Flowers stolen, Christmas ruined?

You may have seen this Epic Urban Etiquette Sign over at Melanie's... anyway, here we are on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A...



...where a 4-year-old has to learn the harsh realities of stealing....



...and there's an addendum.



Plant thief, redeem yourself!

Looking for a shred of truth on Ninth Street

My Coney sends along this shot from Ninth Street at First Avenue.

I dunno... Leftover from the Conflux festival? A belated statement about Enron? UFOs? Random act of shredding violence against VW Rabbits? Need some answers here, people!

Ninth Street update; and graffiti artist Crash makes a return

There are several empty (and soon to be empty) storefronts along Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Avenue A...

Previously we've mentioned closures such as Atomic Passion and Sintir Cafe...





Giant Robot closed on Sept. 23... But a crew turned the space around quickly....



...it's now home to the Dorian Grey Gallery....




And they're opening with a great event on Friday.... per the release:

Pioneering Street Artist Crash Returns With Solo Show “Works of Paper 1980–2010” @ Debut Show of Dorian Grey Gallery in NYC’s East Village October 7 Artist’s Reception Will Include “Live Action” Art Event

WHAT: A solo show of works on paper spanning 1980 to today by CRASH, a legendary fixture on New York’s graffiti/street art scene for three decades. The 30 drawings and watercolors presented served as a virtual diary and workbook for the artist, a way of venturing into artforms not covered in his best-known large-scale murals and tags. The show will also be highlighted with a “live action” art performance during the opening reception, October 7, from 6 – 9 pm, when CRASH and TAT’S CRU will be spray painting on a silhouette image of an old IRT “redbird” subway car, the canvas for some of his most powerful early work.

WHERE: CRASH “Works On Paper 1980 – 2010” will be the debut of the East Village’s new art attraction, the Dorian Grey Gallery (DGG). Dorian Grey Gallery is a dynamic “pop up” retail venue geared at showcasing both established and emerging artists, presenting a diverse selection of exemplary art in an intimate and informative environment. DGG is a joint venture between veteran art dealers Christopher Pusey and Luis Accorsi.

Did Mayor Bloomberg kill Moroccan restaurant's business?

Sintir on East Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue is now officially gutted...



After some neighborhood opposition, the Moroccan eatery/lounge opened in May 2009... it was run by the Marrakech-born Hassan Hakmoun, considered the Jerry Garcia of the sintir in his native country....

Anyway, the place looked cute enough....Despite some so-so early reviews, I wanted to give it a try...



...and every time I walked by, I saw the photos of Hakmoun prominently displayed on the restaurant's front window...posed next to Mayor Bloomberg....



These were the only two photos up... no Katz's-like Wall of Fame or anything...

"Maybe he doesn't realize that having a photo of Mayor Bloomberg in the front window in this neighborhood isn't really a selling point," Mrs. Grieve helpfully said after I decided that I really didn't want to try it. Always wondered if anyone else felt the same...

Giant Robot closing on East Ninth Street

On Ninth Street, Giant Robot is closing on Sept. 23 after six years.....




Per the store's website:

It sounds corny and cliched to say, but NYC is a tough town. In recent years I've seen absolute institutions that I thought would be here forever shut their doors (CBGB comes to mind). The city changes more and more, and sometimes the only choice is to move on.

Epic note puts 440 E. Ninth St. on notice

Here's what it says:

"To those of you who disrespectfully leave your trash, broken glass and empty bottles on the roof, you are being monitored. Your cans clogged a drain which flooded the apartments next door during last week's rain. You are disgusting to let Jose and the other super clean up after your messes. Surrounding neighbors are complaining about you every week and are ready to comply with management and law enforcement and photograph you during your next rooftop excursion. Since you can not the enjoy the roof like respectable adults, we request that you stay off of it. Your skateboards are ruining the rooftop material, weakening it."

Stay off the roof or suffer consequences.

— Management, tenants.

Given the "fuck you all" written over the note, I'm guessing 440 hasn't seen the last of the rooftop skateboarding bashes.

Late afternoon on Ninth Street

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Steve for this shot... At the Loisaida Summer Block Party on Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Get your Juicy Lucy: Another burger joint for the East Village

Whitmans is now open on Ninth Street near First Avenue...



Until their dining room opens... per their sign, you can order the Juicy Lucy burger from the counter...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Burger joint fad continues: Select Burger coming to First Avenue (aka Burger Alley)

Lost: An orange, white and blue glass pin (head of a man)

I've been thinking about this handwritten note that I saw attached to a building on Ninth Street near First Avenue yesterday ...



The writing reminds of a relative on my mom's side of the family... I recall him being lonely and sad all the time. I recall that he made little circles to dot his i's. I thought he did that to try to cheer himself up. I'd like to know more about the lost pin. I thought about calling the number several times, but couldn't do it.

No more sidewalk shed for PS 122

First Avenue and Ninth Street... No more sidewalk shed for now anyway...






