Noted

Many carpet sightings in recent weeks here on the NE corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place... photo late this afternoon by Lola Sáenz... 

... and now getting the attention of the Citizen app! (Thanks for the screengrabs, Eden!)...

And some background.

Reader report: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen slated for the SW corner of 14th Street and Avenue A

EVG photo from early 2022

Renovations are taking inside the former coffee shop at 442 E. 14th St., just west of Avenue A. Two EVG readers/tipsters reported that workers at the scene said the incoming tenant is — Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.

Haven't received any other confirmation of this at the moment. (And if this is true, hopefully the restaurant will have a better exhaust system than the Wing Stop several storefronts away.)

This would also make the second EV Popeyes: an outpost opened in October 2020 at 39 First Ave. between Second Street and Third Street.

No. 442 was previously the Lower East Side Coffee Shop, which closed here after 13 years in February 2021. Next door, New Herbal World, which offered a variety of herbs, teas and tonics as well as acupuncture, moved to Lafayette Street in September 2019. 

It was a tough time for all the businesses on this corner in recent years. For nearly three years, this side of 14th Street was an active construction zone for L-train repairs and Avenue A entrance construction ... with various trucks, drill rigs, pile drivers, compressors and generators. 

Several businesses were forced to shut down due to limited access to their storefronts. Outside the now-shuttered Dion and the Coffee Shop, customer access included only 28 inches of sidewalk space — not big enough for a wheelchair in spots.  

Reader report: Empanada Mama opening at the former Papaya Dog space on 14th and 1st

Multiple readers tell us that Empanada Mama is opening an outpost on the NW corner of 14th Street and First Avenue (the former Papaya Dog space). 

A worker at the under-renovation space told EVG regular Pinch that an an "empanada" place is opening here... a commenter went on to specify that it will be an Empanada Mama, which, if true, will make the fourth location in NYC, including the one at 95 Allen St. 

Papaya Dog shuttered here with 0.0 warning last fall, ending a 16-year-run of slinging cheap eats from this corner.

Storm damage: reports of trees and limbs down; Ace Bar's curbside structure collapses

The high winds from this evening's thunderstorm KO'd a tree outside 323 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... coming to rest on a car in the process, as these photos from a longtime reader show...

Hard to tell from the pics, but it appears the car may have been spared serious damage... and no injuries. 

Meanwhile on Avenue B at Seventh Street (thanks @theenemieslist1!) ...

From 11th Street and Second Avenue (not 12th as ID'd on the tweet)...

Someone's car got WRECK'D on 12th and 2nd pic.twitter.com/Nftt1r2Os5

— Paul Gale (@ImPaulGale) July 6, 2021

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...

The FDNY helped stack up the remains of the structure...

Read this if you parked along Avenue C right now

An EVG reader shared this following... 

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. 

And the work is set to happen again tonight.

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.

Reader report: Damage from last night's revelry on St. Mark's Place

A Saturday morning report from EVG reader Allen Semanco:

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.

Addressing the problem corner of 14th Street and 1st Avenue

The long-problematic corridor along 14th Street and First Avenue is getting some attention. 

First, a reader report just from yesterday:

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. 

However, the calls and concerns from the residents have apparently been heard: Today (May 1), we're told that representatives from the 9th Precinct, several city agencies and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's office will be on the southeast corner from 4-6 p.m. for a community outreach event.

'Rats galore,' the video sequel

Yesterday we posted the reader report about the rat problem in the long-empty lot at 89 First Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. 

Today, we have a reader video report via 2ndAvenueSilverPanther showing a few rats frolicking among the discarded mushy boxes inside the lot... 

[Updated] About that rolled-up carpet in the crosswalk

An EVG reader shared the following clips from last evening on the southwest corner of Third Avenue and Astor Place. 

The first clip shows what at first glance could be a discarded roll of carpet ... placed right at the curb, giving pedestrians no choice but to walk over it. However, per the clip, the piece of carpet is moving...

 

 And here, people are seen walking on the carpet...

   

Apparently, the man inside the carpet wants people to walk on him to satisfy a fetish. The reader had seen this happen in the past. 

For years, from the late 1990s into 2013, a man, dubbed "the human carpet," visited clubs and other places to have people walk on him while rolled up inside a carpet. In this case, he instructed people — women in high heels a bonus — to do so with a sign. This MO is different. There isn't any consent.

