Paul Sevigny’s Apartment
“I’ve lived in the same building in the East Village since ’95 or ’96. This is my third apartment here. At one point I lived on the roof, but it got to be too much carrying four crates of records—50 pounds each—up four flights at the end of the night. (I was in pretty good shape then, though.) I moved in here around 2000. It’s a railroad apartment that used to be divided, but I opened it up so it doesn’t feel small by New York standards. Recently I’ve been building bookshelves to hold the records. I have maybe 7,500 in total, and I’m sure one day all of my walls will be bookshelves filled with them. Occasionally, I’ll ‘trim the tree,’ so to speak, to get rid of the stuff that’s not that great, like my 12″ hip-hop singles or something. I bought the wooden swordfish on my wall at this church thrift shop in Gramercy [Park]. It’s about 120 years old. My pink Mickey Mouse sculpture was made by André [Saraiva, French artist and, with Sevigny, co-owner of New York City’s Beatrice Inn]. A few years ago Disney asked some people to design Mickey statues, and André sent back that version with an enormous dick. Needless to say, they weren’t too excited . . . Otherwise, I’m just trying to get rid of shit in my place. I have two collections that keep growing: globes and anything Napoleon-related. For Christmas or my birthday that’s all I get because my friends think I’m an avid collector, so it’s overtaking the apartment. But I’m not letting go of this place. It’s the story I’ve heard all my life: ‘My one regret was giving up that New York City rental.’ ”
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