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Watch Last Rites at the Billy's Antiques and Props Tent

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Image via <a href="http://www.boweryboogie.com/2012/03/recap-funeral-procession-for-billys-antiques-on-the-bowery/">Bowery Boogie</a>
Image via Bowery Boogie

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As promised, this weekend Billy Leroy and a crowd of mourners said goodbye to the tent that's protected Billy's Antiques and Props on the Bowery for nearly 30 years. On Friday night, fans and well-wishers gathered in the tent one last time for live music and reminiscing. Then, on Saturday afternoon, pallbearers packed pieces of the tent in a coffin and carried it in a ceremonial loop around the Bowery.

The N.Y./Region section of the Times and the paper's Local East Village blog each have tales from Billy Leroy about the shop's history, which includes crackheads, dead bodies, and "rats the size of footballs." There's no better symbol of how much the Bowery has changed in recent years; Leroy even mentioned "Rag & Boner" in a eulogy recorded by Bowery Boogie.

· Recap: Funeral Procession for Billy’s Antiques on the Bowery [Bowery Boogie]
· With a Solemn March, the Bowery Mourns Its Tent of Antiquity [NYT]
· Billy Leroy and Friends Spend One Last Night in the Tent [The Local East Village]

Billy's Antiques and Props

76 E. Houston Street New York NY