The Ottendorfer Library is now closed for renovations

As noted last week, the Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, closes starting today for upgrades that will keep the branch out of commission until early 2019.

According to a message to patrons from branch manager Kristin Kuehl, workers will be installing a new fire alarm and life-safety system. "Due to the building's age and landmark status, the project is expected to take six months," Kuehl wrote.

A little history of the building:

The Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library opened in 1884 as New York City's first free public library. Designed by German-born architect William Schickel, this landmark building combines Queen Anne and neo-Italian Renaissance styles with an exterior ornamented by innovative terracotta putti. The branch was a gift of Oswald Ottendorfer, owner of the New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung newspaper.

Ottendorfer patrons can head on over to the Tompkins Square branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B for all your library needs. Check out their free activities (link here) for August.

The Tompkins branch is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Ottendorfer Library closing for 6 months to install new fire-suppression system

The Ottendorfer Library closing for 6 months to install new fire-suppression system

[Photo yesterday by Steven]

The Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, closes on Monday for upgrades that will keep the branch out of commission for at least six months.

Here's the message via branch manager Kristin Kuehl...

The New York Public Library's oldest branch, the Ottendorfer Library, will close temporarily on August 6 to install a new fire alarm and life safety system. The 8,000-square-foot Ottendorfer Library opened in 1884 as New York City's first free public library.

The upgrades at Ottendorfer Library will strengthen the well-being of a historic New York City building as well as further support nearly 135 years of library service to the Lower East Side community.

Due to the building's age and landmark status, the project is expected to take six months. The branch ... will reopen in early 2019. While Ottendorfer Library is closed, patrons are advised to use the Tompkins Square Library at 331 East 10th Street.

As for the Tompkins Square branch between Avenue A and Avenue B ... check out their free activities (link here) for August.

Free things to do at the Tompkins Square Library branch this month

There are all sorts of free classes and discussion groups — from jewelry-making workshops to knitting circles — at the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...

Here's just a few of the events happening this month. (Find the full list of activities for kids and adults here.) Via the EVG inbox...

• Fridays, July 6, 13, 20, 27 at 3 pm: Knitting Circle. Not a class, but a knitting group. Participants must bring their own supplies.

• Monday, July 9 at 1 pm: Monday Matinee Movie: "My Left Foot" (1989; 103 mins.) Dir: Jim Sheridan. Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb — his left foot. Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan.

• Tuesdays, July 10, 24, 31: Vinyasa Warrior Yoga. This class is open to all level practitioners from beginner to expert yogi. Please bring your own mat and towel.

• Tuesday, July 10 1-3 pm, and Monday, July 16 11 am-2 pm: Workforce 1 Job Fair. Workforce 1 will be recruiting for many open positions. Bring your resume and apply for jobs.

• Wednesday, July 11 at 5 pm: Film Screening: "Thoroughbreds" (2017; 92mins.) Dir: Cory Finley. Two upper-class teenage girls in suburban Connecticut rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. Together, they hatch a plan to solve both of their problems-no matter what the cost.

• Thursdays, July 12 and 26 at 1 pm: Shakespeare Reading and Discussion Group. The Shakespeare Reading and Discussion Group meets the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 1 pm in the second floor community room. The group will be discussing Richard II. Check at the first floor desk for copies.

• Saturday, July 14 at 3 pm: Saturday Matinee Movie: "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964; 91 mins.) Dir: Jacques Demy. A young woman separated from her lover by war faces a life-altering decision. Starring Catherine Deneuve. In French with English subtitles.

• Wednesday, July 18 at 6 pm: Ukulele Lessons for Beginners. Four 70-minute sessions: 07/18, 08/01, 08/15, 08/29. Please bring your own ukulele. Registration is required.

• Thursday, July 19 at 5:30 pm: Writing / Performance Lab. The intention is to provide artists in the community the opportunity to develop works-in-progress of writing pieces, theater texts, performance pieces and related projects. In addition to writers and performers, musicians, singers, dancers, etc., are welcome to participate.

• Monday, July 23 at 1 pm: Monday Matinee Movie: "Westworld" (1973; 88 min.) Dir: Michael Crichton. In a futuristic theme park, robots fulfill tourists' every fantasy, until they start to run amok. Starring Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Yul Brynner.

• Wednesday, July 25 at 5 pm: Film Screening: "A Quiet Place" (2018; 90 min.) Dir: John Krasinski. In a post-apocalyptic world, a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing. Starring Emily Blunt, John Krasinski.

