Meanwhile, the Love Saves the Day van makes an appearance

On Second Avenue near Ninth Street.

Not everyone thrilled about new ramen place coming to the former Loves Saves the Day spot

Seventh Street at Second Avenue, at the site of the shuttered Love Saves the Day. Which is becoming a ramen place.

Mundane details continue to fascinate at former Love Saves the Day spot

Wow, the ramen guys really are going to brick up the windows. That seems...weird.

Brick by brick

Every time I walk by the former Love Saves the Day store, something is different. Yesterday, the windows were inexplicably bricked up.




Oh, and while I was standing there, a cabbie got a ticket.

Beer and wine for May

The dismantling of the old Love Saves the Day location on Second Avenue and Seventh Street continues. Meanwhile, as Jeremiah reported, the space is becoming something called May Chan Ramen. On April 20, they'll be going before the CB3's SLA & DCA Licensing Committee for a beer and wine permit.

Tough Love

I stood outside one of the windows on the East Seventh Street side of the former Love Saves the Day store. I wish I could describe the noise coming from the inside.



It was like hundreds of tiles were being smashed...it almost sounded frenzied, as if someone handed rowdy teens a few cases of Sparks and some sledgehammers and said, "you won't get into trouble."

Anyway, as Jeremiah reported, the space will become the neighborhood's 300th ramen joint. Not much left inside.



Still not used to seeing this space so, well, empty.



[Photo via Newsday by Damion Reid]

Where is Karen?

Speaking of Loves Saves the Day...what happened to Karen? Despite LSD closing, she told me on Jan. 24 that she would continue with her flea market in front of this location — or on the other side of the street, whatever they're calling the former location of the Kiev.



However, I don't recall having seen her lately...Has anyone spotted her around the neighborhood...or know what happened to her?

For further reading and viewing:
Love Saves the Day is Closing, Karen wants to remain here in the East Village (YouTube)
Karen Saves the Day (Jeremiahs's Vanishing NY)
Last Trip to LSD (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)
End Comes for Outpost of East Village Counterculture (New York Times)

One more thing: No more pay phones at the old LSD spot

Back on Jan. 13, I wondered how long the pay phones outside the former Love Saves the Day store would last...



I have my answer: They were removed this week.

Love for sale

After Love Saves the Day closed for good on Jan. 18, I wondered how long it would take for the LSD signage to come down...





It was there Saturday...but was gone yesterday morning....

Love Saves the Day is cleared out; Meanwhile, Karen will remain...

Since Love Saves the Day officially closed on Jan. 18, the store had still been full of good loot, like that Charlie's Angels lunchbox. No more, though. On Saturday, everything worth anything was removed and carted off...



A woman walked up and asked one if the movers if there was anything left to buy. He seemed slighly surprised. "NO, it's all gone. There's nothing left," he scolded.

Meanwhile, Karen was setting up shop out front per usual. Was this her last day too, I asked? "Oh no, I'll be here next week...either here or across the street," she said, pointing toward the old Kiev storefront. So that's good news...we'll still have Karen's flea market...and a true EV character.





For further reading and viewing:
Love Saves the Day is Closing, Karen wants to remain here in the East Village (YouTube)
Karen Saves the Day (Jeremiahs's Vanishing NY)
Last Trip to LSD (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)
End Comes for Outpost of East Village Counterculture (New York Times)

Last day for Love Saves the Day: Sunday

On Dec. 2, Jeremiah was first to report that Loves Saves the Day will shutter its iconic corner store on Seventh Street and Second Avenue. A sign on their storefront confirms the store's last day.



Meanwhile, what will become of the pay phones on the south side of the store? No way will Duane Reade keep them once they open their newest location here...(And yes -- I will burn in Hell for writing that...)

More love in the media for Love Saves the Day

[Photo by Vivi via Picasa.]

Since Jeremiah broke the story Dec. 2 of Love Saves the Day's apparent demise, there has been no shortage of affection for kitsch central at Seventh Street and Second Avenue:

From Lily Koppel's feature in the Times yesterday:

It opened 42 years ago, in a time known by some as the Age of Aquarius, in a Manhattan neighborhood that was a hippie haven. It endured as a psychedelic oasis even as the hippies disappeared and the neighborhood, the East Village, was transformed into a pricier and less scruffy place by the real estate boom that washed across many parts of New York City.

Meanwhile, in The Villager this week, Dottie Wilson has an essay on the store:

LSD, located on the same block of Second Ave. as Gem Spa, B&H Dairy, The Orpheum, Stage Deli and Toy Tokyo, now has a new sign on its door, and it isn’t amusing. It’s an ugly announcement about the departure of yet another special facet of the East Village.

And!

But how ironic and horrible that this unique “real estate” will most likely end up symbolizing a really bad acid trip when a Duane Reade or the equivalent no doubt occupies the space.