Street party protest tomorrow night will include stop at the BMW Guggenheim Lab

John Penley passes along word that, after tomorrow's show in Tompkins Square Park, there will be a "LET EM EAT CAKE/EAT THE RICH/ NO COMFORT ZONE street party" starting at 8 p.m.

First stop: the Economakis Dream Mansion on East Third Street near Second Avenue.

"This street fiesta will feature poetry by LES Jewels, music by Hank who plays on the street and others TBA. Afterwards we will go the the Mars Bar for beer. The Mars Bar is closed so it will be street. F the developer Donald Capoccia we will roast and eat him with bbq sauce."

Updated: In the comments, Penley notes that the protest will include a stop at the BMW Guggenheim Lab.

[Photo from the July 2008 protest outside the Economakis Dream Mansion]

Last night in the East Village: A solidarity march for the Pelican Bay State Prison hunger strike

[Photo via @volt4ire]

Last night around 10, witnesses spotted a group of a dozen (or so!) protestors marching down Ninth Street near First Avenue handing out flyers in solidarity with the Pelican Bay State Prison hunger strike in California. The three-week-long strike began due to poor conditions at the prison. A little background via Southern California Public Radio:

"The strike originated in the Special Housing Unit of the prison, which houses 1,100 inmates who are completely isolated from one another in soundproof cells and are let out for only one hour each day. The strike has spread to thirteen other state prisons with 6,500 inmates participating over the past few days, thus making it the largest prison strike in California in a decade."

Witnesses told Bob Arihood at Neither More Nor Less that the group — mostly dressed in black — "emptied trash containers and tossed newspaper dispensers into 2nd avenue while chanting anti-police rhetoric." Bob has a photo of the aftermath on Second Avenue here.

Could have been more dramatic. For instance, yesterday in Seattle, organizers hung a banner, tossed flyers and set off a smoke bomb in a busy downtown intersection.

Activists in Tompkins Square Park call for the closure of Indian Point

EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams was in Tompkins Square Park this afternoon during a protest about Indian Point...

There were more protests today in Union Square.

Another protest outside the Continental tonight

EV Grieve reader AWKWORD notes that protestors — organized by the Answer Coalition — have returned to the Continental on Third Avenue this evening to protest what they consider to be discriminatory acts by the bar’s bouncers....

You can read more about this ongoing story here. Bob Arihood has more at Neither More Nor Less here.

Why there wasn't a protest in Tompkins Square Park on Halloween

As we had reported, John Penley had organized a protest/fiesta Halloween night in Tompkins Square. The event was set to last from 7 p.m. to midnight or so... I didn't make it to the Park until 10 p.m. No one was there. I was told only a handful of people turned out. Penley wasn't there.

He offered an explanation via Facebook: "Some pretty heavy stuff came down on me the night before Halloween. I got maced and someone else close to me got a baseball bat to the face. I have gone into hiding for awhile. This is why I was not at TSP on Halloween."

Penley did say that filmmaker Vlad Teichberg was there at midnight for a “culture jam” projection. There should be a video soon.

While the protest didn't materialize, I thought there was a healthy discussion about concerts in Tompkins Square Park, a permanent bandshell ... and local politicians ... all leading up to Halloween. (Read the 74 comments here.)

Previous John Penley protest coverage on EV Grieve:

At the Donut Social

At the 47 E. 3rd St. Protest

At the Bowery Wine Co. protest

Reminders: Protest tomorrow night in Tompkins Square Park

As reported earlier this month, there'll be a Protest/Fiesta in Tompkins Square Park starting tomorrow night at 7 ... organized by longtime East Village activist/photojournalist John Penley...

amNY had a feature on it in yesterday's paper...(not online)



Previously on EV Grieve:
More details on Halloween night protest/fiesta in Tompkins Square Park (74 comments)

Movement afoot to limit the number of concerts in Tompkins Square Park

Halloween protest in Tompkins Square Park no longer includes a midnight march

Speaking of the Halloween protest in Tompkins Square Park.... John Penley left a comment on the post saying there would no longer be a midnight march to anyone's apartment... However harmless the intention may have been, that element of the protest left some readers uneasy... As he wrote: "Just to show that I do listen to what people say ... I am not going to lead a march..." You can read the full comment here.

At Friday's bike lane protest

Well, after all that ... Due to work commitments, I couldn't make it to the bike lane protest on Friday afternoon.

However, I'm thankful for the readers who sent along quick reports and photos...





Per one reader: "it was very dull.there were more hyperlocal reporters than protesters and most people were pro-bike lane. the reporters shown here are from the NYU LEV."




