with family and friends That's Mingus.
That's my kid.
Even if just for a minute.
How the hell did I end up right here? When I was a kid, my mom took me to my first concert.
It was Laurie Anderson, and she came out in this big glowinthedark outfit with a fluorescent violin and a projection of her head rising above her.
I'd never seen anything like it.
I mean, I was 15 years old, so I hadn't seen much of anything.
But this was magical.
It opened me up to a whole new world.
It's people like Laurie that drew me to New York.
She's been part of this city's avantgarde art scene since the '70s.
When I saw her up there in front of me, daring and fresh and real, I knew this is where I belong.
New York's been my home for nearly 20 years, but these days, I'm away a lot.
I'm back here for a charity event in a few days, and before I hit the road again, I'm gonna go out and see the people and places I've been missing since I've been gone.
- Hey! - Hey.
The hardest part about being away is missing my son, Mingus, so any chance I get to see him, I take it.
Hey, are you close? We're meeting up here in Washington Square Park Okay, bye.
A place we've been coming to together for years.
Hey, man.
How 'bout a game? All right.
What's up? I'm Norman.
- Cornbread, man.
Please.
- Nice to meet you, man.
You're second Cornbread I've met.
You play chess with him? No, but he gave me a tattoo.
Well, this time, I'm gonna give you a whuppin'.
- God.
All right.
- You might win.
No, I doubt it.
Do you wanna play white or black? I'll go black.
That's cool.
All right.
Boom.
This park is famous for chess.
Back in the '50s and '60s, the world's best players came here.
It's a tradition that's lived on throughout the years.
And every day, the hustlers are here, workin' on their next move.
- Check.
- Dang.
You're killin' me right now.
- Check.
- Come on! Dang.
Wait a minute.
You're good.
Let's try one more.
Let's try one more.
All right, all right.
Remember envision to win.
Ho! Checkmate.
- Not bad.
- Boom! People see that? No, ain't nobody see that.
Nobody see that.
I got my kid comin' somewhere.
I want him to play you.
When he was little, he used to come here in this park and play chess.
Did he ever play Cornbread? I don't think so.
His name is Mingus.
I don't think he ever played you before.
- I'mma beat him then.
- There he is.
This is Mingus right here, yeah.
Hey, man.
Nice to meet you.
Come on.
Come on.
I'll be honest with you, man.
I never, ever got beaten by a kid.
No.
It's a lot of pressure.
I taught Mingus when he was young.
Well, you know how your father won? How? He actually envisioned the win.
I see my win.
It's coming up.
We'd come here, play game after game.
You got it, Mingus.
Get him! And I'd watch him beat people in minutes, and I'd think, "That's my kid.
" - Is that mate? - That was.
Told ya! - Thank you.
- Bye, Cornbread.
Thanks, brother.
Take care, guys.
Cornbread.
I was tellin' him that you used to play here when you were a kid.
- Yeah.
- Hustle the hustlers, you know.
- I still come here.
- You still play out here? Yeah.
I bring my dog to the park, and then I sit and play chess.
Nice! Seeing Mingus in his element, I'm reminded of how great it is that he's grown up here.
So where do you take Kumo, over here? He's got that armor you find in every real New Yorker.
We'll head this way.
The biggest misconception about New York is that New Yorkers are rude.
It may come off like we hate everybody, but it's because we live in this city and have everything at our At our whim.
Because of the intense environments that we we endure to survive here, we're probably gonna be the first ones to help you and not Not blink twice about it.
Like all uncool dads, I love showin' off my kid to my friends.
All right.
We're crossin' right here.
So we're headed to meet Mario Batali before Mingus heads home, and I go on a culinary adventure.
Boom.
He's coming on his Vespa.
- Yeah.
His Mario Kart, actually.
- Mario Kart? You know, I'm really good at Mario Kart.
I don't know if you know that.
But I'm, like, really good at Mario Kart.
- I'm kind of amazing.
- I doubt you can beat me.
- What? - I doubt you can beat me.
Are you kidding? I hear a scooter.
Yeah.
- What's happenin'? - Haha! How are you, brother? Your bike looks so much bigger than my bike.
