The most-read EVG posts from the past decade

These 10 posts attracted the most views these past 10 years. Quick takeaways: Closures and nudity attract readers.


[Photo via @michalmeer1]

1. There is a woman who has been walking around the East Village topless (May 18, 2012)

2. After 34 years off the Bowery, the Great Jones Café closes tonight (July 26, 2017)

3. Female diner decides to go topless last night at Verso (July 8, 2013)

4. Noted, aka the Target-CBGB tribute (July 21, 2018)



5. [Updating] Explosion on 2nd Avenue and East 7th Street (March 26, 2015)

6. Cafe Orlin will close next month after 36 years in business (Sept. 8, 2017)

7. Exclusive: After 40 years, punk rock mainstay Trash and Vaudeville is leaving St. Mark's Place (July 28, 2015)



8. Veselka honored for its workplace practices with employees over the age of 50 (Jan. 17, 2018)

9. After 20-plus years in the East Village, Obscura Antiques and Oddities is closing (Nov. 7, 2019)

10. You literally can't say this word now at the Continental (Jan. 17, 2018)

The 3 most-viewed EVG posts of 2016

In keeping with the spirit of the listicle season...

1) Report: Man reportedly shot moving orange cones outside Hells Angels HQ on 3rd Street (Dec. 12)

2) The fall of Lenin: Iconic statue removed from Red Square on East Houston Street (Sept. 30)


[Photo by Stacie Joy]

3) Breaking (pretty much!): Target is coming to 14th Street and Avenue A (July 29)

Are these the 6 best East Village bars?

[Photo of Josie's via Facebook]

In recent weeks New York Magazine and Grub Street have been publishing a series of best-of listicles.

Yesterday afternoon, they published "the East Village’s most excellent drinking options" from 1 to 6:

1) The Wayland, 700 E. Ninth St. at Avenue C.

2) Lois, 98 Avenue C between Seventh Street and Sixth Street

3) Standings, 43 E. Seventh St. near Second Ave.

4) Jimmy's No. 43, 43 E. Seventh St. near Second Ave.

5) Josie's, 520 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B

6) Mother of Pearl, 95 Avenue A at Sixth Street

Grub Street notes that "the neighborhood’s zip code is home to 585 active liquor licenses," which means there will be plenty of room for debate about this list.

Tweets and free irons that leak

For starters, thank you to Thrillist for including @evgrieve in the listicle "42 NYC Twitter Accounts You Need to Follow NOW."

Per Thrillist: "No East Village neighborhood news is too small to report for the EV Grieve."

Hmmmk.

Meanwhile, might be late on this … Crazy Eddie spotted this yesterday on Avenue A near East 13th Street… dunno if someone has already claimed it…

33 ways Buzzfeed's East Village feature may depress you

Buzzfeed unleashed a post late yesterday afternoon titled "33 Ways Manhattan’s East Village Has Changed In Only 7 Years."

Using Google's new "time travel tool," Buzzfeed rounded up a whole lot of then (2007) and nows... such as!





And!





Head on over to Buzzfeed for 31 more! It's rather a lot to take in one viewing, so be warned...

These EV Grieve posts received the most reader comments in 2013

Amazingly, a Citi Bike post did not crack the top 10...



Incoming Empire Biscuit on Avenue A launches Kickstarter campaign (July 9, 121 comments)

A case against using the term 'crusty' (June 28, 105 comments)

RIP LES Jewels (Sept. 14, 80 comments)

Report: FDNY rescues partygoers from 2nd Avenue 'rooftop rager' after stairwell collapse injures 1 (Sept. 29, 74 comments)

Avenue A's anti-7-Eleven campaign now includes arsenal of 20,000 stickers (Jan. 8, 73 comments)

Report: The making of Empire Biscuit; plus, people drop biscuits on the floor but eat them anyway (Nov. 12, 72 comments)

Report: Empire Biscuit opens today (Oct. 30, 65 comments)

[Updated] Car smashes into East Village Farm & Grocery on Second Avenue; 6 reported injured (June 19, 62 comments)

Top cop's SantaCon endorsement: 'It's what makes New York, New York' (Nov. 24, 59 comments)

Reader report: 9th St. Bakery is closing after 87 years (Jan. 15, 59 comments)

Here is the future of East 14th Street and Avenue A: 7 stories of residential and retail (Oct. 18, 57 comments)

Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave (or read!) a comment.

The most-viewed EV Grieve posts of 2013

In case you are in the mood for one more year-end listicle…

-----

[Updated] Female diner decides to go topless last night at Verso, July 8



------

Noted, Aug. 28



-----

RIP LES Jewels, Sept. 14


[Photo from 2011 by Bob Arihood]

-----

[Updated] The Joe Strummer mural is gone, Aug. 19


[Bobby Williams]

-----

Something Sweet space for rent on First Avenue, July 8


[Photo by Blue Glass]

The top-5 viewed EV Grieve posts of 2012

Why? Because it's the Season of the Listicle! All based on Google pageviews... No. 1 is not much of a shocker...

