July
Woo, it's 100 degrees out! Photo by Derek Berg...
The great sinkhole of Tompkins Square Park...
Noted on First Avenue...
The Polish G. I. Delicatessen closes on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street...
DOUBLE RAINBOW... photo by James and Karla Murray...
I know what you did last summer ... spotted at Avenue A and Ninth Street entrance to Tompkins Square Park...
When you're late for the BBQ and can't find a cab, July 4 on Seventh and Avenue C ...
At the wake for Cher, the willow of La Plaza... photo by Steven...
August
About Jake, who roamed the East Village these past 11 years...
Solar eclipse... photos by Frank Franca...
The Confederate flag controversy on Avenue D and Eighth Street...
Summer storm ... photo via EJ...
The Village Voice announces that its ending its print edition...
A Starbucks for St. Mark's Place and Avenue A...
Tagging — then cleaning — the cube ... via Derek Berg...
Webster Hall closes...
Someone returns a book to the Tompkins Square branch 38 years after it was due back...
Sea Monster performing in Tompkins Square Park during the David Peel memorial ... photo by Steven...
September
Every recap needs a mannequin photo...
Workers remove Cher from La Plaza... via Steven...
Noted in Tompkins Square Park... photo by Bobby Williams...
Higher ed on Sixth Street ... via Goggla...
Hurricane Maria relief efforts continue at the Second Street firehouse...
October
Cafe Orlin wraps up 36 years on St. Mark's Place...
Jimmy Webb opens I Need More on Orchard Street ... photo by Walter Wlodarczyk...
HiFi ends its 15-year run on Avenue A... via Dan Efram...
RIP Flatbush... photo by Steven...
A crowd descends at the Halloween Dog Parade in Tompkins Square Park... via Steven...
... and at the Dog Parade ... by Stacie Joy...
Remembering Tom Petty at the Black & White Bar on 10th Street...
So many adventures... photo by Derek Berg ...
November
A fall sunrise from St. Mark's Place...
Publisher abruptly shuts down Gothamist and DNAinfo...
Friends and loved ones place flowers on Cooper Square where Elizabeth Lee was reportedly gunned down by a onetime boyfriend who had been stalking her...
The latest iteration of the International Bar closes, merges with its sister saloon, the Coal Yard, one block to the south on First Avenue...
Northeast corner of St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue will yield to a 7-story office building ...
December
The beloved washer-dryer combo of 10th and B...
The Grassroots Tavern will close after 42 years on St. Mark's Place...
Pre-Supermoon via Goggla ...
... and a holiday scene in Tompkins Square Park...
5 comments:
In the last four months alone we have lost the print edition of the Village Voice, and two websites: Gothamist — which became a bit too snarky after Gawker closed down, especially the overly competitive comments section, but did a good job covering local news happenings and had some great SantaCon brawl videos) and DNAInfo, which actually sent reporters to Community Board meeetings and talked to residents and store owners about local issues, something The NY Times, NY Post and Daily News rarely do anymore. So now we have to rely on local blogs like EV Grieve, which is the best of the bunch, because it’s about people who love the neighborhood for what it was, what it is, and what it still could be,, and not for how much money they can make off of a real estate investment. But not all blogs are created equal.
While EV Grieve has been mostly pro-tenant rights in both the coverage and comments, I see this more focus on profiteering and landlord righs in comments on other neighborhood blogs such as WestSide Rag, which reveal how gentrified the UWS has become. The Upper West Side was once a bastion of creative types in media, progressive liberalism, and a counterweight to the Wall Street bankers and conservatism of the Upper East Side. Rapidly gentrifying real estate seems to attract a very different midset, with many commenters complaining about “the projects,” street vendors who sell books, rent stabilization, and the “skyrocketing crime rates’ in a city with the lowest crime in decades. As Simon & Garfunkel once said, ‘A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest...” People really do like to live in a bubble, which is fine when that bubble doesn't hurt anyone else. but when that bubble has the effect of targeting and victimizing others it becomes dangerous, and leads to anger, bigotry, discrimination, and sometimes to even to fascism.
Thanks to EV Grieve, the ongoing assualt on tenants rights by landlords like Steve Croman, Raphael Toledano, Jared Kushner and others has been covered more often by other media outlets, and when the rest of the media chooses to ignore this type of news at least we can still find it here.
We should never underestimate the power of the press(blogs included). I first noticed evgrieve when I read a mainstream article about 51 Astor using the term "deathstar". And I've been following/blogging ever since. Then about a week ago our small blog ran a story about East Village Cheese and it ended up as a story on every major city TV outlet. Talk about the power of the press. Talk about how the media works today poaching stories or running with stories from smaller operations like blogs. So all the articles about our concerns over the drift of our hood are important because they too may eventually take on the significance - like the East Village Cheese - and wake up the media to the plight of the average everyday Joe/Joan and how they, we, have to live in this increasingly self-indulgent, greed-based society. If the media can get the landlord/shop owner to take action at East Village Cheese, maybe just maybe the media can help us all, all New Yorkers get a better deal for a better way of life. Happy New Year! Happy New Year!
Great editorial of year passed. Happy New Year to You and Our Community!
But what about the Opossum? Did she arrive too late to be considered for this year's competition? xo, jg
I hear you, JG!
Unfortunately, the editorial board, in its infinite wisdom, saw fit to include the washer-dryer combo to represent the Park for December. In the opinion of the Board chair, the opossum will continue to make headlines in the New Year, thus a likely candidate for Images and stories 2018, Part 1.
There was also a last-minute push to include the 35-year-old microwave as seen on 12th and A.
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