Peep show

Cynthia Villalba and Gustavo Villalba-Cunha
Boerum Hill, Brooklyn

Do you usually leave the blinds open?
Cynthia: No. I mean, I like to, but I found out there’s a couple of registered sex offenders living on our block, so…

You keep them closed.
Cynthia: Yeah, I mean, I love them to be open, but a couple of times people have stopped and seemed to be checking it out in here. And I tend to walk around in here with, you know, almost no clothes on, so… [Laughs]

Are those your son’s pet birds in the window?
Cynthia: Oh yeah, come and see. His room is a mess!

Hi, Gustavo! So what are your birds’ names?
Gustavo: This one is Argentina, because he’s white and blue. And that one is yellow, green and blue, so he’s Brazil.

Do you keep the blinds open for the birds?
Gustavo: Mm-hm.
Cynthia: Every morning we lift the blinds.

Do a lot of people look in the window at your birds?
Gustavo: Yeah.

Do they ever say hello?
Cynthia: They stop and they say, “Your bird is gonna get a draft from the window.” [Laughs]

Roberto Mesa (a.k.a. Tito)
East Village

How did you feel when we took your picture through the window?
I was kind of scared, to tell you the truth, because nobody ever comes up to my window. But I’ve been here since 1980 in this apartment, and my window is like a community board for the neighborhood. Did you read this picture of Jesus Christ? [It says:how can you worship a homeless man on sunday and ignore one every other day?]

Yes.
To me that’s the most important thing in the window. Because when I put this up we were fighting to protect the homeless in the neighborhood.

So were you here for the Tompkins Square Park police riot in ’88?
Oh, I have everything on film. I was filming everything. That was like a documentary.

You made a documentary about the riots?
I never edited or cut the parts that I don’t need. But it’s a really good story, about Community Board No. 3, what was happening, the police, the fire department, the way they were attacking the homeless—a lot of controversial things, but in my point of view as an activist, I just was filming what I see, and what was happening. And it’s part of the history of the Lower East Side. Maybe someday someone will need to use it.

Vivien Wolsk
West Village

Is this your office?
Well, that’s where I do my computer private stuff, but here where we are sitting is where I see my clients. I’m a psychologist.

What were you doing when we took your picture?
Um, I was on my computer looking up jazz concerts in New York City for the next month or so. [Laughs]

So how come you don’t have blinds—don’t you mind people looking in?
Oh no, not over there. I mean, in here it would be bad, because I have clients in here. But in my computer room, I like looking out—I’m not worried about people looking in so much. They’re great windows, and when I’m working, it lets the light in. I love sitting there. Nothing goes on there that anybody shouldn’t see.

It’s just you at your desk.
Yeah, and on this street there’s a lot to see—this is a Sex and the City street. This is where they filmed Carrie going in and out of her house. And every day there’s a tour of, like, 30 people. There’s a lot going on.

Marilee Hayashi and granddaughter Hannah
Boerum Hill, Brooklyn

What are you up to?
Um, packing up the little one to go get cupcakes for her birthday party tomorrow.

Oh, happy birthday, Hannah!
She’s three!

Was your dog barking to protect her?
Yes. She’s really nice to people who are nice. So now she can see that you are people who are nice. [Laughs]

So are your blinds open all the time?
Not all the time. Only when we’re here. We open up for the light.

How often do you catch people looking in?
You’re the first!

Wow! People are really respecting your privacy.
Yes, this is a house full of protective grandparents.

Evelyn Gigante
East Village

We just took a picture of you through the lace in your curtain. What were you doing?
Watching QVC. [Laughs]

And what’s this display I see in your window?
Um, I’m a doll collector, and I just like to have them there in the windows where people can look at them.

So the curtain’s there to shield you from the street, but did you think that people couldn’t see through the lace portion?
No, not really.

So you don’t mind that they can see in a little bit?
No.

Has anyone besides us ever knocked on your window?
No, but they take pictures of the dolls and stuff.

Do you think you’re in some of those pictures?
I don’t know.… [Laughs] This time I got scared—you girls scared me. I thought, What are they doing now?

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