How long have you been riding a scooter in New York for? - Twelve years.
- Wow.
It's so good to see you.
Good to see you.
Yeah, Mario.
How are you? Do you remember Mingus? Well, not as tall as this.
You look fantastic.
- Good to see you again.
- How are you? - Good.
- Everybody grows up.
- We're gettin' old.
- All right.
I love you.
I'll see you back at the house.
- All right.
- Bye! - Have fun.
- Bye! How you been, man? I haven't seen you in so long.
I know.
We've been close to getting together.
- Yeah.
That's true.
- And now we're back together.
It's about time.
Where are we going? We're going to Artichoke Basille.
It's my favorite nonmine slice.
- Really? - Yes.
Fantastic.
Mario might be a titan of the culinary world, but to me, he's a friend who's always dragging me to his favorite spots.
We're off to indulge in one my favorite things, pizza for breakfast.
You're so iconic in in this.
- Yeah.
- Everybody knows you.
They say, "I can tell it was you by your shoes.
" I'm like, "Really?" It's the shoes that gave me away?" We're in the heart of Greenwich Village, a place that's long been the center of New York's countercultural movements.
This is where the '60s happened.
It's where people question what's going on in the world and then try to change it.
That energy is contagious, and I feel it every time I go through there.
I always love this area.
See the word "pizza"? That's us.
Perfect.
I'm starvin'.
Last summer, all the hot comedians were comin' through.
You would see Jerry Seinfeld do a 10minute set on a Friday night unannounced, Amy Schumer, unannounced set.
- What where is it? - These three places, Cafe Wha? And then around the corner and then the one downstairs.
Wow.
Very cool.
I got two large comin' out.
Five dollars, please.
- Mario.
- How are you, my brother? - Good.
How are you? - Meet my friend, Norman.
- What's up, man? - Nice to meet you.
We're gonna sit over here and have a couple slices.
Absolutely, I got a nice hot meatball pie just came out.
- This place is awesome.
- This is, in my opinion, the greatest New York slice available.
You're only sayin' that because it's true.
Exactly, exactly.
Meatball slice.
All right? Yeah, this is perfect.
Cheers.
This this pizza's amazing.
Thank you very much.
- You guys are genius.
- Thank you.
Did you guys go to all the comedy shows and stuff he was tellin' me about? Sal likes to get up there, do some improv work once in a while.
- I'm not that good.
- Really? Couple of glasses of Tito's, he loosens up.
He gets right in there.
So, Mario, this is your hood right here? Greenwich Village, my brother, it's where I've always lived in New York.
I've been here almost 25 years.
Give me a cutter.
I made that for you.
Go all over Naples, you won't find pizza like this.
Only in New York City.
Well, you know what it is.
You see how they got the nice char on those, special pans? - That's the story.
- Yup.
So how do you get the char on the pan? You don't wash 'em.
- Don't wash 'em? - They're washed.
They're just not scraped off fine and clean.
Careful.
That is hot as balls.
Hot as balls.
You're gonna have to let those balls rest, young man.
I know we're in the West Village, but those balls have to rest.
Have to rest.
Can we get two more of those, Randall, please? What's it like running restaurants in New York? Do you have certain areas where certain restaurant types go, or Although we have Babbo, Lupa and OTTO all within fourblock range, they're each different niches.
They're different experiences.
It's not the same menu.
OTTO used to be where they had the Saturday Night Live after-party.
Wow.
It was called One Fifth at that time.
And every Sunday, Andy Warhol had brunch in there.
What? So you could only imagine the intermingling and magnificence of the DNA in my walls at that restaurant.
Dude.
Did you ever meet John Belushi? - Yeah, of course.
- Really? Yeah.
Dude, what's what's he like? Well, he was a wild man at that point.
It's hard to imagine the less than zero, bright lights, big city time being beaten.
I agree.
I'm with you.
It might I was drivin' my kid to school.
And and his friend goes, "Yeah, you know,".
One Direction is kind of like "the Led Zeppelin of our generation.
" - No, please don't say that.
- And I slammed on the brakes, and I made them walk the rest of the way to school.
Exactly.
I think New York is still a great place, though.