Another reader noted, "There were lots of people with bikes, and many with signs like the one in the photo. It seems to have been taken over by pro-bike lane people."

In an e-mail to me, Leslie Sicklick, who planned the protest, said that she will likely hold another one in the future, though at a different time and place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Protest planned for reconfigured Avenues (153 comments)

Who's going to the bike lane protest?

The bike lane/etc protest is at 5 today at 14th Street and First Avenue.... Looks like EV Grieve will be stuck at work... so if anyone happens to be there and wants to file a brief report... we'd very much appreciate that....grieve98@gmail.com

Protest planned for reconfigured Avenues

[Image via Neighborhodr]

The reconfigured First Avenue and Second Avenue (bike lanes, bus lanes, pedestrian islands, etc.) have been a popular topic in recent months... and now an LES resident is organizing a protest about the changes...

As you can see from the flyer above, there's a protest planned for Friday, Oct. 15... I contacted Leslie Sicklick, whose name appears on the signs. She's helping organize the event...

Her background:
I was born and raised on the Lower East Side. I am a third-generation Lower East Sider. My dad's parents came here from Russia and lived on the Lower East Side since the 1920. My mother's mother came to the Lower East Side also in the 1920s. Unlike many people, my parents did not move and raised me and my brother down on the Lower East Side. I grew up in the bad days of the 1970s, so I have seen the neighborhood change. I have also been a driver since 1995, often taking my mom, who is handicapped, shopping.

On why she's doing this:
My father raised me to get involved and, if you don't like something, take a stand, which is what I am doing. My biggest complaint is, because of the bike lanes, New York is becoming impossible for drivers. I used to go to 1st Avenue for dinner, shopping and was able to park my car. My other complaint is with how dangerous some bike riders are and how nasty they are. I was walking across the bike lane on 1st Avenue and was almost hit. I was yelled at — that I should get out of the bike lane. Who the hell are these bikers? They probably have not even been living in East Village for very long. What are my rights? I have lived here all my life.

Also, there are fewer spaces for businesses to deliver food, packages. Do bikers bring in business to the City? No they don't, and many stores are losing business because there is less space for people to park and come into the stores.



What she hopes to accomplish:
I guess what I hope to accomplish is to get the message out there to Mayor Bloomberg to change bike lanes so they are not against the sidewalks where people are trying to cross. Bikes don't stop like cars do for lights — they keep going. Bike lanes also attract people on rollerblades, skateboards, runners ... I am not saying all of them are bad.

By Mayor Bloomburg, the idiot, doing this is punishing drivers and rewarding bad behavior of bike riders. Bike riders never stay in bike lanes. Also, how many bike riders are out there compared to drivers? I'd also like to know what is going to happen in the winter when there is snow and ice. What a waste.

This is New York, not Amsterdam. I believe Mayor Bloomberg is killing New York, and changed any character it used to have. I don't miss the City being so bad, but at least it had some character.



Previously.

The oil zone

Around 6 this evening, protesters took to the BP gas station on Lafayette and Houston ... (which was conveniently closed in advance) to condemn BP's involvement in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster (read more about the protest here via Gothamist) .... here are a few photos from the protest ... (BoweryBoogie was also there... you can read his report here.)

Looking for delivery bikes outside the Moonstruck Diner

On Friday, some fliers appeared calling for a boycott of the Moonstruck Diner on Second Avenue and Fifth Street...




According to the signs, a blind man cut his hand on one of the diner's "7-9 commercial bikes that are always blocking the East 5th Street sidewalk." And the Moonstruck Diner "refuses to move those obstacles."

I walked by the Moonstruck several times over the weekend to see how many bikes were around... or if the owners responded...

Here's what I saw...an abandoned ATM...and a few bikes...not 7-9, though, at least when I was around.





And there weren't any bikes around Saturday morning.

Neighbors call for a boycott of the Moonstruck Diner

At Fifth Street and Second Avenue. If you can make out the sign, a blind man cut his hand on one of the diner's "7-9 commercial bikes that are always blocking the East 5th Street sidewalk." And the Moonstruck Diner "refuses to move those obstacles."




So until they remove the bikes, the organizers are asking you to eat elsewhere. How about the Odessa?

The Times profiles a "community citizen"

The Times profiles Robert Lesko today...here are a few passages from the piece:

When he’s not working, there’s a good chance that Mr. Lesko, 48, will be standing up for some cause. While not alone in perpetual protest, he is certainly among the more ubiquitous activists at Manhattan rallies. Each week, Mr. Lesko scours NYProtest, a listing of street demonstrations distributed by e-mail by a fellow activist, and chooses three or four that match his leftist political leanings.