1. [Updated] There is a woman who has been walking around the East Village topless (Maybe NSFW), May 18

2. [Updated] We do not know what this is on St. Mark's Place, Aug. 4

[Spotted by @thestarkonline]

3. Everyone loves a really bad meatball sandwich!, May 18

4. Here comes the East River, Oct. 29

5. Despite plea, landlord doubling rent on East Village family with cancer-stricken 2 year old, Oct. 9

The top-10 least-viewed EV Grieve posts of 2012

Continuing this Season of the Listicle, nothing is safe from becoming listicled. Here then are the most unpopular EV Grieve posts of 2012 ... whether because of the subject matter or the complete and utter disregard the editor-publisher showed for any kind of intelligent headline... The following posts had no pageviews...

Are those two pillows or are you just happy to see me? Oct. 21

Breaking: Wet Paint spotted on Downtown 6 platform at Astor Place; caution urged; you likely shouldn't be wearing white pants now anyway
Sept. 23

Person in pretty-darn expensive car stops and talks to workers on Cooper Square
Sept. 5

This corner deli has a lot of fruit for sale, May 23

Talk about a mix tape! Sept. 27

Noted, Oct. 12

This is what happens when you leave your luggage tied up outside stores, Aug. 30

Elvis is Back — and upside down in this window display! Dec. 8

Where the Wild Things Are Stored in Dumpsters on Lafayette Street, May 9

Brokers now marketing to one-night stands on St. Mark's Place, July 7

The Serious Eats guide to East Village restaurants

At Serious Eats today, editor Maggie Hoffman lists her favorite places to eat in the East Village... by category... Among her picks:

Pizza by the Pie: Motorino

Pizza by the Slice: South Brooklyn Pizza

Ramen: Ippudo

Brunch: Northern Spy Food Co.

Sophisticated Bar Bites: Vandaag

Indian: Banjara

Chinese: Grand Sichuan

Where to Bring Your Parents: Pylos

Espresso: Abraço

Well, you know, such lists are all so subjective... What do you think? And what are "sophisticated bar bites" exactly?

You can find the whole list here.

[EVG Flashback] Why people move away

Originally posted on Feb. 4, 2009...



I've noticed a few more people than usual moving from the neighborhood. (Perhaps there's a reason for so many more men with vans signs.) Given the drop in some rentals, maybe these people are just moving a few blocks away to a building with better deals. Or maybe they lost everything and have to go bunk with a relative. Or maybe they came here during the heady days of, say, 2005 and figured to become the next Carrie Bradshaw. (Or at least have the chance to sit on her stoop!) I wish I could go up to these people and conduct exit interviews. Why are you moving? What will you miss about the neighborhood? What are you glad to be leaving behind? I'm always curious about this.

Luckily, I came across a blog written by a young professional living on the LES. After one year here, she is moving to another undisclosed neighborhood. Almost in answer to my questions, she provided a list of things she will miss and not miss about her apartment and the LES. Among the items:

Things I will miss:
--The gym. I hope I can still force myself to go to the gym when it isn’t in my building!
--My stainless steel stove
--Dry cleaning in the building
--The statue of Vladimir Lenin on top of the Red Square building. I can see him from my bed so I wake up to him with his right arm in the air every single morning.

Things I will not miss:
--The girls who scream, “Where’s my boyfriend!?” at 4 a.m. while leaving the Lower East Side bars on any given day
--The symphony of honking on Houston Street that forces me to sleep with earplugs
--The fresh vomit that I sometimes step over while leaving for [work] on any given day
--The smell of pickles from Katz Deli that I am forced to inhale when walking home every day
--The fact that there is not a close enough Starbucks
--The mural of Kiss on the brick wall on the bar across from my apartment

I guess that says it all.

Oh, great: East Village well-represented in 'best dive bars in NYC' listicle

Complex magazine has issued a listicle titled The 50 Best Dive Bars in NYC.

As we've discussed here before, "dive bar" is a tired, meaningless term that should be retired. But! For the sake of a pointless Friday conversation... here are the nearby bars that made the top-50 list.

[Eater]

2 — The Holiday

5 — Blarney Cove

7 — Blue & Gold

11 — Coal Yard (called "an East Village legend" — already!)

13 — Lakeside Lounge

14 — Lucy's

17 – 11th Street bar

18 — Vazac's

27 — Doc Holliday's

35 — Cherry Tavern

40 — Milano's

44 — Continental

45 — Crocodile Lounge

46 — Heathers

47 — Double Down Saloon

49 — B-Side

50 — International

Listicle alert!: The 10 best things to eat on St. Mark's Place

Here's a good summer Friday feature at Fork in the Road... in which Robert Sietsema writes: Our 10 Best Things to Eat on St. Marks Place in the East Village.