Still, there's no tight pants and bell bottoms.
And John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd runnin' around town Right? Doin' blow on the pizza lag.
Yeah.
Those were the days.
Those were the days.
Let me get one more bite.
Try a bite of that Sicilian.
It's cooled down enough.
- That's delicious.
- Yeah.
Thanks, guys.
- Thank you.
Take care.
- Thanks for comin'.
- That was awesome.
- Let's hang more.
- Dude, let's have a weekend.
- Let's have a silly dinner.
Let's have one of our old weekends together.
Yes, yes, exactly.
I love the stories that live in these walls.
No matter how long I'm here, there's always more to discover.
Yeah, baby.
Norman Reedus, any last words? It's fun to squeeze and play with.
Let's go poke a bear.
Please welcome Susan Sarandon and Norman Reedus! ["Big.
["Big Bad.
["Big Bad Travelin' ["Big Bad Travelin' Man".
These days when people think Brooklyn, they think hipsters.
But not too long ago, it was all warehouses and hard edges, and there are still pockets where you can see the past peeking through.
Those are the best places for a bike shop.
So I'm on my way to Vax Moto in Gowanus.
What's up, man? How's it goin'? Are you Dustin? Hey.
Norman.
Nice to see you, man.
- All is well? - Everything's good.
Yeah.
A little nippy.
But it's good.
This place is awesome.
Yeah.
Thank you.
You've got a ton of bikes in here.
Ton of bikes.
There's about 200 plus bikes in here right now.
Do you work on people's bikes here, or let them work on their own? We do.
It's a 24hour kind of communitybased garage.
Well, how'd you get into this? I I grew up with motorcycles out on Long Island.
And, like the best things in life, you know, they're not kind of planned.
They just sort of happen.
Yeah, yeah.
And here we are.
Which one's yours? Mine are scattered throughout the entire place.
Somebody donated this to me, '82 Beamer.
- This is my shovel.
- What's Vax? My two sons, Van and Jax.
- Cool.
- Yeah.
It's very important for these guys to feel like they're kind of part of it.
I bartended for a very long time, and every time, you would walk through the door, I would know your name, so I try to do that here.
- It's great.
- That's how it should be.
I might store somethin' here sometime if that's cool.
Sure.
Yeah, sure.
Wanna eat? Yeah! Hi.
Nice to meet you.
How did you guys meet? Everything's sort of bikerelated.
Mutual friend.
I have a pretty substantial background in food, Yeah.
And it just sort of developed into a food cart.
- We're married now.
- Bosom buddies, right? Ebony and Ivory.
Right.
I love it.
- Exactly.
- I bet this place is, like, poppin' in the summer.
There must be people This will be the first summer, you know.
Really? Right on.
So, look into the camera and tell everyone to come here.
This place will be popping in the summer.
Come here.
What a cool spot this is.
It is, you know.
It's a weird thing taking something that you're passionate about and turning it into a working scenario, you know.
Good for you, man.
Right on.
Thanks.
Bikes, simple.
Bikes and tacos, dude.
Damn! This is awesome.
Nice.
Glad you like it.
Yeah.
Do you spend a lot of time in New York? Yeah, man.
I have a place in Chinatown.
Nice.
We have a '74 Airstream that we keep up in Rhinebeck.
- Right on.
- So this world alone is a little bit overwhelming sometimes.
Even the smallest little sliver of something with trees and grass, it makes a huge difference.
Well, we should go for a ride and And work it off somewhere.
Yeah? This couldn't be a better day.
Yeah.
Justin and I are riding the Belt Parkway to the end of Brooklyn, Coney Island.
It's not exactly trees and grass, but it's a place with cool ocean air and a touch of the bizarre.
I don't get to do this very often.
It's amazing, you know, when you live somewhere, like, when's the last time you were on the Empire State Building? First time I ever did it was last year.
When was the last time you were out here? Ten years ago or somethin'.
It's definitely changed a little bit.
Coney Island was once the country's biggest amusement park, beach, rides, boardwalk.
New York's off to good old fun, anything to beat the heat.
It was a wonderful world only a short ride away.
It's gone through its up and downs, but seeing the rides come into view, I can't help but feel transported.