The Ottendorfer Library branch at 135 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street has many free activities too. Find that list here.

Go on a free walking tour of Tompkins Square Park this Friday afternoon

[Photo from March 31 by Peter Brownscombe]

The Tompkins Square Park Library is hosting another free walking tour of Tompkins Square Park (the one on March 31 was quite popular) ... happening this Friday at 1 p.m.

Per the NYPL website:

Enjoy a visually informative one hour walking tour of Tompkins Square Park with your hosts, East Village street photographer Michael Paul and Tompkins Square Library Manager Corinne Neary, through the East Village's gathering place for picnics, festivals and community events ever since it opened in 1837.

In the mid 19th century the Square offered reprieve from a hard life for our country's new immigrants, in what was once the most densely populated neighborhood in America. See the statues, memorials, landmarks and yes, the trees that currently play home to our park's 21st century residents, the red-tailed hawks Christo and Dora [Ed note: and Amelia]!

The walking tour starts promptly at 1 p.m. (rain, shine or heatwave — oh, and bring water) in front of the Tompkins Square Library, 331 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. RSVP here. This neighborhood walking tour is part of Jane's Walk at Municipal Art Society.

Speaking of Tompkins Square Park and the library... here's a photo by P.L. Sperr from the NYPL Digital Collections ... from Avenue B at Seventh Street circa April 1935 ... with the Empire State Building in the background...


[Click to go big]

As we noted in this EVG post from April 1935, the cart on the corner was the last to sell churned buttermilk before being replaced by yet another peanut vendor.

Activities at the the Tompkins Square Park library branch

[Via NYPL]

As previously mentioned, the Tompkins Square Park library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B has a lot of free activities daily... poetry readings... jewelry making... film screenings ... find their schedule of events here.

The library is hosting another free walking tour of Tompkins Square Park on Friday, May 4. Details here.

And a highlight to note happening tonight...

East Village writer/memoirist Alan Kaufman of book “Jew Boy” and performer/playwright Robert Galinsky of play “The Bench” will be here this Thursday at 6pm, being interviewed live by local podcast @pernyc. Please join us for the first of this limited live series! Link in bio. #pernyc #alankaufman #robertgalinsky #tompkinssquare #eastvillage #lowereastside #libraries #books #reading

A post shared by Tompkins Square Library (@tompkins_square_library) on Apr 24, 2018 at 10:57am PDT

And there are buttons and magnets for $1 that help support the library...

Our buttons are back, with a new design! Pick one up at the circulation desk. And, we now have magnets too! ❤️ #libraries #tompkinssquare #eastvillage #buttons

A post shared by Tompkins Square Library (@tompkins_square_library) on Apr 23, 2018 at 6:41am PDT

Oh Mother! (and there are many free things to do at the Tompkins Square Library branch)

Due to the weather, this evening's free screening of "Mother!" was cancelled at the Tompkins Square Library branch... rescheduled for April 11 at 5 p.m. ...

All NYPL locations will close at 5pm today due to weather. Tonight’s screening of “Mother!” will be rescheduled for April 11 at 5pm. #eastvillage #tompkinssquare #libraries #snow

A post shared by Tompkins Square Library (@tompkins_square_library) on Mar 7, 2018 at 11:19am PST

Really interesting choice for a free library screening ... the film with Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem by Darren Aronofsky (does he still live in the East Village?) is either the best or absolute worst film ever. Not sure what I think, though Kristen Wiig! (Spoiler here.)



And the Tompkins Square Park branch has a lot of free activities daily... poetry readings... jewelry making... film screenings (Tony Richardson's "A Taste of Honey" is an afternoon matinee on March 19 and Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" is at 5 p.m. on March 21)... find their schedule of events here.

Reminders: The East Village Arts Festival is tomorrow at the Tompkins Square Library

I first posted this back on Nov. 21 ... as a reminder...

The Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is hosting an all-day Arts Festival on Dec. 13.

The day includes a variety of performances, workshops, films and displays by local artists from 11 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. You can find the full rundown here.

Tompkins Square Library hosting the East Village Arts Festival on Dec. 13

The Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is hosting an all-day Arts Festival on Dec. 13.

The day includes a variety of performances, workshops and displays by local artists from 11 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. You can find the full rundown here.