And here they are!

10. Falafel sandwich at Mamoun's

9. Tea-smoked duck at Grand Sichuan

8. Chocolate egg cream at Gem Spa

7. Early bird sushi assortment at Natori

6. Vegetarian soups and salads at Café Rakka

5. Morning Jersey at Crif Dogs

4. Plain cheese slice at Stromboli Pizza

3. Slider at Mark Burgers

2. Spicy miso ramen at Ramen Setagaya

1. Moroccan appetizer assortment at Mogador

The whole post is here. [Photo via the Voice]

Because I take everything seriously, I'd add the popcorn at the Grassroots to this list.

Shake Shack and "Hale and Heardy" among the top-10 2009 Google searches in New York City

Drumroll!

1. cuny portal
2. duane reade locations
3. mta trip planner
4. seamless web
5. conedison.com
6. hopstop
7. hale and heardy
8. shake shack
9. nyu home
10. queens library

Why would anyone have to Google "Duane Reade locations"? Just walk two blocks in any direction and you should find one.

Also!

As EV Grieve reader T.E.V.B, who passed this along, noted, "C'mon people, learn to spell 'hearty!'"

What did other cities look up...?

Uh-oh...

And who's the lucky 'hood?



Williamsburg! Woo!

No. 2. Lower East Side!

Sample:

Best place to meet people on the Lower East Side

Vanessa’s Dumpling House

Pickup lines to try while you wait for your food:

Beginner: “So, how long have you been in line?”

Intermediate: “I just found a quarter in my couch—can I buy you a dumpling?”

Advanced: “I bet you’re just like this dumpling: smooth and slick on the outside, complex and delicious on the inside. I am too.”
118 Eldridge St between Broome and Grand

On the hunt for a dive bar with "interesting beers on draft, low-key/friendly crowd, passable pub grub"

Speaking of bars... Someone poses a question to the folks at T Magazine at the Times.

Dear Concierge,

I’m looking for a good dive bar. In Manhattan, dive bars are either too div-y (bikers, professional boozers) or too sporty (yellers, Buckhunters). I live downtown, but I’ll go anywhere a Metrocard can get me. Things I’d like: interesting beers on draft, low-key/friendly crowd, passable pub grub, not too crowded/discovered and a general feeling of authenticity. Thank you!

Among the input provided:

Eric Asimov, The Pour columnist for the Dining section and a connoisseur of spirits high and low, weighed in with his favorites: East Village Tavern on Avenue C — a year-old craft-beer place that updates its cask and tap lists daily on its Web site — and Rattle ‘N’ Hum, another new craft-beer spot a pint’s throw from Madison Square Garden that serves food like Rattle ‘N’ Hummus.

Anyway. The usual suspects are trotted out.

The Brooklyn Icehouse, 318 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn; (718) 222-1865.
The Brooklyn Inn, 148 Hoyt Street, Brooklyn; (718) 625-9741.
Daddy’s, 435 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn; (718) 609-6388.
East River Bar, 97 South 6th Street, Brooklyn; (718) 302-0511.
East Village Tavern, 158 Avenue C; (212) 253-8400.
Freddy’s Bar & Backroom, 485 Dean Street, Brooklyn; (718) 622-7035.
Hank’s Saloon, 46 Third Avenue, Brooklyn; (718) 625-8003.
Mars Bar, 25 East 1st Street; (212) 473-9842.
Mona’s, 224 Avenue B; (212) 353-3780.
Nancy Whiskey Pub, 1 Lispenard Street; (212) 226-9943.
Rattle n Hum, 14-16 East 33rd Street; (212) 481-1586.
Russian Vodka Room, 265 West 52nd Street; (212) 307-5835.
The Scratcher, 209 East 5th Street; (212) 477-0030.
Spuyten Duyvil, 359 Metropolitan Avenue, (718) 963-4140.
St. Dymphna’s, 118 St. Mark’s Place; (212) 254-6636.

More reasons why we all should LOVE the recession! (Alternative headline: Enough already with listicles telling us how we should enjoy a recession)

From the Post:

Enough already with the food recession blues. Believe it or not, there are actually some good things the econopocalypse hath wrought — the demise of water sommeliers, gold-flecked sundaes and reservation scalpers chief among them.

So let's get back to basics and toast an end to bloat. Check out our Top 10 reasons for loving the recession.

Among the reasons? An end to Velvet ropes!

While the Meatpacking District is still fueled by models and bottles, there are signs that the trend is waning. We were happy to see the uber swank of Level V recently replaced by 675 Bar. The honest-to-goodness joint is billing itself as a local's hangout ("because the Meatpacking District is a neighborhood, too") offering "a casual, no bottle, no guest list vibe."

