There are tomatoes growing in this garden, and so far they have managed to survive squirrels, rats, birds, and humans. There are a group of very silly/pretty tree gardens in this corner. They were delightfully decorated with aluminum foil, plastic forks, and rocks earlier in the summer, and they are full of very healthy plants now. Cheers to the health of these tomatoes and to the gardeners — I hope they reap ripe rewards.
There's a pop-up plant sale by longtime East Village fixture Peter Martin ... he will be offloading tropical tree-like plants, orchids, and more out of his van at hugely discounted prices. Today only on the NW corner of 10th Street and Avenue A until 6 p.m.
And on Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, the curbside structure outside Ace Bar flipped over... (thank you @tjack411) ... also no injuries reported here...Someone's car got WRECK'D on 12th and 2nd pic.twitter.com/Nftt1r2Os5
— Paul Gale (@ImPaulGale) July 6, 2021
We parked our car on Avenue C between Fourth and Fifth this weekend. We should not have had to move it until street cleaning on Friday. We are vigilant about checking for parking signs and warnings, hate tickets. We were good to go.Yesterday afternoon I even went to the car to grab something — everything still fine. Last night around 10 I went to walk the dog and saw massive road work being done all along Avenue C. They were towing cars out like it was a parade. I managed to run home and grab my keys to move my car JUST in time.Usually, when this happens, [the city] places signs up at least a day before to warn people. But for last night's work, this was not the case. Here's a pic [above!] of a paper sign closest to my car — it's still crisp and dry meaning it wasn’t put up until AFTER the rain late yesterday afternoon.
How does the city get away with acting like this? I can’t imagine how many poor people came out to their cars this morning to find them missing. There were SO many cars to be towed because NO ONE had any idea because the city gave NO notice this would happen. Outrageous.
But today the signs were all ripped down again. So people may have parked there today and will be towed tonight. Would be great to warn them.
A walker lies smashed by a drunken crowd of revelers, largely underage, on Saint Mark's Place last night. My neighbor used it every day for walks around the neighborhood, greeting all with a friendly smile.The walker was locked to a bike stand, and was broken away from it here between Avenue A and First Avenue.
As you are also aware the intersection of 14th Street and First Avenue has long been plagued by homeless individuals, unsanitary conditions, drug use, alcohol use and, at times, violence. Over the past year these issues have moved over to directly in front of my building to where there is now an encampment.
Several residents from my building have been in contact with Carlina Rivera's office, 311 and the police (the 13th Precinct, as this is on the north side on 14th Street) but unfortunately the situation has not only NOT been resolved but has also exacerbated.
Residents and staff from my building who have attempted to address those camped out front have been threatened, so understandably people are hesitant to confront.The encampment (pictured above, via a reader) is in front of the retail post office at 335 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
"I think he waits for the snow so he can barricade the walk way and force you to walk on him.... without your consent. He moves around. The last snow storm he was at different crosswalks every night."
And some more background...
"When I was in high school there was another guy that would ask us to walk on him while in a rug. This was in the 1990s. This guy is someone else. For me, I have no problem with someone's fetish, but at least the guy from when I was in high school asked you to do it. I don't think it's cool to kinda violate those forced to walk on him when crossing the street. Anyway, I just thought people should now."
As the clock hit 9:05, I noticed ... a DoS worker writing on a clipboard on the side of my car. 'Is he writing me a ticket?' I thought. I got out of my car, saw his name on his shirt and asked if he was writing me a ticket. To which he laughed and said 'yeah.' I mentioned I was inside my car, the street cleaner had already passed and there was nowhere to move with his truck and a Con Ed truck double parked — plus that no other cars moved. The street was pretty jammed. He laughed and said 'I have six-and-a-half-years experience and know how this works. You must be one of those liberals.'"
I was playing with my toddler in the unlocked area in Tompkins Square Park — north of the chess tables and south of the St. Mark's Place entrance. I’ve noticed the New Amsterdam School playing there so I assumed it was a space where children are allowed. A couple of people came in and let their very large dogs off leash. One woman informed me that this area was now an official dog area, though there is no sign posted. She said that for over a year this is the only area (besides the official dog run) where you won’t get a ticket for letting your dog off-leash.
I was wondering if you knew if this area is an official dog area, or just an area that dog owners are claiming for themselves.
Sources tell @nikreport: an off-duty NYPD officer was beaten & robbed at gunpoint around 6am this morning. Happened on E. 13th St & 2nd Ave. The officer suffered lacerations to the face and was taken to Bellevue Hospital. No arrests at this time. @PIX11News
— Morena Basteiro (@morenabasteiro) January 17, 2019
The 28-year-old cop was walking near Third Ave. and 13th St. about 5:45 a.m. when a gun-toting thief ran up on him and demanded his valuables.
The cop fought back — and the suspect used his gun to give the officer a vicious pistol-whipping before running away.
Exclusive: Police say this man robbed an off duty #NYPD officer this morning at gunpoint. @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/scfLcs7tix
— nicole johnson (@nikreport) January 17, 2019
I live in the building in which this now-former tenant’s apartment is located. First, I can confirm that the apartment was definitely not staged, and that it is, indeed, in the East Village.