Here's one highlight:

5-5:45pm: 16mm Film Screening. We'll be screening two short 16mm films from the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts reserve film and video collection, both filmed on the Lower East Side, in our basement community room. The Heart of Loisaida (1979; 30 min.) Producers, directors: Bienvenida Matias and Marci Reaven. Shows efforts on New York's Lower East Side to revive abandoned buildings through the work and persistence of the local, predominantly Latino residents.

A la Guerra (1979; 10 min.) Producer, director: Thomas Sigel. Actor/poet Bimbo Rivas presents an ode to the struggle against assimilation being waged by the Puerto Rican community of New York's Lower East Side.

Today in books returned after 38 years

Via @tompkins_square_library:

This book was casually returned today — only 38 years late! 😄 The book, "The Woman in the White House" by Marianne Means, describes the contributions of 12 First Ladies.

The randomly placed piano in Tompkins Square Park is no longer randomly there

After 10 days and one snowstorm, the abandoned piano that someone dragged into (or pushed into) Tompkins Square Park was wheeled away earlier today from where it was stationed by the Park entrance on Avenue B and Ninth Street...a reader shared the above photo ...

EVG Missing Piano Correspondent Steven followed up later... spotting some possible piano fragments in the Park...





Later, Steven spotted this piano rack by the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... where the trail went cold...

Noted

And who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Outside Tompkins Square Library on East 10th Street this morning...

You now have a few more hours to use the local libraries during the week

[EVG file photo of the Tompkins Square library branch]

The New York Public Library has expanded hours at branches throughout the city, with a focus on evenings, weekends and other periods of high demand, as we cut-and-paste from the news release.

How did they manage this?

A historic $43 million increase in operating funding to the city’s three library systems in Fiscal Year 2016 has allowed NYPL to add 293 more public service hours per week at branches across the system, bringing average weekly branch hours up from 46.6 hours to 50.

And here are the new hours for the branches around here...

• Hamilton Fish Park Library, 415 East Houston St. between Pitt and Columbia
Hours: Mon. and Weds. 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Tues. and Thurs. 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

• Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth
Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

• Tompkins Square Library, 331 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B
Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

None of these branches will have Sunday hours, however, like several other locations. (Still only one Library open on Sundays hereabouts.)

Also, the NYPL released the "Top Book Check Outs of 2015" by branch... so in case you were wondering...

Hamilton Fish Park - "Blue Exorcist" by Kazue Kato and John Werry

Ottendorfer - "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

Tompkins Square - "The Paying Guests" by Sarah Waters

H/T DNAinfo

Reader report: Gas scare at the Tompkins Square Library

[Photo by EVG reader Daniel]

Late this afternoon the Tompkins Square library branch on East 10th Street was evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Word from some readers who happened to be there… workers were doing boiler repairs, and someone smelled gas.

The FDNY was quickly on the scene and gave the all clear. However, the library remained closed to patrons the rest of the day.

The branch is also serving as a reception center for displaced residents of last Thursday's explosion on Second Avenue and East Seventh Street.

H/T @JenniferKellow

Are the red-tailed hawks building a nest on the Tompkins Square Library?

[Photo from the other day in Tompkins Square Park by Bobby Williams]

As we noted earlier this week, red-tailed hawk parents Christo and Dora likely won't be able to build their nest on the Christodora House on Avenue B and East Ninth Street this year. So, they will need a new home for a nest.

To the EVG inbox this morning…

Sadly I don't have a photo, but I spotted a hawk, hopefully Christo or Dora, flying out of Tompkins with nesting materials in his talons. He was headed toward the library on East 10th between A and B and appeared to land in that general area. Maybe a new nest location on a building in the vicinity??

I guess we'll see!

Yes!

There's likely some kind of April Fool's Day gag potential with this photo

Like, Hey, The Tompkins Square Branch of the New York Public Library just got a liquor license! Or, The Owners of the 13th Step bought The Tompkins Square Branch of the New York Public Library! Or something better.

Not that we're recommending an April Fool's Day gag. They usually are pretty lame.

As for the photo… the driver simply pulled over for a moment to look at a map.

An appreciation: The Tompkins Square Branch of The New York Public Library

For no particular reason... too often we mourn instead of appreciate around here at EVG...

Talked with several people recently who had no idea the branch had a nice selection of DVDs...

I always just go in and take a chance at finding something. I always do. But you have to be a little flexible. You can also put a movie on hold via the library website and have your own little Qwikster Netflix.

Previously on EV Grieve:
An appreciation: Breakfast at Stage