You'd be out of your gourd to miss this pumpkin smashing event

Photo by Stacie Joy 

A. Sorry for that headline. 

B. La Plaza Cultural is hosting a Pumpkin Smash tomorrow (Sunday) from noon to 3 p.m. Bring your pumpkins, Jack-o-lanterns and gourds to the SW corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street. 

Afterward, the LES Ecology Center will turn the smashed remains into compost for city parks and green spaces. 

C. It is a rain-or-shine event, though no worries since it doesn't rain anymore.

Thursday's parting shot

As seen outside Westside Market on Third Avenue at 12th Street... and only 3.5 months until Christmas!

Monday's parting shots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Sawyer hosted the annual BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) event last night at the Parkside Lounge on Houston and Attorney... and there were prizes...

Loisaida Fall Festival brings pumpkin-picking fun to East Village residents

Reporting and story by Stacie Joy

East Village residents are invited to the Loisaida Fall Festival on Saturday outside Mariana Bracetti Plaza at 251 E. Third St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Kanielle Hernandez, the CEO/president of The Loisaida Foundry Inc., a lifelong resident here, talked about the inspiration behind the event.

"This is my third year serving the community through my foundation, and this year, I wanted to recreate a city version of a pumpkin-picking harvest festival," she said. "As a kid, I only saw this on TV and in movies, and I always wanted to experience it."

She continued: "When I became a mom, I was finally able to experience it and some wonderful small-town suburban life activities with my son. I'm blessed to have a vehicle, which allows me to do so, but it's not the case for most families in the community."

The Fall Festival will feature a pumpkin patch where each child will receive a ticket to pick out their own pumpkin for free and get a cup of apple cider. Via an art table from sponsor Loisaida Inc., the kids can carve and decorate their pumpkins.

The afternoon will also feature a reveal of the NYCHA beautification garden project in front of 251 E. Third St. For Hernandez, this is a significant development. She has been an outspoken advocate about the quality-of-life issues at the public housing complex (see links below).

"This is important to me because I was born and raised in this community. I'm a third-generation resident of the Lower East Side and a lifelong NYCHA tenant. I truly love my community, but when I started advocating for it, I was motivated by anger at the conditions we as a community faced with quality of life and public safety," she said. "I started off upset, but as I dived deeper into my mission to change things, I realized the issues surrounding us were deeper than I ever understood."

Saturday's Fall Festival is from 2-6 p.m. And despite some rain in the forecast, Hernandez said they will move forward with the event (city permits do not allow for rain dates).

"Bring your umbrellas and get your kids a free pumpkin, and support our awesome vendors who have worked hard to prepare for this event," she said.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Local elected officials, NYCHA reps get firsthand look at the problems at Mariana Bracetti Plaza 

• Residents say dangerous safety conditions at Mariana Bracetti Plaza lead to illegal and hazardous activities 

• Another look at conditions in and around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza public housing complex

Tuesday's parting shots

William Klayer (above) and Steven both noted that the pumpkins have landed at Lime Tree Market on First Avenue at Ninth Street... which always seems to get them in first (for corner markets)...

Thursday's parting shot

Reader-submitted photo from Sixth Street tonight... between Avenue A and First Avenue in case you want to do a rescue. (I already have 12 of each in my apt, otherwise...)

Carving out some quality time for Halloween at the Parkside

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The Parkside Lounge was the scene of a recent bring-your-own-pumpkin (BYOP) carving competition ... and as EVG contributor Stacie Joy witnessed, it was a spirited affair here at the bar on Houston and Attorney ... with competitors taking the proceedings quite seriously...

... we don't actually who took home the trophies... but they all look pretty good...

Friday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Exit9 owner Charles Branstool has (a very limited supply of) upstate-grown pumpkins to give away to participants in the shop's pumpkin carving contest this month. It's all taking place on Instagram... and you can read all about how to take part right here. 

Exit9 is at 51 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street if you want to stop by for any other reason.

Creepy discarded pumpkin creeping people out on 9th Street

And it has been here all day just off Avenue A...

(And I don't know when/if Doc Holliday's will reopen.) 

Thanks to Vinny & O for the top photo and Steven for the nighttime pic.

Compost pumpkin patch

Post-Halloween scene at the compost bins today at the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket...

Thursday's parting shot

Seventh Street at First Avenue this morning...

Fine, but when will the Christmas trees arrive?

Lime Tree Market on First Avenue and Ninth Street today...

Monday's parting shot

11th Street near Avenue C via Vinny & O...

24 hours in the life of a pumpkin in Tompkins Square Park

Yesterday...



... and today...



Photos by Steven

Tuesday's parting shot

Happy LinkNYC Halloween from Second Avenue today.

Photo by Derek Berg

A chance to toss your pumpkins tomorrow, but go ahead and enjoy today

There's a Pumpkins Smash tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the community garden on East 11th Street — entrance west of 420 E. 11th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Per the signage:

Bring Pumpkins, Jack-o-Lanterns, and Gourds for a Smashing Good Time! You smash them — and NYC Compost Project will turn them into compost for City parks and green spaces. Join us for refreshments, raffles, and more!

Seems a little early to have a pumpkin smash — the day after Halloween? It would be like holding the MulchFest on Dec. 26. But we understand if you want to get this Halloween crap out of your apartment to start getting the place ready for Easter.

H/T Steven

Pumpkins — not just for Halloween anymore

They also make for decorative additions to street lights, like seen here on Second Avenue and East Ninth Street … photo via John Coakley.

1 of the 2 prize pumpkins has been sold at Sheen Brothers

10th and B.

Yesterday!



Today!



Also. Easier now to access the row of clam juice…

Neighborhood Pumpkin Watch group reports first casualty of season

Members of a newly created Neighborhood Pumpkin Watch group send along what they believe is the first smashed pumpkin of the young Halloween season ... here on Second Avenue near East Third Street ...

A group rep we spoke with said that they have a suspect a short distance away ... we don't want to name names, but the business rhymes with DareDurger.

Group reps also said that they will be holding protests at any establishment selling seasonal pumpkin craft ale, pumpkin-shaped hand soap and pumpkin-flavored bacon.

Nothing sadder than a discarded pumpkin in a tophat

East Ninth Street. By Bobby Williams.