Meanwhile, in Tompkins Square Park this morning...

A boy walks his goat. (It was all for some video shoot.)

Crown and out on 11th Street

A reader notes that Crown 2, a boutique on East 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, has closed. They were just open for about one year.

Breaking: 11th Street shut down; some sort of 'nasty-smelling smoke'

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Patrick for the photo and info:

"They've shut down 11th btw 1st and 2nd aves. Some sort of nasty-smelling smoke coming from a grate/manhole. They've got con-ed emergency crews on the block."

Front door and stairs on East 11th Street

The Mary Help of Christians Church Flea Market returns Jan. 8

As the sign says here on Avenue A near 11th Street....

A great storefront (and noted)

11th Street just west of First Avenue...

Meanwhile, hanging inside the doorway... just took this shot for posterity. A reminder of what could be the biggest flop in Broadway history.

Shockers: Former Village Fabrics has a new tenant, and it isn't an upscale eatery or bank branch

High rents apparently doomed Village Fabrics, which closed on First Avenue and 11th Street back at the end of the summer... We all figured something Momofukuey would take over the corner spot... Well! EV Grieve First Avenue correspondent Blue Glass brings us the news of the new tenant:




A consignment shop called Eleven... with the tagline "where style is only the beginning." I'll take it.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Closing sale at Village Fabrics

Village Fabrics to close next month

11th Street condo owners want to chop down this willow tree

A group of condo owners at 613-617 E. 11th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C are discussing removing a 60-foot tall willow tree in their backyard because, according to residents, they don't want to pay for pruning it. It has been claimed that the underlying reason may be simply that they don't want to clean up the tree's leaves.

Older neighbors want to preserve it. There are also a lot of community gardeners on the block.

This tree has an interesting history. It belongs to a willow tree seeding effort throughout Loisaida in the early gardening movement. You can see many of the remaining willows in gardens along Avenue C ... and on the streets between Avenue B and Avenue C. (For example, there is a nice one on Eighth Street near Avenue C ... and several in the La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez garden on Avenue C and Ninth Street.)

This particular tree was cared for by a long-time Ukrainian woman who lived for about 50 years as the sole occupant of an abandoned five-story tenement — long before the squatter movement — without electricity, water or heat.

Maria agreed to vacate her building and move to another nearby apartment in the late 1990s. She left on the condition that her two willows not be destroyed. In the process of construction around 2000, workers sawed down one of the trees. A local gardener prevented the remaining willow with his body. That tree is now being threatened again.

It's a story of newcomers with little history destroying local history for their convenience and comfort. And for their backyard amenities, which, of course, are a staple of urban living, as distinct from suburban style.

One concerned resident said that the condo board president will re-evaluate the decision to have the tree removed. According to the resident, the condo owners want to prevent any possible risk of the tree falling. The playground for P.S. 61 is in the space adjacent to 613-617.

The barber of the Vill

Second Avenue near 11th Street.

White stripes

11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The Mary Help of Christians Church Flea Market returns today

EV Grieve reader Shawn Chittle sent along this photo from yesterday afternoon... prep work for The Mary Help of Christians Church Flea Market, which returns today to 11th Street and Avenue A...



If you swing by, then let me know how it is... good stuff? Total crap? Drugs? Porn?

No sign of a condo as flea market returns to the Mary Help of Christians

As I mentioned, The Mary Help of Christians Church Flea Market comes back this Sunday to 11th Street and Avenue A



Reminders! No drugs and porn!



Anyway, the return of the flea market here on a regular basis makes me wonder whatever happened to the deal to develop this space?

The Mary Help of Christians Church Flea Market returns next week

This morning, police told the usual crew of sidewalk sellers on Avenue A at 11th Street to move out...




One of the men told me the police said that they needed permits to sell their junk. The man didn't seem to mind because he'd be back next week "inside."

That's right... the Mary Help of Christians Church Flea Market returns for good next Saturday....



...and, please note... you'll have to sell your drugs and porn elsewhere...

Would you pay $54 million for this East 11th Street tenement building?

