Sunday, June 30, 2013
Week in Grieview
The Yippie Museum Cafe is closing (Friday)
Tacos Morelos coming to East 9th Street (Monday)
Update on crowdsourcing campaign for injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker (Friday)
The glassy future of East 10th Street and Fourth Avenue (Tuesday)
Former funeral home becomes Townhouse 49 on East 7th Street (Monday)
The polite tip jar thief (Thursday)
A case against using the term 'crusty' (Friday, 86 comments)
More about Davey's Ice Cream, opening this summer on First Avenue (Tuesday)
The Blarney Cove closed (Tuesday)
New security cameras for Campos Plaza (Tuesday)
Driver crashes into gate at Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)
Phillip Giambri's East Village (Wednesday)
Rite Aid's new look on First Avenue (Tuesday)
Illegal penthouse coming down on East Sixth Street? (Friday)
Retail for 51 Astor Place (Tuesday)
Name change at Billy Hurricane's (Tuesday)
Last call for the Motor City Bar today
Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Motor City Bar is closing on Ludlow Street
In time for a Star Spangled 4th of July Christmas!
Well! A tipster passes along this well-maintained Christmas-holiday tree spotted yesterday on Second Avenue and East Sixth Street... with some smartphone proof for Authentication purposes...
... and via OlympiasEpiriot ... the beauty made it through the night...
Looks like this is all legit in our estimation, though it's not ultimately up to us. Gruber MacDougal, spokesperson for the International Coalition of Tree Tossing in the Spring and Summer (ICTTSS), is currently in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport for unknown reasons.
And thanks to EVG reader Steve for this shot too...
How soon before it rolls into the bus lane?
Pride
Outside Nowhere on East 14th Street...
And visit the NYC pride website for a list of today's Pride-related activities...
Cutting back a damaged tree in Tompkins Square Park
A crew arrived early yesterday morning to attend to a tree in Tompkins Square Park ... a limb came crashing down the other day...
Here's what the tree, in the southern section near East Seventh Street, looked like later in the day ... via these photos by EVG contributor peter radley...
Saturday, June 29, 2013
A private party in a public Tompkins Square Park
Several residents have told us that part of Tompkins Square Park was closed off this afternoon for a private party of some kind... in an area between East Eighth Street and East Ninth Street along Avenue B... the residents said that they were unaware that a section of a public park could be shut down for some private gathering... the partygoers were flashing permits to people who were put out by what was transpiring ... even the men who are part of the drum circle along here were told that they needed to vacate the area. And, from what we were told, they were quite unhappy about it...
Updated:
One reader said that this event was a birthday party for a chihuahua.
Updated:
Here is information from the Parks & Recreation website with information on requesting a special event permit.
"From the smallest birthday party to the largest concert, special events take place every day in New York City parks. If you want to have any activity in a City park with more than 20 people, or where you would like to reserve a specific area within a park, you need to apply for a special event permit."
At Drag March Madness
The annual Drag March took last evening... and the marchers gathered at Tompkins Square Park for the trek over to the Stonewall Inn... and our friend editrrix shared some of her fantastic photos from the Park...
Find her full set of photos (51!) from last night here.
And be sure to check out Goggla's photos from last night here.
Noted
Spotted this morning on Second Avenue... in front of the Starbucks at East Ninth Street... Someone wrote "Kill him" in chalk with an arrow pointing toward the sidewalk space outside the 13th Step...
Anyone know what this is about?
I can't really think of a headline for this
EVG reader John came across this mini photo shoot this morning on East Sixth Street at Avenue B...
Now I wanna sniff some glue
Chico is working on a new mural at the newly reopened Croxley Ales on Avenue B ...
... and a better shot via @salim ...
Friday, June 28, 2013
Downed limb in Tompkins Square Park
A few readers sent along photos from Tompkins Square Park this morning... noting a downed limb in the southeast corner of the Park... we didn't see it ourselves, so we're not sure how extensive the damage is...
Drag March Madness starts tonight in Tompkins Square Park
Marchers will start gathering at 7 p.m...
From the Drag March Madness Facebook event page...
Once more the time has come to clutch our pearls and put on our marching pumps and make Manhattan a place worth being in again.
The Drag March in New York City emerged 20 years ago at the Stonewall 25 commemoration when the organizing committee for that event asked that drag and leather folk to leave their wardrobes at home. Instead of buying into this attempt at "normalizing", the Drag March celebrated Gay Spirit in all of its' manifestations and became the most authentic celebration of all that Stonewall truly was and is.
And a few Park photos from last year ... via @emmsape ...
Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken signage arrives
A sign has arrived to mark the impending arrival of Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken on Second Avenue and East First Street, as this photo via @superterrific shows... this is the latest outpost from chefs/restaurateurs Eric and Bruce Bromberg of the Blue Ribbon empire...
CB3 signed off on a beer-wine license for the place back in November.
This corner of of the Avalon Bowery
A case against using the term 'crusty'
[At a recent Thursday night PBJ Dinner in Tompkins Square Park]
Andréa Stella, executive director and co-founder of The Space at Tompkins, submitted the following post.
