Reaching the summit at 21 E. First St.

Workers have reached a ceremonial milestone in the construction of the 12-floor building along the former 9-17 Second Ave. ... officially known as 21 E. First St. now.

They're up to 12 floors. And on Saturday, workers planted the flag atop the building...

A few more views... (the handy arrow points to the 12th floor on the East First Street side ...)

A view from East Houston...

...and on the ground floor, on the plywood, keeping the memory of the Mars Bar alive...

Previously.

21 E. First St. now tall enough for floor numbers

Continuing to note the progress at 21 E. First St. at Second Avenue... this is from the East First Street side...

Numbers go to 8 ... and it looks as if the crew is starting on the 10th floor... on the the way to 12...

Mars Bar underpass now with security cameras

A few weeks back, we noted the rather desolate walkway set up to navigate the construction site on the southwest corner of East First Street and Second Avenue... where the 12-story apartment building is (quickly) rising ...

EVG reader AC walked through the other day... and noted that someone has now mounted several security cameras throughout the walkway...

So far, the cameras haven't deterred anyone from adding some writing on the walls...

Mars Bar closed for good 1 year ago today

[Photo by Slum Goddess]

Kinda seems like longer than 1 year. Well, you know, the place was closing anyway to make way for the 12-story apartment building on the lot... But people thought that they had the rest of the summer to enjoy the bar... or at least go to it.

But that DOH visit did them in on July 18, 2011 ... 54 violation points and mentions of every known type of fly. (Filth flies! Flesh flies!) And apparently owner Hank Penza said the Hell with it. And closed.

We've talked to a lot of people who really miss the place... people still searching for somewhere else to fit in...

And how it looked yesterday...

[Bobby Williams]

And on the East First Street plywood ... old-school Yelp? ...

All 8,760 Mars Bar posts here.

Navigating the Mars Bar underpass at 21 E. First St.

[Photo of 21 E. First St. from last Friday by Bobby Williams]

We continue to watch the 12-story apartment building (quickly) rising on Second Avenue at East First Street, the former site of the Mars Bar, among other things...

However, we usually take it all in from afar... so we didn't notice the walkway set up to navigate the construction site on the southwest corner... we enter on the East First Street side...

Oops. A little turned around now...

... finally. Daylight and Second Avenue!

...and along the Second Avenue side...

Fun! Can't wait to walk through it late at night!

Oh, and what's left of the Hank Penza sidewalk art...

As seen last July ...

[Photo by Goggla]

21 E. First St. rises

Every so often we'll check in on the progress at 21 E. First St. at Second Avenue...

Jan. 7.

June 23.





Coming soon. A 12-story apartment building. Previously.

21 E. First St. has its first floor! (Sort of...)

Let's take a look at Second Avenue and East First Street. It has a skyline now.

One floor down, 11 more to go before a bland-looking apartment building is in place...

Also, we'll start referring to it by its official project name... which is, I think, 21 East First Street...

People still miss the Mars Bar

A new message on the plywood on Second Avenue at East First Street ... outside the former Mars Bar, which closed for good last July 18.

Bendy thing back in action on Second Avenue!

Oh, it has been so long since we've seen that concrete pump bendy thing at work over in the former 9-17 Second Ave. Anyway, Bendy is Back!

And he or she brought his or her cement truck friends along...

Coming soon. A 12-story apartment building. Previously.

Photos by Bobby Williams.

11-17 Second Ave. breaks ground level

Was just a hole in the ground here at East First Street the other day... now, there's an elevation (of sorts) ...

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Coming soon. A 12-story apartment building. Previously.

Jonas Mekas on the Mars Bar

As we pointed out on Monday, "My Mars Bar Movie," the 87-minute documentary directed by Jonas Mekas, opens tomorrow at the Anthology Film Archives.

Mekas, who is 90, talked about the film and Mars Bar in The Wall Street Journal today. Here's an excerpt from the Q-and-A (I believe it is subscription only to access the piece):

Every city needs some messy, dirty place where you can go and lose yourself and leave some of your dirt there. Paris has. Hamburg has. New York does not have it anymore. This area had Mars Bar. Now it's gone. Now New York is cleaner but not for the better.

And the best thing about the Mars Bar?

You felt very free. The drinks were cheap in price and very often cheap in quality. But you didn't care. It was very open. You always saw the same people, very devoted to the place. From South America, there was this guy Hamlet, who was always there. It made you feel a little bit like home. There was something like a family feeling.

How's the bendy thing doing at 11-17 Second Ave.?

For the past few weeks, we've been watching that bendy thing concrete pump fill the pit at 11-17 Second Ave.

And how is the pit looking these days? As of Friday...

Filling up. Next up, 12 floors.

Photos by Bobby Williams.

'My Mars Bar Movie' opens Friday at the Anthology Film Archives

"My Mars Bar Movie," the 87-minute documentary directed by Jonas Mekas, the filmmaker-poet-writer-curator, had its "world theatrical premiere" last October at the Greenpoint Film Festival.

This weekend, the film will play at the Anthology Film Archives on Second Avenue and Second Street. Per the Anthology website:

Anthology is overjoyed to present this new film by Jonas Mekas, a tribute to the dear, departed Mars Bar. Our neighbor ever since we moved to the Second Avenue Courthouse building in 1988, the Mars Bar represented an undiluted blast of the old East Village, keeping alive the punk sensibility and anarchic attitude that’s increasingly a thing of the past in this part of the city. Destined to be replaced by yet another glass condo building, and taking a piece of our heart with it to the grave, the Mars Bar nevertheless lives on through Mekas’s lens!

And an excerpt...



Find the bio for Mekas, the Anthology Film Archives artistic director and co-founder, here.

Easter Sunday is not the same without Mars Bar

Thanks to @saywhatagain for the photo from the plywood at the former bar...

A flashback to last Easter Sunday at the Mars Bar via Marty After Dark ... seems like a lifetime ago already...

Lake Mars

Second Avenue and First Street this morning.

Leftover from the water used yesterday for the bendy thing working at 11-17 Second Ave.?

Bottom photos by Bobby Williams.