Bloodwrestling and sprinkling in Tompkins Square Park today

Another great afternoon in Tompkins Square Park today with Alpha Women Attack the LES ... Here, some photos of the Gorgeous Ladies of Bloodwrestling! and the Good to Go Girls ... all photos by Bobby Williams..

Thanks to Our Lady of Perpetual PMS, Jessica Delfino, Mike SOS and THE SHADOW...

Georgia on my mind

Yesterday, we posted that photo of the CBGB exterior that crews for the CBGB movie recreated in Savannah, Ga. ...

Our friend Maura Johnston at the Voice had another shot of the exterior yesterday ...

[Photo by Dylan Wilson]

Meanwhile, via the Huffington Post, a shot of Alan Rickman as Hilly Kristal on the set...

[By ‏@ForrestJim]

Fender bending on Seventh Street and Avenue A

Breaking.

Here we are at Seventh Street and Avenue A... where just moments ago (12:19), a cab and truck collided...

Our man Jose Garcia is at the scene...

Who hit what and first?

Per Jose: "Being hotly debated now. Looks like the delivery truck cut off the taxi. Unless of course it was the other way around."

Chico's plywood reservations

Chico's Kiss mural might be going away outside the former Nice Guy Eddie's...

... but it appears he will be painting the plywood during renovations of the new restaurant opening here on Avenue A and East First Street...

Stage set for Alpha Women Attack the LES today in Tompkins Square Park

A reminder...

ALPHA WOMEN ATTACK THE L.E.S
FREE Rock and Roll Variety Show
Saturday 2-6 p.m.
Tompkins Square Park

LINE UP IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:
Abby Weitz, Tania & the Revolutionaires, the Jennifer Blowdryer Band, Killer Killy Dwyer, GLOB: Gorgeous Ladies of Bloodwrestling!, Hila the Killa (Rapper), Penguin (trans-core punk!), Mindy Raf, The Good to Go Girls (dance!), Faith, Jessica Delfone, Ritz Riot.

More info here.

And now, a little something from Hila the Killa...

New York continues to support the arts!

Booo! This morning on St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue.

Tonight, tonight

Avenue A at East Third Street.

Get a Leg up on your Independence Day

Oh, yes — it's Jugger-nut with "My Sciatica," directed and everything by Nicholas Parish. And catch Jugger-nut's last show at the Bowery Poetry Club late Saturday night (early Sunday morning?) ... at 1 a.m.

God Bless America.

Desperate measures for more shade in the East Village

Even resorting to a BBQ drink umbrella here on St. Mark's Place this afternoon... photo by Bobby Williams.

Alpha Women Attack the LES tomorrow in Tompkins Square Park

From the EV Grieve inbox via our friend Our Lady of Perpetual PMS...

ALPHA WOMEN ATTACK THE L.E.S
FREE Rock and Roll Variety Show
Saturday 2-6 p.m.
Tompkins Square Park

LINE UP IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:
Abby Weitz, Tania & the Revolutionaires, the Jennifer Blowdryer Band, Killer Killy Dwyer, GLOB: Gorgeous Ladies of Bloodwrestling!, Hila the Killa (Rapper), Penguin (trans-core punk!), Mindy Raf, The Good to Go Girls (dance!), Faith, Jessica Delfone, Ritz Riot

Plus! Guest speakers, band merch, performances, art, wearable art/jewelry & punk crafts by:
Our Lady of Perpetual PMS, Darren Roberts, Anais L'Amour, & Juggernut.
Plus free DIY literature.

CLOTHING SWAP:
Bring or Take CLEAN women's Spring & Summer clothing ONLY
(no winter clothes please)

HAPPY HOUR AFTER PARTY, 7-9 pmish:
(Party w/PMS & friends, punk by DJ Hollis James)
Beauty Bar
231 E. 14th St.
21 +

The CBGB Festival starts next week , and you can get free tickets here

The inaugural CBGB Festival starts next Thursday and runs through July 8. More than 300 bands will play at 35 venues in Manhatan and Brooklyn... there are also films and conferences and stuff.

Anyway, the CBGB Festival folks, with a big hat tip to East Village Radio, passed along some free individual full-combo passes to the fest for EV Grieve readers. Gives you access to the film, music and conference panels. You're on your own with the booze and bath salts.

Thanks everyone! We gave them all away.

So we have six individual passes to give away.

In lieu of a contest or telling us about your favorite CBGB bathroom moment ... the first six people who email us can can have them... or at least the info about how you get them.

Oh, and you can use the EV Grieve email here. And it is for ONE pass — good for access to the whole festival. (Not two passes for each person.)

And you must be 21... and plan on actually going and not forgetting about it later...

[Image via the CBGB Facebook page by one of our favorites, Danny Hellman.]

CBGB lives! (in Savannah)

[via Facebook]

The CBGB biopic starring Alan Rickman as Hilly Kristal is filming in Savannah, Ga., both on Broughton Street (on Paula Deen's block!) where we think the bar's exterior above was created... and in a studio ... the crew replicated the inside of the bar in Savannah's Meddin Studios, where all the interior shots will take place...

A merger and new stairs for St. Brigid's

[Early last evening]

There's news to report about St. Brigid's, the under-renovation church on Avenue B and East Eighth Street. Good scoop in the current issue of The Villager, where Albert Amateau reports that St. Emeric’s Church, built in 1950 at 740 E. 13th St. at Avenue D, will close and merge with St. Brigid's.

A few passages:

Joseph Zwilling, archdiocese spokesperson, said he hoped for a September opening of St. Brigid and St. Emeric but he was not able to give a definite date.

Father Lorenzo Ato, priest in charge at St. Emeric for the past four years, will be the pastor of the new parish and has already moved into the rectory. Ato, a native of Peru, will also continue to serve as assistant director for Hispanic media for the archdiocese.

Zwilling said there was no decision yet on the disposition of the St. Emeric’s church building or the two-story parochial school built in 1952 next door on E. 12th St. and Avenue D.

[St. Emeric via Google]

Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the work continued at St. Brigid's... where Bobby Williams took shots of the new front steps going in... (being poured?)...

And Dave on 7th noted how the cross looked at sunset...

...and a shot of workers carry a window frame for one of the towers...

UPDATED: Expect the howling to continue at former Aces and Eights space

[June 5]

Well, perhaps the looooooooong saga about a new bar-restaurant for 34 Avenue has finally come to a close.

As we've repeatedly cut-n-pasted from past posts, CB3 has rejected all the recent plans for a bar-restaurant-performance space here. Aces & Eights, the last tenant here, closed in October 2010.

Anyway, a tipster hears that a dog-grooming business is opening here. A little fishy seeing as the rent was upwards of $15K for the main floor, but it has been empty for some time...

Last August, Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo reported: "We don’t think you can get a liquor license at this point because of so much negative history,” said ... a broker for Coldwell Banker, noting her client is growing desperate to bring in a new tenant."

The address showed up three consecutive months on the CB3/SLA docket this year ... and the mystery applicants were a scratch all three months.

The listing at Living New York says that the space has been rented.

And the for rent sign is down...

Updated 11:02 a.m.

We heard from Danny Frost, who confirmed the rumor. He said the space will be home to Ruff Club, "a social club for dogs."

"We think of it as an updated take on 'doggie daycare' with an eye toward the unique tastes and lifestyles of our East Village neighbors," said Frost, an East Village resident. "A major piece of our concept is a dog-and-human-friendly space in our clubhouse where members can socialize, create stuff, or maybe even get a little work done."

Subject to licensing, they do intend to offer grooming (and eventually boarding) services. By the way, they are taking the first floor and basement. The karate kids will stay as the tenants upstairs...

And, for the record (based on those comments to this post!): "We do not intend to offer food or drink."

And they have a website where you can query them for more details.

DOH temporarily closes Yaffa Cafe on St. Mark's Place

We learned the hard way that the DOH temporarily closed one of our perennial favorites, Yaffa Cafe on St. Mark's Place... when we showed up for a meal...

Per the DOH website, the city issued 60 violation points ... No. 1 on the list: "Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation."

Anyway, we look forward to going back when they reopen.

UPDATE: They reopened Friday.

[Updated] DOH temporarily closes Lucky Cheng's

During a walk by Lucky Cheng's last night... people were checking out the DOH sticker on the basement door here on First Avenue... According to the DOH, the city issued 79 violation points, including for the usual "evidence" of things as well as for a variety of flies...

As Grub Street reported a few weeks back, Lucky Cheng's will relocate to 240 W. 52nd St. when the new space is ready... here's the listing for the First Avenue space.

Back in April, owner Hayne Suthon told us that they'd hope to move in mid-July, though that timetable wasn't a definite.

Updated 10:44 a.m.
Suthon responded to our email... She says that the inspector arrived Wednesday afternoon, after the space had been closed since Saturday night... and while the bar-restaurant was not open yet for business.

"We do our DOH walkthrough every night a little over an hour before we open, with a manager and kitchen manager," she said via email. "[The inspector] just walked in because the door happened to be open. The manager was not even there, the kitchen guys just recently arrived, the porters just started cleaning."

Suthon also takes exception with elements of the report; that some of what was in the report is wrong, such as the time element of the inspection.

"Interesting time warp. I think he realized into the inspection that we were neither open nor even close to opening ... If he had come in when we were open, the porters would had fully cleaned, we would have done our DOH nightly walkthrough — this would not have happened."

In any event, she said that "we fixed what we needed to fix." And she expects to be back open as usual tonight.

Next stop!

Dunno if I never noticed the "Sex and the City" CitySights NY tour buses before... like this one that stopped on First Avenue near East Ninth Street... and yes — tourists do have to enter the bus between her legs.

Why you'll see Catherine Deneuve dressed like a donkey tonight in Tompkins Square Park

The second and last of the Films on the Green Festival er, films in Tompkins Square Part happens tonight with a free screening of "Donkey Skin," or as I prefer [in French accent] "Peau d'Âne."

And let's just cut-n-paste this from Wikipedia ...

Peau d'Âne (English: Donkey Skin) is a 1970 French musical film directed by Jacques Demy. It is also known by the English titles Once Upon a Time and The Magic Donkey. The film was adapted by Demy from Donkeyskin, a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a king who wishes to marry his daughter. It stars Catherine Deneuve and Jean Marais, with music by Michel Legrand.

And please, save all your Woos for Catherine Deneuve until the end of the film.

Here's a snippet of the action...



Oh. Could I buy some pot from you?

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the City of New York Parks & Recreation sponsor the Films on the Green series. The movie starts at 8:30 p.m. ... and is in French with English subtitles ...

And maybe buy some $1 popcorn at Ray's beforehand...

How was your free movie in Tompkins Square Park last night?

[via @DoubleOsme]

I didn't go to see the free screening of "Taxi Driver" last night in Tompkins Square Park. But I'm curious how the experience was for you. Anything to report, either positive or negative...?

And I did hear about "the bloody-faced crusty stumbling through the crowd."

Rock and roll over at Nice Guy Eddie's

Oh, just checking out the scene at the former Nice Guy Eddie's on Avenue A at East First Street... and the plywood is up...

...and it appears it will soon extend over part of the Kiss mural on the south wall...

The 16-year-old bar closed on June 17, and will be converted into a restaurant serving American comfort food.

Headline h/t

Previously on EV Grieve:
How do we feel about the Kiss mural outside Nice Guy Eddie's?

A happy Schmidty ending

As you may recall, Schmidty the parrot went missing the other night... But! After an anxious day-and-a-half ... his owners report a happy reunion:

He was hanging out on a tree on Avenue D and 12th street. A young guy named Jorge called us at around 8am. After many false alarms in the past two days, this was truly our parrot ...
Without the support of the amazing community this would have not been possible. Thanks you to all of you who helped ...

Prepping for 'Taxi Driver' in Tompkins Square Park

Bobby Williams checks out the preparation for tonight's free screening of "Taxi Driver." And as you can see, the films this summer will be shown in Crusty Meadow the grassy area in the middle of the Park... Am curious if security will be checking bags ...

Germany vs. Italy

A few scenes from this afternoon's Euro 2012 semi-final soccer match ...

Photos by Dave on 7th.

Jane's Sweet Buns officially closed; Proletariat taking over space

[June 20]

As we've pointed out, Jane's Sweet Buns on St. Mark's Place has been closed of late...

Now, Grub Street gets confirmation that Proletariat, the 10-seat bar that opened in the back of the Bunnery in May, is taking over the full space... and they will open in the expanded storefront tomorrow.

In addition, the bar will eventually add a food menu that includes beer-steamed mussel buckets, baked clams and "more beer-friendly fare," Grub Street reported.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] There's now a (sort of) secret beer bar behind Jane's Sweet Buns

Bakery opening on St. Mark's Place

Has Jane's Sweet Buns closed?

Will you shop at the incoming Kips Bay Fairway?

A little outside our usual boundaries... but maybe this might impact someone's shopping routine... Crain's (via Racked) reports that a Fairway is opening in the Second Avenue strip mall that also houses the (often pleasant) AMC Loews Kips Bay 15 ... the grocery will replace the Office Depot and Crunch Gym there at 30th Street.

Had a neighbor who'd always make a weekend morning/afternoon out of hitting either the Harlem or UWS Fairway... I recall going once and being impressed... and wishing that it was closer to home.

[Updated] Reader report: Man clipped by bus on Avenue A

A few minutes ago... a reader noted that the man, now sitting in Avenue A, got clipped by a northbound M14, which was idling just past St. Mark's Place ... we don't have all the details... but the man did appear to be talking to the EMTs on the scene...

Updated with photos at 3:23 p.m.

Via Bobby Williams...