The Cyclone's violent.
It's a lot of bumps and bruises.
Yeah.
I love it.
Wow.
It's a ghost town.
They are trying down here.
Yeah.
They've retained a lot of what it was and freshened up what needed to not be here anymore.
What is this orange thing? That used to be, like, a parachute ride.
I love this the smiley face right here.
It's awesome.
This is the greatest branding in the world.
- It's so psycho.
- It's got to be terrifying for a little small kid though, no? Right? Should we get our photos made on a tshirt? - Absolutely.
- Right.
What's the border? Any one you like.
"Homies forever.
" Homies forever.
Let's do homies forever.
Yeah.
Here, I got it.
I'm just gonna sit in your lap.
And then just hold me around the waist like Really? Good lord.
Perfect.
That's awesome.
Thanks, guys.
These are awesome right here.
Let's take a look.
Wow.
Look, look, look! It's showtime, Coney Island! Join us on the inside of the worldfamous.
Coney Island circus sideshow.
We literally scoured the globe to find the strangest, most exciting, most exotic acts we can find and bring 'em here for you.
And it's right inside these doors.
My God, dude.
Shut up.
Wow.
Thank you, thank you.
Now, a lot of people think sword swallowing is fake, but if you look closely, you can see what we in the biz like to call stomach boogers.
That's the bile.
Now, Norman, come on up here.
I'm gonna bend forward to you.
I'm gonna give you a signal.
You grab the handle of the saw and just pull it straight out of my body.
What? All right, Norman.
Are you ready? Yeah.
- Dude.
- There you have it.
That's for the home video.
You know what was nuts is I could feel the guhguhguhguhguh.
You can feel the ridges kind of in the sides of my throat.
Yeah.
- Dude, that's crazy.
- Now, since you're up here, the Coney Island torture chair.
We are the last fulltime 10inone sideshow in the world.
You're gonna have 10,000 or so volts of electricity coursing through your system.
The thing I really love about it is everything in the sideshow is real.
Unlike magic, there is no illusion.
Norman Reedus, any last words? Someone take care of my cat.
Before, a lot of people wouldn't come to the freak show.
There was this stigma that it was gonna be creepy.
But no.
These people are talented.
A one, a two, and a Whoa.
- That was awesome.
- Very nice.
That was so cool.
Does that burn your tongue? If you do it wrong.
How did you get into all this? After high school, I got into magic, and then I just segued into sideshow.
But when I came out here, I met a different type of individual than I had ever met before, naturalborn freaks as they're referred to, like, you know, the Lobster Boys and that sort of thing.
Wow.
It just changes the way you look at humanity in general, I think.
Nice.
Who does the artwork up here? It's really cool.
They're all painted by our artist in residence, Marie Roberts.
Marie, are you home? I'm home.
Hi, Ray.
- Hi.
- Norman.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
You let me if they give you any trouble, okay? I know.
You have machetes.
- They've seen what I can do.
- Pleasure.
Thank you so much.
Take care, man.
Wow.
What a cool studio you have.
- Thank you.
- How did you get into this? - I ran away from the sideshow.
- Really? My Uncle Lester was the talker at the Dreamland Circus Sideshow in the 1920s.
So I grew up thinking people without arms and legs were normal.
And when I heard that painting was a career, I thought, "Wow, let's can the freak show" and go become an artist.
" And then, 20 years ago, I met Dick Zigun, who started Coney Island, and I brought down all my Uncle Lester's sideshow pictures and memorabilia.
They're photos of all the freak show, The Dreamland Freak Show, eating at Stauch's Restaurant.
And Dick said, "It's nice to see that Lionel the Lionfaced Man can put on a paper hat and have fun like anybody else.
" And I thought, "Wow, this organization is a little bit different," except I think this is all normal.
Yeah.
And what's out there isn't.
Does that make sense? Absolutely.
I always think I can't be amazed any more.
- Thank you so much for coming up.
- Absolutely.
And then I see places like these, and I'm reminded of a magic that's waiting behind each new door.
Sideshows have allowed audiences to confront and embrace some of society's taboos.
Dude, thank you.
What a cool guy, dude.