Previously on EV Grieve:
Meet PS 122's new steel tower

Spotted: The front of P.S. 64

The other day, I spotted workers putting up new plywood at the old P.S. 64 on Ninth Street east of Avenue B...



... I haven't seen the front of the school in eons. So I took a picture.



A worker saw me and said that "so many people" had also walked by and took pictures. I asked him if he was there to tear down the school. He laughed and said that he was only there to help put up the new plywood.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will old PS 64 get a theater for nonprofit groups?

Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Will old PS 64 get a theater for nonprofit groups?

Last Thursday I noted that the sidewalk shed had been removed by workers at the old PS 64 space owned by developer Gregg Singer ... fueling plenty of speculation, mostly by me.

Anyway! The plot thickens here on East Ninth Street ... Scoopy notes the following in his column in The Villager this week..

"Michael Rosen, a Christodora House neighbor and founding member of the East Village Community Coalition, tells us there may be a new twist: A local preservationist ... recently told him that, while plans are still to make the building a dorm, now the owners also want to renovate the old school's existing basement theater and rent it out to a nonprofit theater company. And Singer is still very much involved."

And then the Scoopster let's loose:

"Clearly, Singer wants to exploit preservation-specific tax credits he can get for renovating the landmarked building — the same building he ironically defaced only a few years ago, trying to reverse its landmarking. Talk about 'theater of the absurd.'"

Sidewalk shed removed at the rebranded PS 64

Been some time since I recall a sidewalk-shed-free stretch of Ninth Street east of Avenue B outside the former P.S. 64/CHARAS/El Bohio community center -- now known as University House at Tompkins Square Park...




Not sure what, if anything, this means at the moment...Haven't heard any news about construction here since the fall...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Ninth Street, 5:38 p.m., March 7

The holidays on ice....

The holiday decorations on Ninth Street at Second Avenue came down this morning...





...ruining a potential blog post when I discovered that they were still up in April...

Great homes for sale: 1840s townhouse on East Ninth Street going for $4.3 million

One of my favorite buildings in the neighborhood has been on the market for several months now... This 1840s townhouse on East Ninth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A is going for $4.3 million. Here are some listing details:

When it comes to historic houses, remember: They aren't building any more of them. This is a three-story town house with basement, 20 feet wide, built in the 1840's, with a large, leafy backyard. Period details include French doors, wide plank floors and exposed ceiling beams. Currently zoned as a 3-family home but could be configured as a 1-family or a 2-family. House is partially renovated and is currently occupied. Only 2 sales of this property in the past 75 years.

In 1998, it sold for $640,000.

Construction starts on new Ninth Street senior facility

Work has started on the Dona Petra Santiago Apartments on East Ninth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D. Plans call for an eight-story, 57-unit facility for seniors.



While this is a good thing for the community, a few neighbors weren't pleased to discover that construction starts at 7 a.m.




The residents of one building were told by management that construction wouldn't start until 8 and never on weekends. Work is expected to be done during the winter of 2011.

Mystery camper on Ninth Street has moved

For the longest time I wanted to do a post on that mystery camper that was parked for the last, oh, year or so on Ninth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D. The Biggest Pants posted these photos last May.




I don't spend much time on this block, so I only saw the owner(s) a few times. Two guys hanging out, acting as if they were in a state park.

Here's a Google maps shot of it...



According to an EV Grieve reader: "The guy who owns it takes stuff out of the garbage and inexplicably chains it up to the motorhome and the fence next to it (he has a bathtub, a few shopping carts, chairs, a grill, etc). He never moves the trailer when the street is cleaned, yet he has no tickets."



And the camper was parked across the street from the Police Service Area #4...




I struck up a conversation with who I believe owned the camper late in the summer. I hoped to swing by another day for an interview. When I did return, the camper was gone...



However, many items that look as if they belonged to the camper man are still chained up nearby... The EV Grieve reader believes camper man had to move when the senior facility construction began...

"Active demolition" this morning at the former P.S. 64

Over at the former P.S. 64/CHARAS/El Bohio community center on Ninth Street/10th Street:

An EV Grieve reader notes this morning that "active demolition going on ... dumpsters being loaded into trucks..."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Good morning from Ninth Street (and 10th Street!), where you'll wake to the sound of power tools and demolition

Good morning from Ninth Street (and 10th Street!), where you'll wake to the sound of power tools and demolition

A resident writes in this morning to note the noise coming from the former P.S. 64/CHARAS/El Bohio community center on Ninth Street. "Sound of power tools, chute (pictured) and dumpster — is Gregg Singer gutting the place?"

Yes, it appears the work continues to turn the school into University House at Tompkins Square Park.

According to marketing materials for the building: [It's] "currently undergoing a complete renovation including new building systems, core and shell. The property is zoned R8-B. The property is ideal for schools, universities, museums, college dormitories, medical offices, hospital, foundations, nonprofit institutions and related facilities."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood