Updated! Mysterious, low-flying helicopter returns...

I moved this post up top from yesterday afternoon... getting more reports that the thing is back hovering over the neighborhood this afternoon...




Circling now for like 20-30 minutes. Doesn't look like a police helicopter. I followed it to Avenue C after seeing it fly over Tompkins Square Park...

Previously.

The mystery of 442 E. 13th St.

A reader is looking to solve the mystery of 442 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. This longtime resident lives on 12th Street, and his windows look down on this small, unmarked building. He writes:

It has no signage. Years ago, it had a small sign, Electrical Motor Maintenance.

I'd like to know what goes on in there. The industrial air conditioners are noisy and are on 24/7.

20 years ago, I filed a complaint with the DEP about this building because at the time there was also a noxious smell being emitted from a chimney on the building, but the DEP found nothing.

The building is generally locked up (it's rare to see that entryway door open).

What's the deal?

I walked by and, to some surprise, found the door open...but no one was around -- which only added to the mysteriousness... Not much in the DOB either.



So what's going on here?





And here's an aerial view supplied by the reader:

Report: Fireball in the sky above the East Village

From an EV Grieve reader last night:

Two people just saw a fireball in the sky moving from west to east above the EV. Was sighted from the rooftop on 3rd street and ave B. Both people said it looked like a burning ball of fire, but did not go out as expected as it climbed from 50' to several hundred in seconds.
Thought it was a Chinese lantern at first, but if that was the case it should have blown out. Couldn't be a flare because it was a flame and not dropping sparks.

Anyone see this? Do you have any ideas or explanation as to what this may have been? (And no Lady GaGa jokes, please.)

Drv-In moving to the East Village?

Saw the following item in BizBash yesterday about Grand Opening's expansion away from its current digs on Norfolk Street:

The folks at Grand Opening, the small Lower East Side venue with a rotating roster of quirky activities, are expanding their offerings—both indoors and outdoors. The fall and winter concept was Drv-In, an intimate screening room outfitted with a 1965 convertible four-door Ford Falcon. This summer, the same concept (and the same car) moves to a larger, permanent venue in the East Village. The new Drv-In has a reception area and concession stand, and while the car still only seats six, the space can hold as many as 15 guests. For a bigger group, the company’s new summer drive-in series, Cars Under the Stars, takes over parking lots around the city.

According to the link for the new Drv-In supplied by BizBash, the address is 215 E. 4th St., which also happens to be the address for the very-much-still-open wine-and-tapas joint In Vino.


Or maybe the new location is the vacant storefront to the west of In Vino. Though that place still has a "For Rent" sign above it.