Really appreciate it.
It was great to meet you.
And for me, any art that can entertain and open minds, well, that's what it's all about.
New York City! Yeah! The sun's setting on a long day.
Home wouldn't be home without old friends, and I'm looking forward to catching up with some tomorrow.
Doyers Street is, in the history books, the street that has the most murder on it in America.
[Thunder.
For hundreds of years, New Yorkers have faced their challenges headon and persevered.
You got to have muscle in your hustle to really make it in New York, or it will spit you out.
It will stomp you out.
The city is constantly throwing challenges at people, and if you are resourceful, you you'll be able to survive it.
It kicks you in the nuts, and it gets you down or just evolve from that.
Stay alive and don't leave New York City, you know.
That's it.
Good morning.
I'm heading to one of my favorite spots in Little Italy, a neighborhood in the center of it all that's never lost its Old World charm.
Hey, good morning.
Good morning.
This is my favorite coffee shop in all of New York.
It's got such a good ambiance, the old tin ceilings.
My grandfather started the, place, been a pastry shop since 1891.
- Wow.
- Over the years, we've added a few things like WiFi and stuff like that.
But, the back bar is the original back bar from when the bar was here before the building was built.
Wow.
We must be doin' something right if we're out here that long.
Buddy, you're killing it.
Yeah, Tony! How are you, dude? Nice to see you.
My dear friend, Tony Shafrazi, he's a gallery owner, art dealer and a longtime New Yorker.
Have you been here before? Yeah, before you were born.
Really? I've known him for years, and seeing him always makes me feel like I'm back home.
Well, I remember you and Saul, like, on Green Street.
You were, like, about How old were you? You were about 20 years old, goodlooking guy and was a goodlooking guy? Remember Michael Stipe had that glam party, and I put on a A seethrough slip, and I was at the party, like, in a dress.
And then I had to go shoot the cover of Vanity Fair - the next morning.
- Right.
And I literally ran into the door in a dress, like, hung over.
The Shafrazi Gallery, was that your one and only gallery, The Shafrazi Gallery? No, no.
I had an apartment on Lexington Ave and 27th Street, and I decided, "I'll turn this into a gallery.
" Wow.
It was a great thing at that time.
- Now, you got me going.
- Keep goin'.
- I love these stories.
- The thing about New York City, which is we go through periods of societal changes and time warps and generations of boys and girls from all around.
They get together with music and culture, whatever's goin' on.
They're inspired to something starts, you know, jumpstart, like seeing you when you're 18 and like that.
Keith Haring, by the way, came at that time.
And then, because of that, JeanMichel Basquiat, - everybody came.
- Wow.
Wow.
It's crazy how much everybody tries to relive those days.
I mean, like, we had a little gallery called Collective Hardware down there.
You know Ronnie Cutrone? Pfft.
Do I know Ronnie Cutrone? Ronnie used to paint up in there.
Yeah.
He was best friends with Lou Reed.
That's one of my favorite things about New York is, like, II can meet people like you and Ronnie Cutrone and all these And look you at you, man.
All these awesome mother.
It's great.
Reminiscing with Tony, it reminds me of how this city has cultivated groundbreaking creative minds.
Yeah.
- You're getting wet on this now.
- I don't care.
This is one of those plastic jackets.
I can get it wet.
Tony introduced me to that world.
He helped me find my place here.
- New York City.
- Yeah, man.
I love Chinatown.
It's, like, one of my favorite areas.
I love you, Tony.
Thank you, man.
I wanna go there to have a drink with you, okay? - All right.
For sure.
- Bye.
- I'll talk to you.
- God bless.
What's up? How's it goin'? Hey! This is my friend right here who does all this graffiti.
Just a few blocks south of Little Italy in Chinatown is Nom Wha Tea Parlor.
It's a neighborhood staple with some of the best dim sum around and where I'm popping in for a quick bite.
- Hey, Norm! - How's it goin', man? - What's up, man? - How are you? Good to see you.
- Welcome.
- This is a popular spot.
Here.
Let's warm you up a little bit with some tea.
Yes, please.
Just pour it in my pants.
How long have you had this place? It's been in my family for over 50 years.
