On East 12th Street, 'The rats have taken over!'

On East 12th Street, we've heard from a few residents who have reported a growing rat problem on the block between Avenue A and First Avenue... (one resident took to leaving a note/cry for help on one of the residential buildings).

According to one resident, the dual construction sites across the street (Steiner East Village and East Side Community School) have contributed to the problem...



There are also two active construction sites behind East 12th Street with Thirteen East + West.

"The rats have taken over the block," the resident said. [On Saturday] morning, I witnessed a rat give chase to a squirrel across 12th Street. The squirrel won — barely."

The residents said they have called 311 to report the vermin.

Mystery surrounds faceless cartoon mural on East 12th Street

On East 12th Street near First Avenue.

Last week! (Above!)

Yesterday!



A source will only reveal that the mural will be of a "beloved bald cartoon character."

Well, Ziggy is too short… so it has to be Henry, right?



Updated: Thanks to everyone who confirmed this is the work of street artist Jerkface.

Things that you can do today on East 12th Street

Well, there are plenty of things to do today around the neighborhood... including, from the EVG inbox...

A Harvest Festival at The Children”s Workshop School on East 12th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C...



...and a rummage sale at the El Sol Brilliante Jr Community Garden between Avenue A and Avenue B...

There goes the neighborhood, again (again) (again)

Over on East 12th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A... EVG reader Sharon Lawless spotted the following vanity plate... in the (former?) shadows of the almost-demolished Mary Help of Christians and the latest luxurious effort from Karl Fischer. She asks, is this the Ghost of Christmas Future?



Oh, yeah! Beverly Hills 10009.

Reader report: Former Rawvolution space will be real-estate management office

Rawvolution, the raw vegan cafe/retail store on East 12th Street, closed last December "for renovations."

Of course, they are not coming back... workers have been renovating the space these last six or so weeks. A tipster on the block said that the storefront will be "a management office for the building."

This is one of the 28-29 buildings that Jared Kushner's Kushner Companies bought up in the East Village in recent months... Per the tipster: "Maybe it will be the central office for all of Mr. Ivanka Trump's East Village real estate holdings." More specifically, the reader understands that this will be an office for Westminster Management, a division of Kushner Companies.

[Updated] Report: 19-year-old woman dies on East 12th Street after night of drinking

A 19-year-old college student was found dead this morning in the lobby of 125 E. 12th St., according to published reports.

The Post reports:

A doorman discovered Jocelyn Pascucci — a Stony Brook University student from East Meadow — unconscious in the lobby of the building at East 12th Street and Third Avenue just before 5 am.

She had been bar-hopping in the neighborhood and drinking heavily, which may have exacerbated her heart condition, law enforcement officials said.

Pascucco, a Marine Vertebrate Biology major, got separated from friends and walked a short distance to the apartment building, wearing only one shoe, police sources said.

A doorman reportedly let her into the building because she looked "cold and drunk."

Updated:

The Daily News has more information.

Jocelyn and her friends spent the first part of the evening at a concert at Webster Hall, family members said. They hit a few bars afterward, but she soon got separated from her group.

Her last stop was a bar just down the block from where she collapsed, police sources said.

Richard Pascucci said he and his wife had just driven to Stony Brook to help their daughter with laundry.

"We made cookies for her and brought them to her for Valentine's Day," he said. "We always used to go fishing. I’m going to miss that."

Updated:

Several media outlets have posted Jocelyn's photo from Stony Brook's website.

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man on East 12th Street

No fucking idea what's happening here. But I love the photo. East 12th Street near First Avenue. Photo by Shawn Chittle.

East 12th Street to get shadier

EVG regular Greg Masters notes the arrival of new trees this morning on East 12th Street ... just east of First Avenue...

From the look of it, the truck has a lot more deliveries to make... please let me know if you see a tree go up on your block...

Schools making it work while repairs continue at 420 E. 12th St.

This past Tuesday, workers arrived at the Mary Help of Christians parking lot on Avenue A at East 11th Street to repair the eastern wall of the school at 420 E. 12th St. (We had photos here and here.)

