Mysteries: Who placed these pink gumball machines along Avenue A?

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Updated below

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You may have seen these pink gumball machines fastened to light poles along Avenue A... there are at least two — one at 13th Street and one at Seventh Street...



As far as anyone can recall, they showed up some time between Saturday night and Tuesday morning, though no one seems to know for sure.

And the machines accept quarters (thank you Jason Charles for lending me a quarter!) ... and for that price, the machine dispenses one pink gumball (I remember when these were a nickel!) ...


[Gumball or palm not actual size]

Not immediately trusting of mysterious pink gumball machines dispensing pink gumballs, a careful analysis was conducted of the sphere...



Preliminary results show that this is, indeed, a ball of chewing gum in a candied shell.

No word just at the moment who might have placed these here... and, more important, why.

Updated 1/18

Thanks to tbar in the comments... turns this is a promo related to Machinegum, a new side project from Fab Moretti of the Strokes. (It's a good record BTW.)

More from the press release about the machines:

Pink gumball machines have been distributed throughout the city hung on lampposts, the color and multiplicity of which will symbolize the saccharine, lustful quality of commercialism. A single machine is also included in an unceremonious corner of a Sotheby's gallery during an exhibit of old master paintings. The machines dispense either bubblegum or clear capsules carrying pink painted quarters, depending on the luck of the draw. These capsules will also include a QR code that when scanned will direct the user to a security footage webpage that will give them exclusive content from machinegum.

There's also an art opening related to all this on Jan. 28.

Monday's parting shot

A morning view looking south on Avenue A at 10th Street via Vinny & O...

New Avenue A L-train entrances open tomorrow; 1st Avenue station will close next for renovations

[Photo by Brian Carroll]

The MTA is throwing open the doors to two of the Avenue A entrances to the L train tomorrow (Nov. 4!) at 9 a.m.

Earlier today, EVG regular Greg Masters got a look at the platforms, in the making for two-plus years (and on the wish list for decades) ...





Earlier this evening, the L Project Newsletter sent out a special missive about the opening, noting that the first two entrances opening are on the south side of Avenue A (Brooklyn bound) at 14th Street. To help commuters navigate the new entrances, the L Project team will be out to answer questions and point you in the right direction.

No word on when the the north side (Eighth Avenue bound) entrances will open at Avenue A. The MTA hasn't yet issued a news release about tomorrow's opening. (We hear one is on the way. We'll post info from that once it arrives.) Updated: Here's the MTA press release.

Meanwhile, the luxury of having entrances at Avenue A and First Avenue will be short-lived.

Back to the L Project:

Now that the Avenue A side will be open, the 1st Avenue side will close in about a week for a few months for structural repairs. We have to make sure it looks as good (and has the structural strength too!) to match the new one. The same thing will also happen for the north side entrances. We'll always have two open at the station. Look for signs tomorrow for more info.

Halloween evening at Starbucks on Avenue A

"No candy! :(

Sorry!"

One reader said they were giving away free hot chocolate to kids earlier in the afternoon. Still, the appearance of the no-candy sign gave the appearance of a neighbor who didn't care. Other businesses along Avenue A and the side streets were distributing candy and other Halloween treats.

Photo by Steven

A moment with the Party Bus Express on Avenue A this morning

A dispatch from this morning via EVG reader Clare Farris...

This guy was on the east side of Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street at 7 a.m., bus turned off, blocking the entire stop, just chillin. I pointed to the sign and made wtf hands, and he opened the door to talk.

This is a bus stop.

What do you think this is? (Kind of pointing to his obvious bus.)

This is a city bus stop. People get on and off here.

I’m allowed to be here, my friend. [doors close]

The MTA bus driver almost didn’t stop, had to be waved down like a taxi, and wouldn’t even acknowledge me when I asked if he had any way to report shit like this.

If it had been pretty much any other kind of bus, I could carry on with my life. Not when it’s a Party Bus Express.

Saturday's parting shot

Avenue A today via Derek Berg...

Saturday's parting shot

Photo on Avenue A from this morning...

The former Venus Body Arts space is for rent on Avenue A

Venus Body Arts recently cleared out of its 4-year-old home at 31 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street.

And the listing for the storefront owned by the NYCHA arrived on the market yesterday. (The photo in the listing shows the wrong space.) Asking rent is $90 a square foot.

As for Venus Body Arts, owner Maria Tash, whose clients have included Scarlett Johansson, Beyoncé and FKA Twigs, first got her start in a Fourth Street studio in 1992. She moved the jewelry, tattoo and clothing boutique to this storefront in 2013. The locations on Broadway and in London remain open.