Um, my Uncle Wally started as a dishwasher and just worked his way up into owning the place.
- Where were you born and raised? - I was born in New York.
You know, I grew up in Chinatown.
- I live around the corner.
- You do, really? Yeah.
I have a son who is 17 and goes to school here.
- Really? - You have kids? - Yeah, two kids.
- How old are they? - Five and 3.
- Nice.
You got to start applying for high school now.
You got to apply for a school, like, as you're having sex in the city.
I love all this.
This is like Yeah.
It has such a home feel to it, as well.
I was really lucky that when, um, I inherited the place, like, all this stuff was intact.
You know, this this artisanal familyrun business is slowly dying off.
- Chicken pot pie dumplings.
- Wow.
This looks delicious.
- Steamed pork bun.
Enjoy.
- Wow.
Thank you.
Man, those egg rolls are gigantic.
Yeah.
Crack it up in the middle.
My god.
This is awesome.
It's really light.
This is our steamed pork bun.
Here.
Take half of it.
Yeah.
It's fun to squeeze and play with.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You must know everybody within a 10block radius.
I know everyone on this block.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Doyers Street is, in the history books, the street that has the most murder on it than any other street in America.
No way.
So back in the late 1800s when the Chinese first settled here, there were a lot of rival gangs.
And just how the street is, like, it's kinda, like, curved.
Yeah.
One would come up one corner like see another gang would come down the street from the other end.
And when they met, they would throw hatchets at each other.
Wow.
And then there was a series of tunnels all along Doyers Street.
They would use those as escape routes.
Really? New York is such a special place, and I feel like it's my duty for a place like this to kind of keep it like this as long as I can.
Dude, thank you for having me, man.
- Yeah, it's my pleasure.
- This place is awesome.
Thanks for coming in.
Appreciate it, yeah.
- Yeah, you're cool.
You're cool.
- Well, thank you.
It's oldschool, familyrun places like these that make this city so dynamic, a delicious reminder that New York is the ultimate melting pot.
Bye.
Thank you so much.
I can't believe I was sitting in New York City traffic this morning.
Yeah! We.
We could.
We could lay.
We could lay you.
We could lay you on.
We could lay you on a.
We could lay you on a bed.
We could lay you on a bed of.
Yeah.
This is real.
- Let's try it.
- Let's do it.
How the hell did I end up right here? Yeah.
All right.
Like this? Very slowly lower yourself onto the bed.
This is nice, actually.
It's not so bad, is it, Norman? This feels pretty good.
Now, if you're into it, while you lay on the bed of nails, I could take a cinder block, place it on your chest, and then I will smash that cinder block to bits with a 20pound sledgehammer.
Let's do the electric chair.
The SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan was once the epicenter of the art world Haring, Basquiat, and so many others.
It was the kind of community I dreamed of.
There was like artists, musicians, skateboarders, graffiti writers, that was the dream, you know, and it was all here.
I felt honestly like this city is our playground.
We see a scaffolding, and we do pullups.
We see a hill.
We sprint it.
Like, certain things you look at with that explorer mentality, that's where the creative comes from.
In the '90s, SoHo is where I came and where I met a ton of incredible artists like Sante D'Orazio.
- Hello! - What's up, man? How are you, dude? Good to see ya.
I haven't been here in forever.
Sante's a photographer and a painter who made a name for himself in the '80s and '90s fashion era.
I'm stopping by for a glimpse at some new pieces he's been working on.
Come look at my last paintings.
Yes, please.
These are covers.
These are great.
"Fiery Doom to Death.
" This paint I used, it's very toxic.
But look at Look at what it does.
- You know? - This I'm blown away by that.
- That's amazing.
- Yeah.
Yeah.
We've been all over today.
I was with Tony Shafrazi.
All his stories are just mesmerizing.
Tony's famous story is about Picasso's big painting, "Guernica.
" Wow.
"Guernica" was at the Museum of Modern Art.
Tony wanted to write something against the war.
And so he went in there with spray paint and spraypainted the "Guernica.
" He spraypainted on the painting? - On the painting, man.
- My God! Yeah.
He wasn't allowed.