I must admit, as awful as it has been over the past couple of years living in the building where this person lived (though I and that tenant have each lived there for about 15 years), it’s a bit painful to see this described simply as the situation of a “hoarder.” That’s not at all to criticize EV Grieve, because I’m sure that is the only context in which it was presented to him. I just hope to add a little context before too many people comment without, understandably, knowing more about the situation.
As Martin, the contractor, noted, the tenant was not always living this way. We are a pretty closely knit bunch in this building, due to our occasional battles with our landlord ... and while most of us weren’t close friends with the tenant, we knew him for many years as maybe a bit eccentric (as most of us living here could probably be described as well), but as a good neighbor and not someone anyone would imagine ending up in this kind of situation.
Sadly, over the past two years, we all witnessed his mental and physical health decline for reasons that should remain private. We tried, individually and as a group, to intervene, but it quickly became clear here was not willing or able to accept our offers to help, which was frustrating both because of the declining conditions in the building, and because it is painful to watch someone go through what he was going through.
Let me be clear: it’s been pretty hellish living here for the last couple of years. While none of us had seen the full extent of the decay in his apartment until now, we have all been dealing with the effects. Those roaches invaded every apartment in the building and, while not nearly as numerous as they were in his, it’s been nearly impossible for any of us to cook or keep food for over a year now, and it’s a very defeating feeling to know that no matter how much one cleans, there will always be more roaches arriving from the source. Living in an old tenement building, we’ve certainly learned to expect the occasional rodent or critter of some sort, but this was clearly on a scale that made the building next to unlivable.
As I mentioned, we’ve been through battles with our landlord over the past couple of years (and came out on top thus far, thankfully), and he was well aware of the situation. While I’d love to blame him for not addressing the issue, I do know that he attempted to do so, sending multiple exterminators upon our request over the past couple years, all of whom left when the tenant cursed at them and would not let them into his apartment.
As I understand it, the landlord bought out his lease nearly a year ago, but he did not leave after accepting the buyout. Eviction proceedings followed.
It was a difficult situation for everyone, because clearly the tenant’s living situation was a threat to his own health and that of everyone in the building, and we certainly knew this couldn’t continue. On the other hand, we were conscious of his poor health and limited resources, and I don’t believe anyone wanted him end up living on the street. The courts apparently agreed, as they stayed his eviction for many months due to his health. And so, at something of a stalemate with our desire for a decent place to live and our consciences, the situation dragged on.
Last week, he was finally evicted and, as I understand it, he has moved into another building in the neighborhood, where I can’t imagine he or his new neighbors will be any better off than we were.
As for our building, as you can see, contractors immediately moved in to attempt to clean out his apartment, and clearly it is not a pleasant task. And it will surely be some time before we can fully eradicate the roaches from the building – though we will certainly hold our landlord to doing so as quickly as possible.
I suppose this is all a very long way of saying that it’s been a very rough couple of years, and it would sure be convenient if there was was one person to hold to blame, or to simply call the tenant a hoarder and put him on a reality show, or just call the landlord an asshole, or even to say that we (or his closer friends/family) should have done more, but maybe the lesson in the end is just that illness – mental and physical — really fucking sucks. And while none of us were able to help him address what he was going through, and maybe no one could, I just wish there were better options than watching this happen or getting him kicked out onto the street.
This video and the images of the apartment are out there now, and as we all know there’s no way of retracting them. And I don’t blame people for sharing them now that they’ve become public – I understand there’s a natural fascination with these kinds of graphic images, particularly in a city where we all may wonder from time to time what lies behind our neighbors’ doors. But wonder as we may, we do not generally step through those doors uninvited.
Our former neighbor never gave consent for his very private struggle to be held up to public view and inevitable ridicule, and it’s disappointing and saddening to me that Martin felt the need to offer them to the press. What purpose could it serve? The fact that he has left comments on the article at several news outlets asking people to subscribe to his YouTube channel and promising additional videos may provide the answer. Or perhaps he genuinely felt the need share an experience that he found traumatic as his own way of coping.
Whatever the case, I sincerely hope that he will reconsider posting whatever additional videos/photos he may have. And if he cannot resist doing so, I hope that this backstory will at least allow those who read it to view those images through the lens that we, his neighbors, have viewed them: certainly with disgust at the conditions, but also with an understanding that what we are witnessing is a glimpse into the very personal struggles of a person who, just a few years ago, was laughing with us at parties and showing off, with great pride, the furniture he custom built in his apartment.
For now, I can hope for nothing more than that he gets the help he needs and deserves, that we get to return to the decent living conditions we deserve, and that his new neighbors somehow avoid experiencing what we have endured over these past couple of years. And I hope that if our old neighbor is reading this, he knows that despite our frustrations with him over the years, we know his life is more than the images coming out of his apartment, and we wish him health and happier days ahead.
I saw a bunch of Amazon.com and Jet.com packages sitting on the sidewalk in the rain. They are drenched.
Are they off delivering other packages and maybe they plan to come back for these? I don't know! It's not a great move given that everything is soaked. Meanwhile, stuff could be stolen.
