Friday, December 31, 2010

Bike lanes cleared to make wrong-way bicycling safe again

Earlier today, city crews cleared the bike lanes on First and Second Avenues...





[Updated: I changed the original headline... was more inflammatory than I had intended... not to mention factually incorrect!...]

Have a Ball tonight



A little cover action via Love and Rockets, circa 1985.

Last night outside Le Souk

There was another nice party coming from the bowels of the former Le Souk space early this morning on Avenue B....




The evening also included a few fistfights. Per a resident, the bouncers at Le Souk kept yelling "Take it down the block, folks, just don't do it here." The door seemed to open at 1 am, and close around 4 or 5.





Meanwhile, the oddsmakers now say chances for a New Year's Eve party here are 3/1.

NYC mayor inspects snow-covered streets in expensive gray pinstripe suit



A little gratuitous Bloomberg bashing, if you will

As always, way to relate to the people, Mr. Mayor!

The bikes of East 11 Street sneer at the 8th St upstart

Oh boy. I was afraid of this. The other day, I interviewed the bike that lives on Avenue C and Eighth Street, which became an iconic symbol of the great blizzard of Dec. 26-27, 2010.

I figured the Getty photo by Mario Tama would trigger some jealousy among other bikes in the neighborhood. But nothing like what you'll about to read. (I wish that they could just be happy for her.)

EV Grieve reader Lisa passes along these photos ... and a message:

We, the Buried Bikes of 11th and A, hereby challenge 8th and C to a showdown — um, throwdown — er, snowdown! Bring it on!





I just wish that we could all get along.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: Q-and-A with the bike that became an iconic symbol of the 2010 Holiday Blizzard

Duane Reade continues to make people feel as if they're behind

Really? Valentine's Day? You heartless bastards!




We just got done buying people a few things for this past holiday... We need to relax now, catch our breath, binge drink, etc. I'll go in on Feb. 10 for some Whitman's Samplers for Valentine's Day and you'll have your stupid Easter candy out!

Today in possible snow hazards




Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.

Images, 2010

A sampling, in no particular order...

• Too many fires, such as this one on 14th Street and Avenue A (photo by EV Grieve reader Sergey)


• RIP Michael Shenker


Shepard Fairey



A BP protest



Sammy



The year of the bedbug(s)



• A murder outside Sin Sin



Smurfs, now and forever



• Saving Ray's



• Random street shot, Second Avenue



• Finding EV Lazarus



World Cup fever



• The end of the Mars Bar?



• Random street shot, Third Avenue



• Loving and hating the new bike lanes



• Exit the Telephone Bar, enter the 13th Step



Markey Hayden Bena, 1956-2010 (Photo by Bob Arihood)



• Just another Saturday night in the East Village



• A crash and chaos outside The Bean (Photo by Vautrin)



A murder on Seventh Street



Art Around the Park



EVLambo, now and forever — Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin' (Photo by EV Grieve reader Joe)

Thursday, December 30, 2010

As the Le Souk New Year's Eve Party turns

The Lo-Down just got off the phone with Mike Jones, deputy CEO of the State Liquor Authority. He tells Ed that Le Souk’s planned New Year's Eve bash at its former Avenue B digs is not happening.

Per the Lo-Down:

Jones said the one-night permit had initially been approved because the address on the application was incorrect. He confirmed that permit has now been rescinded and there is no active liquor license at 47 Avenue B. The 9th Precinct has been advised of the situation, he said.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Le Souk is 'exceptionally back to its former location'

Video tribute to the lost bars and restaurants of 2010

It's the time of year for, um, Year in Reviews... Jeremiah Moss checks in with some of the big losses from 2010 ... Meanwhile, BoweryBoogie takes a look at a few of the Lower East Side eateries that quickly flamed out...

And the folks at Grade "A" Fancy have gone cinematic with their tribute to the lost joints of NYC this past year... As Karen and Jon write, "The city will be poorer for the loss. Each of these had its own unique charms, but we relied on all of them to temporarily shut out the horrors of the homogenized Disneyfication New Yorkers have all had to endure over the last decade or so."

Now to their video...

Kenny Scharf's mural restored


After getting tagged a few days ago, Kenny Scharf's mural at the old Deitch Wall has been cleaned up... from a few minutes ago...


Meanhwile, via Animal NY, famed graffiti photographer Martha Cooper expresses disappointment in what happened to Scharf's work. Writes Cooper at 12ozProphet: "Much as I admire vandals, I feel these perps were mean-spirited and heartless." Be sure to check out the wall here on Houston and the Bowery circa 1983.

The man who has been living next to the trash at Starbucks




A reader notes that a man has been living in a snow pile next to the Starbucks on Second Avenue at Ninth Street the last few days... Apparently the employees of Starbucks and the pet store next door are used to him by now... He also refuses any kind of assistance from police or Social Services... Per the reader: "He's right in front of a bus stop too. All bundled up and packed in w/ the snow, garbage and pigeons."

Billy's survived the blizzard...

...but will it survive the Suburbanization of The Bowery?



A rather ominous message from Billy's Antiques ...

Meanwhile, American Gothic Billy's Style ... Spider and Sugar Bear...


[Photo by Billy Leroy]

Unruly patron tosses trash can through the HiFi front windows

A tipster passes along word that an unruly patron tossed a trash can from Avenue A and 11th Street into the front door and window at EV Grieve favorite the HiFi...


Per the tipster, the patron — known to those in the bar — became verbally abusive Sunday evening and was told to leave. He walked to the corner and returned with the trash can. Which ended up in the window. Given the blizzard, the police couldn't immediately respond to the scene. The bar did file a report later, though.

16 Handles closed until New Year's Day

Looks as if some renovations are going inside the Second Avenue FroYo mainstay....


Their Facebook page says they're be back open late Saturday afternoon...