I don't know if he's still allowed in the Museum of Modern Art.
Remember Tony? Yeah, that Tony.
When I did my first big jobs for Italian Vogue, the photographer was always thought of as the auteur.
- Right.
- It was 12 pages.
I handed in 12 pictures Wow.
Which was totally unheard of 20 years later.
Yeah.
It's the same with films.
I mean, when I started doing movies, producers were there to give the directors - whatever they needed.
- Right.
And then it turned slightly different.
It didn't seem like the directors had all the power anymore, and it wasn't their vision.
It was a series of nos Right.
Until you ended up with the product, - you know - Right.
Right.
Which is crazy to me.
Yeah.
Norman, I just remember us sitting on the curb one day, Yeah.
Both of us feeling really down and out.
And the thing that I love is that your success makes me really happy.
- Aw.
Cheers to that.
- Cheers.
Sante was around when I first got here, and he's been a friend of mine ever since.
And hanging out, laughing at the early days, there's nothin' like it.
It's true this city never sleeps.
- You tell 'em.
- You tell 'em.
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
But that means that every hour is rush hour.
- Want to get in front of me? - Dick.
Comin' through.
Sorry.
Puppies.
All this traffic's got me missing country roads.
I've got a charity event later, but I'm making the most out of my last day of freedom and meeting up with a group of friends that's all about getting a quick taste of the open road.
- What's up? Hi.
- Hi.
Norman.
Nice to meet you.
What's up, everybody? Hi.
- Hey.
Chris.
- Nice to meet you, Chris.
- Hey, man.
How you doin'? David.
- What's up, dude? I heard you guys do a ride every week, poke the bear or something like that.
We do, yeah.
We get up to Bear Mountain, get out of town.
So you guys just go up there and poke the bear and turn around and come right back? Well, it's just an excuse to get out of town.
Everybody goes their own way.
Some people go back into the park.
Some people go, like, to the diner.
Some people come right home.
Very cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Did you guys know each other before this? Yeah.
Everyone kind of knows each other through motorcycles, I guess.
When I started riding, I never, ever saw any girls riding, so I saw her riding.
I was like, "Hey stop.
" Like, "I ride, too.
Like, be my friend.
" And, like, same with her.
I was like, "Hi," like There's like a gazillion badass girls that ride together now.
Like, I've met so many.
So cool.
Can I ride with guys on this thing? - Yeah, let's go.
- Yeah, sure.
-Is that cool? Let's go poke a bear or whatever.
There's a lot of potholes you can get air from.
- It's pretty awesome.
- Yup.
- Not a bad view.
- Yeah, right? Sitting just north of the city are epic river views and the Hudson Highlands, mountains that stretch along the Hudson River.
And one of the bestknown peaks is Bear Mountain.
It's funny how quick you can get out into the sticks.
Yeah.
The Palisades is my favorite road to ride in New York City.
Yeah, this is beautiful up here.
It's really nice to have the urban environment, but to get on the highway and just bang through some of those S curves, the sun shining on your back, there's there's no other There's no other feeling like it.
I can't believe I was sitting in New York City traffic this morning.
- I know.
- And now I'm here.
Yeah! This area is the location of one of music's many mysteries.
Back in the '60s as Bob Dylan reached a new level of fame, he crashed his motorcycle while riding around here.
Afterwards, he disappeared from public life to recover, or did he? There's no record of that crash, and rumors have swirled that it never even happened, that it was a way for Dylan to get out of the spotlight and take a breath.
Listen, whatever did or didn't happen, I understand the desire to get away sometimes, and this area is the perfect place to do it, even if just for a few hours.
There's snow still up here.
All these creeks and stuff are so pretty here.
I think I've finally found a weekend antidote to the packed streets of the city.
Would you like to play a game? Whoa! Hot! Norman, Norman, this Norman, this has Norman, this has been Norman, this has been so Norman, this has been so much Norman, this has been so much fun.
It's a pleasure.
This has been Nice to meet you.
Fun.
Riding up here is just what I needed to clear my head.
Thanks, guys.
Bye.
Yo, ride safe.
But there's a hot sauna waiting for me in the city, so I'm turning around and going back the way I came.