Back in February, I made mention of this 20-unit building on East 11th Street on the market for $6.7 million...



According to the listing, "Tenants are quiet, respectful of the property, orderly, and pay timely."

Anyway, I looked at the property again the other day on Streeteasy .... and whoa! Look at the price now!



$54 million! Yes, just a decimal point too far on the Streeteasy listing. The price is actually $5.4 million now, per the realtor.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Buy this 11th Street apartment building, where the residents "quiet, respectful of the property, orderly, and pay timely"

Religion and weather together on the 8's

On 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

ConEd back on 11th Street; ditto for 10th Street

We recently noted that ConEd had wrapped up its work on First Avenue and 11th Street... and just like that, the steampipe is back ...




ConEd has also been working day and night on 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue....apparently there are (or were) a few buildings and other other assorted apartments without power...




Thanks to EV Grieve reader Blue Glass for these two photos...

"Is this the new East Village?"

The Daily News checks in with an update on Village Green, the eco-friendly condo on 11th Street and its developer, Michael Namer.

What we learned from the article:

[A]ll but two of 36 units are sold in the building that has a green roof, uses Daikin HVAC systems instead of a boiler, has a wellness center, recaptures rainwater, and counts several buyers as bona fide supermodels.

Is this the new East Village? Maybe, maybe not, but Namer and company proved that good product marketed to the right audience will find buyers, even with prices averaging $1.1 million.

And a great headline for Joe Coscarelli's post on this at Runnin' Scared:

The East Village is Finally Safe For Yuppies, Parties and the Environment

(One item I didn't note on the Daily News piece: "[Namer] throws huge parties. One is so big they have to almost close the street.")



Previously.

A brief part of The New York Public bathhouse's history on East 11th Street

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Shawn Chittle for this great post on The New York Public bathhouse on East 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

As he notes, renowned photographer Eddie Adams bought the bricked up abandoned space in the 1980s and eventually was able to refurbish the building into his studio. Shawn also has a snippet from the DVD, "An Unlikely Weapon: The Eddie Adams Story." (Adams died in 2004.)

Read the whole post and watch the video about the bathhouse here.

Here's the trailer for the movie, which came out last year...



And the Bathhouse Studios is still in use today for various things...

One last thing... NYC Songlines notes that part of "Ragtime" was filmed here....

20-plus police officers respond to a disturbance involving one teenage girl on East 11th Street

An EV Grieve reader sent me the links to these two videos on YouTube filmed by Robert Galinsky. The following note was posted by Galinsky along with the first video... The video is dated April 24, 2010:

Before you watch these videos you need to know what went down before the camera rolled: This teenage girl was unruly, loud, and having words with a woman and being disruptive on 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. When the police arrived, she ran and got one block away with two officers in pursuit. They caught up to her and dropped her on the sidewalk. The two officers jumped on her, kicked her, cuffed her, smashed her face into the sidewalk, dragged her up and lifted the cuffs behind her back as to put pressure on her shoulders, her pants were falling down and they raced her back to the police car. She was crying and screaming the whole time. When back at the police car the two officers put her in the car and then pulled her out - this is when we began filming. As you watch note how many police officers, cars arrive. Note the tone of the officers as they speak to the young girls who arrive on the scene, note the panicky energy as they tell us to move back (they have a teenage girl cuffed on the ground, not a hulking brute) ... WHY WHEN SHE WAS IN THE CAR DID THEY NOT DRIVE HER TO THE PRECINCT TO DIFFUSE THE SITUATION OR EVEN AROUND THE CORNER? WHY DID 20-PLUS OFFICERS SHOW UP FOR A TEENAGE UNRULY GIRL?

[Please note: May be NSFW]

First video:



Second video:

Former O Mistress Mine space on the market

O Mistress Mine closed back in January, spurring fears of a vintage-store-barren neighborhood (not true to date). The store's space on 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue is on the market..



The rent is available upon request. Based on the image on the storefront and mention of "newly developed luxury residences" across the street (Village Green) in the listing, an upscale tenant will be preferred...

P.S.
O Mistress Mine relocated to Hoboken.