And here's the photo the Post uses to illustrate their point on 675 Bar:

This is the No. 1 bar in NYC?

Something called The Clubplanet Nightlife Directory has named its top-10 bars of NYC. And No. 1 bestest of the best bars?

#1 Best Bar in NYC
Elsa
217 East 3rd Street
New York, NY 10003

Just when you think East Village will forever stay in its un-gentrified hip-ness, a snazzy, upscale place like Elsa opens, as if the be-seen type of bars simply spilled out of the over-packed Lower East Side, and nestled in the surrounding neighborhoods. Well, the better for East Village scenesters. One thing is sure— if you like your drinks well-mixed, Elsa is the place to be, mostly due to its signature cocktails, courtesy of the best bartending pros, which is why its made our list as one of the best bars in New York City. And in case you were wondering about an appropriate outfit — you can get tailored on the spot two days a week. Elsa is styled after a tailor shop, but those old-school sewing machines are not a simple decoration. Now, we’ve already heard about linking the idea of shopping and drinking (boutique lounges), or drinking and doing your nails (Beauty Bar), but drinking while waiting for your hand-made jacket, that’s quite a new take on New York watering holes’ versatility.

Why people move away

I've noticed a few more people than usual moving from the neighborhood. (Perhaps there's a reason for so many more men with vans signs.) Given the drop in some rentals, maybe these people are just moving a few blocks away to a building with better deals. Or maybe they lost everything and have to go bunk with a relative. Or maybe they came here during the heady days of, say, 2005 and figured to become the next Carrie Bradshaw. (Or at least have the chance to sit on her stoop!) I wish I could go up to these people and conduct exit interviews. Why are you moving? What will you miss about the neighborhood? What are you glad to be leaving behind? I'm always curious about this.

Luckily, I came across a blog written by a young professional living on the LES. After one year here, she is moving to another undisclosed neighborhood. Almost in answer to my questions, she provided a list of things she will miss and not miss about her apartment and the LES. Among the items:

Things I will miss:
--The gym. I hope I can still force myself to go to the gym when it isn’t in my building!
--My stainless steel stove
--Dry cleaning in the building
--The statue of Vladimir Lenin on top of the Red Square building. I can see him from my bed so I wake up to him with his right arm in the air every single morning.

Things I will not miss:
--The girls who scream, “Where’s my boyfriend!?” at 4 a.m. while leaving the Lower East Side bars on any given day
--The symphony of honking on Houston Street that forces me to sleep with earplugs
--The fresh vomit that I sometimes step over while leaving for [work] on any given day
--The smell of pickles from Katz Deli that I am forced to inhale when walking home every day
--The fact that there is not a close enough Starbucks
--The mural of Kiss on the brick wall on the bar across from my apartment

I guess that says it all.

One opinion (not mine) on the "Top 10 New York Bar Names"

Meet Now Live's Nightlife and Bar Guide, which gave us the "Top Ten Dirtiest Bars in New York," has another listicle. Presented here in its entirety without comment. It's up to you to decide if they were trying to be funny. Or offensive. Or...

Funny, Stupid, Sexual, Weird, whatever…these are the top 10 New York bars with the best names. Some I’ve been to, some I refused to go to…if you’re at one of these bars, hit “broadcast now” from the bar’s mobile MNL page to let us know!

Here are the top ten great bar names of New York:

1. Wogies - West Village - anyone have any clue where this came from?

2. Murphy & Gonzalez - West Village - So an Irishman and a Mexican walk into a bar…

3. 1 2 3 Burger Shot Beer - Midtown West - It’s like calling your bar “$3 Drafts”

4. Kettle of Fish - West Village - wtf?

3. Arlene’s Grocery - Lower East Side - No Arlene and definitely no groceries going on in this place.

4. No Idea - Flatiron - exactly, no idea.

5. Otto’s Shrunken Head - East Village - uhhmmm….yyyyyeah.

6. Chumley’s Bar - West Village - Sounds like something you do after a long night of boozing or could be one of those sex postions…”I gave some girl the sickest Chumley last night!”

7. Galway Hooker - Garment District - So many guys walk into this place with a handfull of cash and completely pissed off.

8. Burp Castle - East Village - Amazingly this place is actually a nice place to bring a date.

9. The Redhead - East Village - If you go downstairs to the basement, it too is also red.

10. I’m Gonna Kill You Tavern & Grille - OK, I made this one up.

Honorable Mention:

Happy Ending - Chinatown - because a happy ending is NOT what you get here

Slaughtered Lamb - Greenwich Village - just a gross name

Nowhere - East Village - cause thats exactly where you tell people you were last night if you went here last night

Ding-Dong Lounge - Upper West Side - AKA “Penis Tavern”