Still Punk, Still Proud, Still Breaking the Rules

About 20 years ago Debbie Harry was a regular on the Chelsea docks. Along with Chris Stein, Ms. Harry — the peroxide-blond frontwoman of Blondie, the pioneering punk-new wave group that she and Mr. Stein founded — would prowl the decrepit waterfront late at night.

“There were just a few old fishermen out there, and signs forbidding you to go out,” she recalled. “We used to always climb out on the piers. Enter at your own risk in New York style, you know. It was romantic.”

Now, of course, that area is home to the sports complexes of Chelsea Piers, jogger paths and gaping tourists. But Ms. Harry still comes by. “It’s great to meditate on the Hudson,” she said recently, looking at it from a bench behind Chelsea Piers just before sunset. “Sometimes at night if you come here and it’s really quiet, it’s just magnificent.”

Does that mean she’s still breaking the rules, sneaking in where’s she’s not supposed to be?

“I guess I am,” she said. “I didn’t notice anymore.”

Read the full article in The New York Times here.

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