To the reader:

"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."

Updated 5:15 p.m. 

DP in EV shared footage from late this afternoon...

 

And a little later... perhaps on a dinner break? Photo by Steven...

Reader report: East Village street-cleaning tickets back in full effect

An EVG reader sends along this story of an interaction with a Department of Sanitation officer this morning.

Alternate Side Parking regulations went back in effect on Monday (lasting through today) after the COVID-19 PAUSE.

The reader got to his car ahead of the time to move on First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. However, he couldn't go anywhere with cars in front of him and a double-parked Con Ed truck next to his vehicle. The street cleaner passed by. The reader was sitting in his car and shared what happened next:

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.'"

The reader also notes the DoS officer was not wearing a face covering. "The lack of mask is just irresponsible."

The reader received a $65 ticket, and estimates another 20 cars on the block also got one.

Sounds as if the city is getting a head start on its 2021 budget goals. According to the Post, "the city's newly adopted budget includes a planned ticket blitz that’s expected to cost motorists some $42 million in the coming months."

Readers reports: Police activity on 7th and B

[Photo by Vinny & O]

Police have the area around Seventh Street and Avenue B closed off to traffic. (The view above is from Sixth Street looking north.)

There was a report of a robbery and slashing this morning on the corner of Seventh Street and Avenue B. The Citizen app states that the injury was non-life threatening....



Per one anonymous tip: "I didn’t see the slashing, but I saw the guy who was slashed running after the slasher. Guys in the Park think it might’ve been a punk robbing an older drug dealer." The reader notes that this description of the crime is only speculation.

Updated 11:45 a.m.

Parts of the Park are still blocked off by crime-scene tape... these photos are via Steven...

Reader mailbag: Is this a new dog run in Tompkins Square Park?

[Reader-submitted photo of the West Lawn]

From the EVG inbox...

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.

The reader asked to put this question out to readers. (One vote for B — dog owners are claiming it for themselves.)

This came up several times last year... when Park regulars complained about more and more people letting their (large) dogs run loose in sections of Tompkins Square Park — especially in that West Lawn the reader above described ...



One owner of a large dog said at the time last year that he didn't like to use the official dog run because it gets too crowded.

Park officials eventually padlocked the West Lawn... for awhile.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Makeshift dog run in Tompkins Square Park has been padlocked

[Updated] Another look at the southwest corner of 11th Street and Avenue C

A few weeks ago we had a reader report (thx Jose Garcia!) on the vacant retail space at the southwest corner of 11th Street and Avenue C.

The word from here: A martial arts studio is opening soon ... Vinny & O shared these photos showing how the space is shaping up...



The space has sat empty for nearly two years ... when the New York Healthy Choice (aka Eastside Market) closed after nearly five years in business.

Updated 6/23

Signage is now up for Champions Martial Arts...

Reader report: Martial arts for the empty storefront on 11th and C

EVG regular Jose Garcia shares some intel about activity at the long-empty storefront on the southwest corner of 11th Street and Avenue C.

The word from a worker here: A martial arts studio is opening soon ... and it will take up the full corner retail spot.

The space has been empty since August 2017, when the New York Health Choice (aka Eastside Market) gave it up after nearly five years in business.

The previous tenant, the Monk Thrift Shop, closed in December 2010. At the time, neighbors heard that — why not? — a bank branch would open here.

Updated: Reader reports of an armed robbery on 13th Street

[Reader-submitted photo]

There's little (to no) information at the moment about an armed robbery that took place on 13th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue early this morning just after 6.

There are multiple reader reports that the NYPD shut down the block to traffic ... these photos are via Salim...







The first report hit the Citizen app at 6:06 a.m. The details, including the address, changed several times over the course of 40 minutes, though there were reports of a search for a man with a gun. There was also a report that the victim was taken to a local hospital.




There aren't any media reports at the moment... and the police weren't talking to inquisitive neighbors on the block. Will update the post when more information is available.

Updated noon

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

Updated 12:30 p.m.

The Daily News reports that an off-duty NYPD officer was the victim.

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.

The officer was taken to Bellevue with cuts to his face and head.

Updated 2:05 p.m.