I like coming back to New York from being somewhere else.
Um, it's kind of my favorite journey.
When you leave and you're not surrounded by all that energy, you kind of have withdrawals, so when you get back to the city, you're sort of relieved.
It's time for some OldWorld rejuvenation - What's up, buddy? - What's up, homie? All in the comfort of the East Village, at the Russian & Turkish Baths.
Let's do this.
How are you guys? Nice to see you.
- Nice to see you.
- Put your valuables here.
This may take a little while.
If anyone knows the gems hiding in plain sight, it's my friend, Nur.
When are you gonna open a jewelry store here? He's the guy behind some of the city's best nightclubs like Wax, Sway, and Rose Bar.
How long has this place been here? - More than 100 years.
- Wow.
And this is truly part of New York's sordid history.
- We're going old school here.
- Yeah, right? Housed in a former tenement, rumor has it that these baths were once a hangout for gangsters.
This place is awesome.
You've never been in Russian place, right? No.
I've been to Russia, but I've never been here.
You're gonna enjoy it.
We have a lot of celebrities here, as well.
- Yeah? - Colin Farrell, Jennifer Lopez, Uma Thurman - Danny DeVito.
- Danny DeVito.
Give me the Uma ThurThurman.
She was strong, actually.
Was she? Then I'll do the DeVito.
- Let's go.
- All right.
You guys gave me two right shoes, by the way.
This is his Russian room.
The hottest room is here.
I like this one.
This is like the surface of the sun.
This is the cold pool.
It's not actually just cold.
It's freezing.
It's 50 degrees.
You're crazy.
I'm never going in that.
It is.
You try.
You'll see.
Now, this is fresh oak leaves.
Wow.
Fresh oaken.
And this is oliveoil soap.
All right, guys.
Are you ready? In here? You ever see that movie "Saw"? It kind of has that vibe in there.
Would you like to play a game? You guys play, like, relaxing mountain music or anything? And lay down.
Are you okay? I think so.
Whoa! Hot! I feel like that one sock that gets lost in the washing machine.
Now you go straight into the pool.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Listen.
Quick.
In and out, just like that.
- In and out.
- Come on.
Let's go.
Whoa! Whoahoho! Your turn.
All the way down, in and out.
You got a little A little smudge.
- Thank you so much, guys.
- Thank you.
- It was awesome.
- My pleasure.
-So much.
- That happened.
- That was good.
I feel like a new man.
Right? You've been one of my best friends for as long as I can remember.
22 years, I think.
You're the next big thing.
Ridiculous.
Right, right.
You've had several different nightclubs.
When we first met, it was Wax and Sway.
That's when we were hangin'.
- Yeah.
- The generation right now, if they saw the that we did, they'd have a heart attack.
- They'd freak out.
- Yeah.
100%.
Is it like an emotional roller coaster, or do you, like, do you, like, have days where you're like No, you know what? I've done martial arts all my life, a lot of jiujitsu.
- Really? - It's like that's my meditation, like, what keeps me sane, especially in my job.
Wow, dude.
Wow.
Dude, I love you.
I got to go do a Madison Square Garden thing.
- Do it.
- Thank you for doin' this.
- Love you.
- Yeah, brother.
Cheers.
Growing up, the only New York I knew was from the movies "Midnight Cowboy," "Taxi Driver.
" The city was a mythical place.
That New York was dark and punishing with bumps and bruises, but it was also beautiful and poetic.
And when I got here, it was everything I dreamt about.
I've lived in a lot of different places, but I always love coming back here, for sure.
New York has a way of making you feel anonymous, and it's important for me to go incognito for a few days.
But soon, reality pokes through Let's party.
Gets me back in fancy clothes and in front of some lights.
Please welcome Susan Sarandon and, yes, wait for it, Norman Reedus! All of this can get a little chaotic, but it's part of being able to do what I love Thank you.
Just being on my bike with life happening around me.
This city with all its good and its bad helps shape me, and now I get to watch it shape Mingus.
It's part of our family.
And like all the best relationships, it doesn't sugarcoat anything.
And every day when I wake up and I look around, that's what I remember, and that's why I'm never gonna leave.