He is known on the scene as a colorful character who often wears costumes that attract news photographers. Several years ago, to protest the presence of Coca Cola products on the New York University campus, where he is a secretary in the George H. Heyman Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, Mr. Lesko wore a Coke-can costume that he had made ...

“You have to figure out what will work,” he said at another rally a week after the vice squad protest. “Today I couldn’t think of anything.”

This was last Saturday, and the event was a march in the East Village to protest the proposed elimination of the M8 bus line. He attended this event in street clothes.

“This is Saint Bobby right here,” said Michael O’Neil, a media manager for Reverend Billy, a comic preacher who organized the march. “He’s a pillar of our community because he shows up. Bobby is the epitome of the community citizen.”

[Photo: Frances Roberts for The New York Times]

Report: Alistair Economakis is suing his cousin Evel for libel

As you may recall, a sharply worded letter made the rounds this past summer from one Evel Economakis, a high-school history teacher in Athens, Greece, who is also reportedly the cousin of landlord Alistair Economakis, owner of 47 E. Third St. (In November, Alistair Economakis was successful in buying out the remaining tenants at 47 E. Third St. He is reportedly making the tenement building a home for his family.)

According to an article in The Indypendent, Alistair Economakis is suing his cousin for libel. As The Indypendent reported:

In a letter sent out in September, Evel Economakis wrote that the libel suit is an attempt “to send me to jail and destroy me financially (which is not a hard thing to do, as I make under $12,000 a year).” According to Third Street tenants, Greek law allows plaintiffs to sue for libel even if the accusations are true.

So in that letter, Evel apologized for “the mistake of calling my cousin Alistair a ’spoiled rich brat.’

“Alistair grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, was surrounded by maids and other servants, had everything handed to him, played on his father’s yacht, and rode his father’s horses on their estate in England. More, on at least two occasions I personally witnessed how rudely he addressed poor elderly people in Greece. But none of this, of course, constitutes evidence that he is a ’spoiled rich brat.’ Sorry, Alistair, I shouldn’t have said that about you.”

“If I had the chance to rewrite the letter, I wouldn’t use characterizations and other adjectives,” he concluded. “But I have always believed -- and will always believe -- that a parasite is a person who takes and never gives back. A parasite buys and sells, producing nothing. Worse still, he does so at the expense of others.”

Meanwhile, the article in The Indypendent contains many juicy details about the battle for 47 E. Third St.

Previous coverage of 47 E. Third St. on EV Grieve.

And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

The New York Post reports:

Eight holdout tenants who fought for five years to keep their millionaire landlord from turning their Lower East Side tenement into a mansion for himself agreed to be bought out yesterday.

The last rent-stabilized tenants of 47 E. Third St. said they gave in because they weren't confident they would beat real-estate baron Alistair Economakis in the Manhattan Supreme Court trial scheduled to begin yesterday.

Economakis, the son of a Greek shipping magnate, bought the six-story building for $900,000 in 2003 and said he needed it as a home for himself, his wife and two children.

He reached deals with seven of the 15 tenants but the others fought until yesterday.

The tenants will each receive $75,000 under the settlement, except for one elderly resident, who will get $175,000.

Here is the Web site for Alistair Economakis -- The Other Side of the Story: 47 East 3rd Street

Previously on EV Grieve.

Court date for 47 E. Third St. tenants/landlord

Showdown in court today over the fate of 47 E. Third St. (New York Post)

The EV Grieve 47 E. Third St. archive.

One sign from the bailout protest

There was a "Protest the Bailout on Wall Street" uh, protest today at noon on the steps of Federal Hall. Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez brought their Independent Presidential campaign there for what they dubbed the "Jail Time, Not Bail Time" protest. I wasn't there. But! I did walk around later to see what was left behind...

On the Bowery Friday night

Bob Arihood, BoweryBoogie and Jeremiah have photos and words on the "Outsiders" protest Friday night on the Bowery.

[Photo via BoweryBoogie]

Wall Street week in review: Tuesday

Members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) held a small demonstration at the side of the Chase Plaza on Liberty Street late in the morning. They ask that Congress protect homeowners facing foreclosures (paraphrasing here) instead of the Wall Street fatcats who got us into this mess.






Meanwhile!

Offices are being emptied...



Streets are being ripped up...



and this guy tried to charge me $20 to take his picture.