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

Updated 5:30 p.m.

Police are distributing these flyers around the scene of the crime... there's is up to a $2,500 reward for info about the suspect...


[Photo by Steven]

---

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

The real story behind the so-called Lower East Side hoarder

On Sunday night, we posted the video that a contractor working at an undisclosed building created showing the cockroach-filled apartment that he and his crew had to clean following the eviction of the resident.

"Whatever you've seen, you've never seen nothing like this," the contractor, Martin Fernandez, says in the video that was posted on multiple news sites. Fernandez never mentioned the actual address, saying only that the building was on the Lower East Side. However, the First Avenue location of the Bean is visible in one of the scenes, causing several readers who shared this video to think this building was in the East Village.

An EVG reader, who lives in the building where this took place, shared the following letter to provide more background on what transpired ...

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.

Reader report: Neo-Nazi slogan spotted on East Village sidewalks

A slogan popular with white supremacists has been spotted on sidewalks around the neighborhood.

EVG reader Marjorie Ingall has come across three of the stenciled slogans, which read: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." According to the Anti-Defamation League, these "14 Words" are a reference to the most popular white supremacist slogan in the world.

Ingall said that a community affairs officer from the 9th Precinct was investigating the stencil on Third Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (Ingall also contacted the Southern Poverty Law Center and City Council member Rosie Mendez's office.)

"My kids and I have been covering the graffiti with chalk," Ingall said.







In addition, someone painted a swastika on a wall on Third Street near the Bowery... that has since been covered up...

Reader report: In case your packages were a little wet this evening

An EVG reader shared this from earlier this evening in Stuy Town...

I saw a bunch of Amazon.com and Jet.com packages sitting on the sidewalk in the rain. They are drenched.

There wasn't any sign of the delivery people.

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.

Reader report: Tracking the source of 'a mid-range whining or humming noise' on 8th Street (and beyond)

[Random ConEd plant photo]

A 30-plus year resident of East Eighth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C shares the following...

Beginning approximately this summer, I noticed a noise that is very irritating and sometimes wakes me up. If I am awake when the noise is occurring, I cannot get to sleep.

The noise is difficult to describe but I will attempt: It is a mid-range whining or humming noise. It permeates everything and sounds industrial. It sounds as if someone is blowing in an empty soda bottle and then amplified 100,0000 times. Each occurrence of the noise lasts anywhere from approximately 3-10 minutes and continues on an intermittent basis (sometimes several times an hour), day and night, seven days a week.

When I open my window to get a read on where the noise is coming from, it is always from the direction of the ConEd plant. I believe that this is where this noise comes from. Over the years the ConEd plant has been the cause of many, many irritating, disturbing and dangerous noises and explosions that have plagued the neighborhood.

The noise is very disturbing. I am sure it can be heard for more than a six-block radius surrounding ConEd (if indeed it is the source).

Anyone else have similar experiences with the noise the reader describes?

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village residents ask: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT NOISE LAST NIGHT?

About that really loud noise around 14th Street and Avenue B last night

Con Ed apologizes for the 'inconvenience' of waking you up at 4:30 a.m.

The breaker pop heard 'round the neighborhood

Reader report: Man allegedly fondles himself in Tompkins Square Park while staring at 2 women

An East Village writer shared this with us this morning. She wants residents and Parkgoers to be aware of the man:

My friend and I were sitting on a bench in Tompkins Square Park on the Avenue B side of the park just past the dog run talking about 11:30 this morning. We were enjoying the lovely weather when I looked to my left and made eye contact with a man sitting on a bench. He was staring right at me, and I thought maybe I knew him, then he starting moving his hand around his crotch and stuck it up his shorts and started playing with himself. I turned to my friend and asked her to look past me and tell me what she saw, and like me, she saw him staring toward us while he was playing with himself.

I got up and walked over to Avenue B and walked down a bit and re-entered the park so I could walk by him from the other direction and get some good footage of him while my friend remained on the bench. As you can see in the photo, he has a newspaper on his lap and is wearing loose-fitting shorts. I suspect he is an old pro at this.

After I sat back down, he bolted to the middle of the park where he had a bike. He hopped on it and quickly rode out of the park, leaving out of the exit on the corner of Avenue B and East 7th Street.