Farewell 2017...

[Click to go big]

Photo late this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park via Allen Semanco...

Our Happy New Year

Our Happy New Year

We awaken from one year into

another, will there ever be rest?

What are we going to do,

with this new blank slate.

Can we find it within, to do,

all we have promised ourselves,

Or will we leave our promises,

For another time, another year.

Make this the year of moving,

Forward with our dreams,

Why not, let’s make some,

Good news for a change,

If you have no dreams,

Help someone who does.

Let us bring joy back.

•

peter radley

Gone but Not Forgotten

Remembering a few of our friends and neighbors who died in 2017...

Bonnie DeWitt...



Rita Lasar...



Kenny Kendra...


[Photo via Facebook]

Toyo Tsuchiya...


[Image via Facebook]

Magdalena Wassiltschuk...



Elizabeth Lee...



Richard Hambleton ...



Erin O’Connor...


[Photo by Steven]

Diane Maguire...



Kelly Hurley...


[Photo via Facebook]

Bianca Bennett...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

Neftaly Ramirez...



David Peel...


[Photo in Tompkins Square Park in 2010 by Shirley Dluginski]

Eddie Hunt...



Guilherme Barreto...


[Image via Facebook]

Chester Kawalec...



Glenn O'Brien...


[Image via glenn.obrien.com]

Edouard Menuau...


[Photo by Steven]

Kate Millett...


[Image via PBS]

---

Longtime East Village resident Adam Alexander died before the December holidays ... I will do a post when more details are available...


[Photo by Steve Salmieri via Facebook]

Report: East Village resident looking for justice in the 2005 death of her husband in Iraq

The Post has a feature today on East Village resident Lisa Ramaci, who has spent the past 12 years trying to find out who was responsible for the August 2005 murder of her husband, journalist Steven Vincent, in the Iraqi port city of Basra.

She has spent long hours scouring the Internet schooling herself in the intricate politics of extremist forces in Iraq, and is currently suing the government of Iran and five major European banks that she says financed the thugs who killed Vincent and other Americans.

But now her biggest obstacle may be her own government.

Last week Ramaci sued the FBI in federal court in Manhattan to force them to release hundreds of pages documenting their nearly four-year investigation into Vincent’s death.

When asked if the FBI was stonewalling and perhaps covering up something in their files that they may not want her to see, Ramaci shrugged.

“Look, I was raised in an era of conspiracies but I’m not going to ascribe that to the FBI,” she said. “I’m going to be charitable, and say that they’re just overwhelmed with requests because there is no earthly reason that the FBI shouldn’t give me that file.”

You may read the whole article here.

Christmas trees lounge

You my now officially drag your [Christmas] trees (no home appliances please) to Tompkins Square Park, where workers have assembled the drop-off pen... which appears to have some sort of guard on duty...



Disguised as an ordinary outdoor snowman, this hidden camera with DVR provides motion activated recording of all activity (with 90-day standby battery).



The city is holding its annual MulchFest/TreeCycle on Jan. 6 and 7 (2018!) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tompkins Square Park is once again serving as a chipping location.

Photos yesterday by Steven.

Headline H/T!

Tompkins Square Park, 8:15 a.m., Dec. 31

Images and stories 2017, Part 2

Here's a sampling of the stories and photos from the past year... July through December (find part 1 here) ... thanks to everyone who contributed during 2017!

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...