With the summer in full swing, a lot of our clients are coming back to New York, and we wanted to take a moment to give an explanation for a term that has been and will inevitably be thrown around while they're here.
Three reasons why we don't call our clients "crusties"
1) The term "crusty" is derived from "Crust Punk," a punk movement started in the 1980s out of England with followers who referred to themselves as "crust punkers." Being a "crusty" is like calling someone a Deadhead. 99% of our clients do not refer to themselves as crusties, so we don't either. The term gets thrown around a lot in the East Village because it's a quick way to define a group of folks who look a certain way, but that doesn't make it accurate.
2) When asked, "What do you consider yourself?" — almost everyone told us their name. The first time I asked someone that question, I felt like an idiot because I know that personally, I don't walk around introducing myself as, "Hi, I identify as a white female and my name is Andréa." I start with my name.
3) Our clients are individuals, and most of them are trying to transition out of their current situation. It may not always look like it to outsiders, but there are many complex issues right under the surface that each person copes with in their own way. Tagging someone as "crusty" deepens the stigma and does not promote positive change.
We're The Space at Tompkins, a harm reduction organization whose mission is to help homeless travelers move towards improved health and self-sufficiency. We've been doing this since 2009.
Learn more about The Space at Tompkins here.
[Updated] The Yippie Museum Cafe is closing
[Photo by Donna Rae]
EVG reader Stephen Popkin spotted this sign outside the Yippie Museum Cafe yesterday... both employees on duty at the Harmony Kitchen and Cafe, the space's vendor, confirmed the closure for this weekend.
At this point it's unclear what will happen with 9 Bleecker Street, the longtime headquarters of the counterculture group and home to the cafe just a few storefronts west of the Bowery.
On June 10, Colin Moynihan at The New York Times, reported that Yippie leaders have been fighting an attempt by a lender to foreclose on their three-story home. Things took a turn for the worse last month "when a judge appointed a receiver to manage the building and collect rent."
Per the article:
In court documents, Steven L. Einig, a lawyer for a company called Centech, which holds the building’s mortgage, stated that Yippie Holdings, which bought Number 9 along with a nonprofit called the National AIDS Brigade, had failed for more than five years to make payments on the $1.4 million mortgage.
A lawyer for Yippie Holdings, John Diffley, said in an e-mail that his clients “were compelled into foreclosure with payments being rejected” by Centech as part of a scheme or plan to take over the building.
Said Popkin: "Sad, but it seems over."
Updated 8:51 a.m.
We checked in with Rachel Kay, a member of the board of directors at the Yippie Museum ... she confirmed the cafe's closure. As for the rest of No. 9?
"At this point: we have no idea. I hope that possibly the building will remain and then maybe another cafe will take its spot. I just hope that it doesn't become what everything else in the neighborhood has," said Kay, whose father is The Pieman, Aron Kay. "It's one of the last remaining foundations of the East Village."
Previously on EV Grieve:
The Yippie Museum Cafe is in financial trouble
Reader report: 8 Crown Trade closing Sunday on St. Mark's Place
[Photo by Chloe Sweeney McGlade via Facebook]
8 Crown Trade, the family run T-shirt and souvenir shop at 28 St. Mark's Place, is closing on Sunday. Word is that they have been forced out by a large rent hike. Several of our Facebook friends who live nearby are quite upset by this impending departure...having watched the family raise their children and put them through college...
Now it will be interesting to see what takes the space... something of the $1 pizza-bubble tea-tattoo variety... or something that will cater to the incoming working crowd at 51 Astor Place in Midtown South ...
From 1967-1971, the address was home to the Underground Uplift Unlimited, who made the Make Love, Not War buttons, per Songlines NYC...
H/t Rhonda Hager Ryan
1st week of crowdsourcing campaign for injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker raises $11k
Last Friday, we posted information about the crowdsourcing campaign that CB3 member Chad Marlow organized to help raise money for the family of gravely injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker Akkas Ali (pictured above).
Marlow writes in with an update.
I wanted to thank you and all your readers who have helped with the fundraising effort for Akkas Ali, the florist who was severely injured in the horrific car crash on East 4th Street and 2nd Avenue on June 19.
I am pleased to say that, at the completion of our first week of fundraising, we have raised $11,792 from exactly 200 donors. This is an amazing accomplishment, but it is only a start. We need to raise a lot more before the fundraiser ends on July 20, and the first week is typically the easiest.
Here are three ways to help First, go to www.giveforward.com/akkasali and make a donation of whatever you can afford. Second, when you make your donation, leave a little message of support for the family when prompted to do so (the family has been reading these messages and says they are a source of rare joy during these difficult times). Third, and perhaps most important, PLEASE use whatever methods you can (including email and social media) to help spread the word about this fundraising effort.
Thanks to everyone again for their kindness and generosity!
The last that Marlow heard, Ali remains in a coma. Marlow hopes to raise $100,000 total for Ali and his family.
DNAinfo reported that the driver of the car, 32-year-old Queens resident Shaun Martin, was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, criminal possession of a controlled substance and vehicular assault.
Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Car smashes into East Village Farm & Grocery on Second Avenue; 6 reported injured (62 comments)
Campaign launched to raise money for gravely injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker