(Sweet??) 16

Above: A joke from Sophie's a few years back

The first post arrived on this platform on Dec. 21, 2007, at 5:48 p.m., which research later showed is one of the worst times of the day to post items on platforms like this. 

ICYMI (and 99.999999999% of people did), the item was a cut-n-paste from Page Six about the possible sale of Sophie's (Fifth Street!) and Mona's (Avenue B) ... and before Josie's (Sixth Street) was part of the family. 

I'd spent some time at Sophie's and couldn't imagine an EV world without it. So, like any once-a-week bar regular would do, I created a Blogger site called Sophie's Bar Blog blog (honest, that's what the name was)... as a way to chronicle the sale of Sophie's (sorry, Mona's) and the possible end of its several-decades existence. 

After a few weeks of under-the-radar chronicling on a site that no one was reading, we learned that Bob, the owner of the bars, was selling them to his brother Richard and another friend (hi, Kirk!). 

That was that, or so I thought. Now I've told this story a few times, so if you've already read it, I'll make some shit up to make it seem more interesting than it actually was. 

I announced the end of Sophie's Bar Blog blog. [Crickets] Vanishing New York author/blogger Jeremiah Moss somehow had seen the site (thanks, Google!), and he encouraged me, just because Sophie's and Mona's were going to be OK, to keep the site going, covering other comings and goings. 

So Sophie's Bar Blog blog was rebranded to EVG (I give this site six months!). And here we are 16 years after the first post. 

Two people recently told me they started reading the site in high school and were in their late 20s/early 30s. Which is really cool and obviously terrifying.

A sincere thank you to everyone who has read the site and continues to read it, sharing comments and tips and creating a sense of community. 

A BIG thank you to everyone who contributes to the site, particularly Derek Berg and Steven, for their ongoing daily dispatches... and to Stacie Joy for her intrepid reporting from bell towers, abandoned schools or former motorcycle clubs. 

May your holidays be filled with warmth, peace, and joy ... and had we created an Etsy account 16 years ago, Sophie's Bar Blog blog T-shirts, hoodies, and customizable tabletop beer pong games.

Anniversaries: 15 years ago today

The very first post arrived on this site on Dec. 21, 2007. It was an item from Page Six (!!!???) about the possible sale of Sophie's and Mona's, two longtime favorite East Village bars.

The site went by — not joking! — Sophie's Bar Blog for a brief period. (And why not Mona's Bar Blog?) After a few weeks of handwringing, it turned out that the bars would stay in the family and remain pretty much the same to this day 15 years later. (I explain the site's evolution from Sophie's Bar Blog to EVG here.)

Anyway, taking this moment to thank you for reading the site for however long it has been these past 15 years and 38,546 posts, and for sharing in the adventures of living in this neighborhood — for better or worse. And thank you for sharing tips, photos, anecdotes, observations, complaints, and perspectives on day-to-day life here, past and present.

Couldn't do any of this without all of you. 

I'm incredibly grateful to Derek Berg and Steven for their daily contributions... and to Stacie Joy for lending her photography and reporting talents in covering happenings around the neighborhood.

And now, a happy and healthy holiday season to you. (If you have a Christmas tree and need to discard it before leaving town, please place it where we can get a good photo of it!)

 Photoshopped photo from the archives courtesy of EVPinhead. And I give that business six weeks!

No. 14

Here's your annual reminder that EVG is another year older.

The very first post arrived on this site on this date in 2007. It was about Sophie's, which is why I posted the top pic. 

I explained the origins of this news site in our gala 13th-anniversary post right here. 

So let's use the rest of the allotted time in this post to thank you for reading the site, leaving comments, sharing tips, commiserating about the loss of a business and celebrating the best neighborhood around. As I've said before, this site doesn't work without you.

A big thanks to all the frequent contributors, especially Derek Berg and Steven, for their ongoing photo and tip submissions. And a special shout-out to Stacie Joy for her tireless work in documenting the businesses and residents of the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, a happy and healthy holiday season to you!

Happy No. 20 to Academy Records

Wishing Academy Records a happy 20th anniversary ... the record shop at 415 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue first opened on April 1, 2001. 

Congrats to owner Mike Davis and his Academy staff on this milestone... to 20 more...  

No. 13

The very first post arrived on this site on this date in 2007. (At 5:48 p.m. on a Friday, no less! 😂) 

So a little site history. The post was a cut-n-paste from Page Six noting the possible upcoming sale of Sophie's, the neighborhood bar on Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. The Page Six item fueled concerns that the bar, along with Mona's on Avenue B, would be closing following a sale... bringing an end to two low-key bars and ushering in something potentially awful. 

That was enough to spur some action — a blog! 

At the time, the site was called — no kidding — Sophie's Bar Blog. It was intended to serve as a time capsule for Sophie's, a place where I had spent some quality time. 

Anyway, as we quickly learned, the bars stayed in the family and are pretty much exactly as they were 13 years ago. (Both Sophie's and Mona's, along with Josie's, are temporarily closed during the Cuomotine.) 