According to the Department of Education, the structural defect, discovered Monday, "will require the immediate demolition and subsequent rebuilding of that wall." They expect the demolition work to take "several weeks."

Students from East Side Community High School (grades 6-12) and the Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School, who share the space at 420 E. 12th St., have been temporarily relocated to other schools.

We didn't have a chance to survey the scope of the project up close until this past weekend... and you can see in the following photos how extensive the work is...

Open Road Park next to the school is closed too, of course... so the skateboarders are also displaced ...

[Bobby Williams]

[Bobby Williams]

Meanwhile, parents of the displaced students are understandably concerned and upset... we spoke with a few parents, who commend East Side Principal Mark Federman for his leadership.

East Side students made it work last week... attending classes in hallways or the gym at PS 19 or holding study sessions at the Neptune on First Avenue...

[Images via @MarkEastSide]

On Monday, students had to leave the building quickly ... with the school sealed up, students don't have access to their supplies. East Side parent Jane Nina Buchanan wondered if any local business could help out with donating school supplies for the students. (Any queries should be directed to school officials via the East Side website.)

Meanwhile, some East Side parents have launched a website titled "No Way to Learn." The site's mission:

The school that we send our children to recently experienced a structural issue concerning the school building ... We don't know when our children will be allowed back into their school and we're not satisfied with how things are being handled in the meantime by the NYC Board of Education. We hope to share some of our stories, as well as essential information for the parents of East Side Community High School students, here.

Day 2 of the wall work at 420 E. 12th St.

Workers were back at 420 East 12th St. today... where they are taking care of a structural defect on the school's eastern wall...

Students from East Side Community School and the Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School, who share the space at 420 E. 12th St., have been temporarily relocated to other schools.

East Side officials held an informational meeting tonight for parents... perhaps we can get an update later about what transpired...

Also, NY1 has a report on the situation here.

Previously.

Wall work under way at 420 E. 12th St.

Workers arrived at the Mary Help of Christians playground early this morning to start work on the damaged wall of the school at 420 E. 12th St.

Here are photos from this afternoon via Bobby Williams on Avenue A and East 11th Street... You can see the workers on the school's roof ...

According to a notice from the Department of Education posted outside the school, the structural defect "will require the immediate demolition and subsequent rebuilding of that wall." They expect the demolition work to take "several weeks," and there will likely be evening hours as well.

Last evening, a worker said that they wouldn't really know the extent of the damage until they "get up in there."

Students from East Side Community School and the Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School, who share the space at 420 E. 12th St., have been temporarily relocated to other schools.

[Updated 9-26] Demo crews will remove part of the school wall at 420 E. 12th St.

Demolition crews rolled into the Mary Help of Christians parking lot on Avenue A at East 11th Street late this afternoon...

Workers on the scene said that they would be taking out part of the upper wall of the East Side Community High School. The wall, adjacent to Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church, was found to be separating from the rest of the structure yesterday.

A worker said that they wouldn't know the extent of the damage until they "get up in there."

We haven't heard an official comment just yet from East Side Principal Mark Federman. The address is also home to the Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School.

Updated:

A few more photos from late afternoon by Kimberly Fritschy via Facebook...

Updated: 8:19 p.m.

Updated 9/26:

According to this notice from the Department of Education posted outside the school ...

[EVG reader Steven Matthews]

The structural defect "will require the immediate demolition and subsequent rebuilding of that wall."

They expect the demolition work to take "several weeks," and there will likely be evening hours as well.

City has OK'd one-floor addition for Ben Shaoul-owned building on Avenue A and East 12th Street

[Google Maps]

Shortly after posting our item this morning about the impending closure of the Mary Help of Christians property ... a tipster sent us an FYI about more possible changes coming to Avenue A and East 12th Street. (Updated: Sorry, just realized that Jill mentioned this in our July 6 post about Mary Help of Christians.)

According to DOB records, the city has approved a one-story addition to 191 Avenue A (the building with the MRI medical center) and 444 E. 12th St. (the corner space with Poppy's).

The city OK'd the plan for 191 on Jan. 24 ... and last Sept. 26 for 444.

According to the city records, developer Ben Shaoul is listed as the owner of the buildings.