The Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins combo is back, better than ever, or exactly the same

After a fews weeks of renovations, the Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins in the Shoppes at Red Square on East Houston between Avenue A and Avenue B is back in action...

Saturday!



Sunday!

Someone/Something broke a big window at the 1st Avenue McDonald's

From last night. Over here on First Avenue at the McDonald's next to the Subway… the big window is smashed. Seems pretty recent. (Pretty sure we walked by here Wednesday night and didn't see a smashed window.)

Anyway, take a look at the hole...



Oh wait.





Seems almost too perfect too be manmade. So we're going with alien. Like, an alien laser. Anyone else care to guess what happened here?

C'mon, you guys. This is important.

Sources: It might snow tomorrow

Item! Snow in New York... in December! Novel!

Depending on the source, we could see between 1-3 inches...

...or between 3-6 inches...

Either way, we will have a chance to rebuild the mini Straw-Through-the-Head Snowman in Tompkins Square Park.

Important questions on East 12th Street

A lone Christmas holiday tree stand sits, seemingly discarded, on East 12th Street near First Avenue. Is it from last year? Or in place for this coming Christmas holiday?

OK, who dropped the bag of whippets?

EVG reader Sam S. spotted these on East Fifth Street... We have them now in case you need to finish making the whipped cream for your sundaes, or pies or biscuits.

Noted

@evgrieve someone took a poop in front of Chase at Astor Place this morning & it was certainly human pic.twitter.com/Zw9PNmtmSg

— Bomarr Blog (@bomarrblog) September 28, 2013

Officials confirmed that this is not part of the Astor Place reconstruction.

Area blogger finally realizes dream held since School of Journalism

Byline in The Globe!



OK, so it's a "photo courtesy." It's still cause for an Arrowbration.



Previously.

[Winter Friday flashback] Rite Aid's sign gets more comical

On Fridays this winter, and probably spring and summer ... we'll post one of the 16,000-plus EVG, uh, posts from yesteryear, like this one from April 28, 2010 ...

-----


On 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

New era for tree house living room on First Avenue

It appears the long saga of the tree house living room is over. And a new era begins.

First, a flashback. As you will recall, there were pleas to keep the space here tidy. It didn't work. Trash piled up.

Meanwhile, the tree house living room attracted a steady stream of media coverage... such as in New York magazine's "Neighborhood News" feature...

Now, after a frustrating few months of back-and-forth... the tree house team members have opted for...



...plastic flowers.



(And there are even lights for the garden!) Anyway, we hope that there won't be a need for a "this is your garden not a trash bin" sign.

Previously.

Breaking: Kmart reminds us of the drunken revelry to come in two months

Two months out from St. Patrick's Day, and Kmart on Astor Place is ready for the action with this nifty display of cliches... noted, warily, by EVG regular William Klayer...

Gas station switcheroo shocker on Second Avenue: Gulf now a BP; bagels still served

Last night, we went for our usual morning bagel at the Gulf station on Second Avenue and East First Street and...

Whoa! BP!

Inside, while trying to overcharge me $1 for a fucking bottle of water, the attendant told me that the station made the switch on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, bagels are still on the menu...

But can we ever eat a BP bagel?

[The good old days of Gulf bagels]

Breaking: Chipotle gets new signage on St. Mark's Place

[Bobby Williams]

Previously!

[Via]

Despite holiday, it is not a fucking slow news day

[X17ONLINE.COM via the Daily News]

EV Grieve reader Spencer Brighton alerted us to this bit of international news... Katie Holmes and her daughter went for ice cream last night at Sundaes and Cones on East 10th Street near Third Avenue.

Per the Daily News, who put the above photo on its cover today:

The actress and her adorable 6-year-old stepped out at Sundaes and Cones in the East Village, known for its offbeat flavors. The pair wore coordinated outfits — Holmes in a crimson shirt, white shorts and $795 Yves Saint Laurent wedges with a poppy motif to match Suri’s $175 Milly Minis dress.

And what is known for its "offbeat flavors"? Sundaes and Cones or the East Village?

Meanwhile, thoughtless construction equipment ruins a perfectly good pizza on Avenue A

A reader notes the following this morning in front of (a surprisingly clean-looking) 100 Avenue A...



One of the pieces of equipment the workers are using on the (gas?) main repair on Sixth and A made a special delivery...



Not sure which came first — the pizza or the wheel.

Mulch Madness, of course

Workers dropped off a fresh batch of mulch today in Tompkins Square Park... will this tempt any pub crawlers to play King of the Mountain this weekend? (Please don't answer that...)

Photo by Bobby Williams.

Even air pumps are getting fancier, more expensive in the East Village

At the Gulf Station on Second Avenue at First Street...

Before! A beat-up machine that only took quarters...

Now!

The fancy digital one that costs $1.50...

[Photo yesterday by Bobby Williams]

P.S.

Have you tried the bagels at Gulf? They don't look or taste as good as advertised...

The Standard East Village now has an address for its fence

Oh, we just keep noticing the slightest changes/additions at the former Cooper Square Hotel since it became the Standard East Village... look, the hotel address is now on the fence too!

Because you want to know that the 7-Eleven on the Bowery has added more signage

However subtle...

Could be worse, right?

Previously.

The Meatball Factory opens today, puts up new mailbox

Earlier in the month, a resident who lives above the new Meatball Factory on Second Avenue and 14th Street noted that the restaurant had switched addresses.

The address of the previous tenant — the Arthur Treachers-Nathan's-Pizza Hut combo! — was 251. E. 14th St. But the Meatball Factory is using the address of the apartment building — 231 Second Ave., which caused some mail confusion ... all the Meatball Factory mail was going to the residents.

Anyway! Problem solved... the Meatball Factory put up a mail slot in the lobby of 231 Second Ave.

And thank you if you made it this far.

Oh, and The Meatball Factory opens today.

Kim Kardashian was in the East Village on Tuesday, ever so discreetly

[Zinno Park]

These photos were taken by Zinno Park at I Love East Village. For unknown reasons, Kim Kardashian and her sister Klyde Kourtney were shopping at Healthfully Organic Market on East Fourth Street east of Second Avenue on Tuesday. It's possible that we have nothing else to say on the matter.

[Zinno Park]