After about a month of Sophie's Bar Blog, the site would be retired. But! Stupid Jeremiah Moss, who somehow found Sophie's Bar Blog, suggested that I keep the site going, concentrating on other closures in the neighborhood. 

So 30,000-plus posts later, here we are in year No. 13. It's a good time to thank you for reading the site and sharing the journey ... I'm grateful to everyone who has shared a story, provided an idea, sent in a photo, commiserated over the loss of a favorite place, and so on. 

I'm especially thankful to the EVG contributors, such as Derek Berg and Steven, who pass along photos, tips and observations on a near-daily basis. And then there is Stacie Joy, who continues to actively document the businesses and residents of the East Village, bringing to life a special group of people and places through her camera.

At this point, I'm not looking too far into the future, focusing on the here and now. So here's to a happy and healthy holiday season!

Today we're 8 (in blog years)

EV Grieve started eight years ago today. On this occasion.

This is a moment to thank you for reading and commenting and offering feedback and story ideas and theories and everything. This site doesn't work without you.

And thank you to the frequent EVG contributors, including Dave on 7th, Derek Berg, Stacie Joy, James Maher, Steven who, like Cher, doesn't use a last name, and Bobby Williams.

Someone recently asked me what my favorite all-time EVG post was. I have no idea. But I found this one to be the most compelling in recent years.

No. 7

[Never coming soon, courtesy of EVPinhead]

This website turned 7 on Sunday. (What turned out to be a non-event prompted the whole thing 7 years ago!)

So a sincere thank you, as always, to all of you for taking the time to read, comment, grumble, laugh, share, offer tips, provide feedback ... everything.

And thank you for helping me continue to feel connected to a place that is always seemingly changing.

Celebrate 25 years of Paul's Da Burger Joint tomorrow

[Image via the Paul's website]

The restaurant here at 131 Second Ave. near St. Mark's Place first opened as Paul's Palace.

Anyway, 25 years later, the burgers here — starting at $5.40 for an 8-ounce belly bomber — remain a bargain. (Matt Wardrop, the cousin of original owner Paul Koval, is now running the show.)

For the anniversary tomorrow, Paul's will be rolling back the prices to 1989 levels. (1989?! Remind me to pull out my copy of "Disintegration.")

And as the flyer shows, they'll be some other things happening throughout the day, such as free samples and live music...

In which we turn 6! 6! 6!

[One day on Second Avenue]

The EV Grieve website/blog turns 6 tomorrow. Thought I'd mention it now, though.

The whole thing started because of this. (Ultimately a false alarm! Thanks Page Six!)

Anyway, on previous anniversaries, I talked about the secret formula for blogging (No. 4) and my dubious past as TV Grieve (No. 5).

Today, I'm here to talk about the future. Starting today, I'm launching a Kickstarter campaign without a business plan to raise $750,000 to create Grieve.You.Me, a new site powered by a proprietary algorithm that also generates positive Yelp reviews and...

Ahhh. OK, a sincere thank you to everyone who has been part of any of EVG these past six years… from taking the time to read the site… sharing the posts… commenting, complaining, commiserating, passing along tips, laughing, crying… you know. Your involvement and camaraderie makes it all worthwhile. (And a large thank you to everyone who contributes to the blog on a regular basis, including Bobby Williams, who sends me great photos every day, and James Maher, who presents a compelling portrait of our neighbors every week in Out and About in the East Village.)

Thank you.

As for the real future, I'm looking forward to continuing on… hope that you are too.


[East 5th Street between Avenue A and B]

Today, we're 5; TV Grieve exposed

Today marks the five-year anniversary of EV Grieve. 

A couple of you may recall the humble beginnings here, when I was known as TV Grieve — a blog about television. And Tara Reid. Here's an early post...

But it was a crowded marketplace, so I rebranded and...

OK, I made that up.

Anyway, thank you for your support, comments, gripes, tips, photos, Lady Gaga jokes, camaraderie, passion — everything. Thank you.

Doing this every day, seven days a week, often swings from being completely exhilarating to utterly depressing. (And back!) I've thought about slowing down... gently bringing the site all to an end.

Funny, though. Maybe some time passes. And I'm in another part of NYC or out of town ... and I find myself taking pictures of plywood around storefronts and for lease signs on restaurants for absolutely no reason ... I can't really stop. And I really do love living here.

So ... we might be stuck with each other for awhile.

I hope so. I'm not going anywhere. I hope that you're not either.

Today, we're 4

Today marks the four-year anniversary of EV Grieve.

Many thanks for being part of this — reading, commenting, sharing, laughing, crying, making "Is that Lady Gaga?" jokes. Thank you for helping inspire me to keep the site going. Thank you for whatever you do to help keep this neighborhood interesting.

And now, on this occasion, an inside look at how we create a post.

First, we place our process information in the relationship below.

(Conveyor speed of _____ feet per hour) X (Dwell time of _____ hour) = (Heat zone length of _____ feet)

... and, well, you get the idea...

UPDATED:
Thank you to Rosie Gray for the nice write-up today at Runnin' Scared. You can read that post here.