The Tao of 9 Second Ave (2008)

"The Tao of 9 Second Ave" is a film that documents the life of an extraordinary building on the Lower East Side of New York City. It was known to some as the Church of All Nations, to others as CUANDO, to still others as the Taoist Temple of the Ancestral Mother. The main character is the building's last resident, a squatter and Taoist priest who is trying to cope with modern life in his rapidly changing neighborhood. The story begins when Sifu Jai receives word that the old Church of All Nations building is going to be demolished to make way for high-rise condos. Sifu Jai's temple and home of 15 years is a historic building that has fallen in to a state of beautiful abandonment and decay. Though it's official address is 9 Second Avenue, the hulking brick edifice with the distinctive caged roof is a creature of the Bowery, and its story is the story of that street, all turbulence and iconoclasm, in abbreviated form. "The Tao of 9 Second Ave " is a portrait of an extraordinary man and his native neighborhood at a powerful time of transformation and gentrification. It is a film about the changing cultural and architectural landscape of New York's infamous Bowery, as told through the life of one building. Featuring special appearances by Akim Funk Buddha, Steve Ben Israel and Baba Israel.