A mailbox returns to 9th and A

EVG reader Dennis noted yesterday that a USPS mailbox has returned to Avenue A and Ninth Street.

The box had been gone for more than a year (or longer?) after sidewalk work started along Ninth Street. As Dennis said, it was previously anchored on Ninth Street off the Avenue A corner near the M8 stop. It is now on Avenue A a little north of Ninth Street near GelArto. (Speaking of GelArto, the DOH temporarily closed them yesterday.)

And Dennis checked: Pickups at this mailbox are 1 p.m. weekdays and 2 p.m. Saturdays.

This morning in large horse heads on Avenue A

At Seventh Street. Photo by EVG reader Sylvia G.

And a few more shots via Derek Berg...

This morning in u-turns on Avenue A

At 6th Street.

Slowing down the jackhammering on Avenue A

At St. Mark's Place this morning ... via Grant Shaffer...

Prepping for the Animal Rights March on Avenue A

Barricades line the east side of Avenue A from St. Mark's Place to 10th Street this morning ... ahead of today's Official Animal Rights March.

The march starts at the Flatiron Building at 2 p.m. ... and ends in Tompkins Square Park. You can read more about it on Facebook.

The march will impact bus service this afternoon along Avenue A...

Summer of Love Redux

[Photo by Goggla]

An early evening concert atop a bus on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place... more details TK...


[Photo by Dave by 7th]

... and a few more photos via Steven...





... and via Cheyenne...







Updated:

Thanks to a reader for this...

Here's more via the Facebook invite...

We are a roving music jam hitting parks across NYC! Incredible musicians led by drummer Ethan Kogan with Laura Newman on vocals will make spontaneous magic beginning in Union Sq Park at 5pm. Then we hop on Tycho Dan's Blue Bird Bus and head to Thompkins Sq Park for sunset and finally MacCarren Park for a nighttime DJ set with Penny Lane.

Come dance! Bring your bike and follow the parade spreading splendid spontanious music to all!

5pm Union Sq Park
7pm Tompkins Sq Park
9pm McCarren Park Williamsburg

'Before we got Starfucked' — an exhibit on Avenue A tomorrow evening

Jen Fisher, who has operated the book stand on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place the past four years, is hosting an exhibit of East Village history at the space tomorrow evening.

Here are some details via the EVG info box...

Before we got Starfucked

A personal archive from the late 1980s to early 1990s of photographs, newspaper cuts, flyers and B&W Xerox books will be displayed on Tuesday, August 1 from 5:30-8 p.m.

The archive is based on 1980s and 1990s events such as The Tent City in Tompkins Square Park, the annual Stations of the Cross, Father George Kuhn, and the fight against gentrification as it was recorded and put together by a resident of the Lower East Side. Seen in the light of today's ongoing destruction of our neighborhood, we believe that this archive has acquired historical relevance as a record of the Lower East Side and the life it once contained.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Starbucks confirmed for Avenue A

Paving the way on Avenue A

[Reader photo from last night]

After the milling action last week, crews returned last night to put down the new roadway on Avenue A...

Workers made it down to Sixth Street...



The new flyers taped up over the old flyers show that work will continue this evening...



And a look at how the freshly paved St. Mark's Place blends in with the freshly paved Avenue A...

Today's Avenue A milling report

Workers were expected to mill Avenue A up to 13th Street last evening and overnight ... apparently the rain delayed the start of the milling festivities... which might explain why they just got to Sixth Street ...



Perhaps there will be more milling tonight. Also! Signs on St. Mark's Place note that milling will take place from Third Avenue to Avenue A tonight.

The shadow pigeons of Avenue A

Video today by Grant Shaffer...

Previously

A muni-meter moment on Avenue A

EVG reader Melanie shared these photos from yesterday... the story begins when one of the juvenile red-tailed hawks, venturing further away from the confines of Tompkins Square Park, flew into the windows of New York Sports Club on Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street.

It then flew on top of a car and eventually landed on a muni-meter. Onlookers couldn't tell if the hawk was injured or just momentarily stunned... the hawk eventually flew off 10 minutes later...



Several residents also reported being stunned in 2014 the first time they saw the newly unveiled New York Sports Club building.

1st night of summer, Avenue A

A video posted by EV Grieve (@evgrieve) on Jun 20, 2016 at 5:46pm PDT

You have to click on the video to start... and to stop it... or it will keep on auto playing...