Looking back at another Avenue B fire

Yesterday's fire on Avenue B brought back memories of a major blaze...this one at 42 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street happened on Jan. 30, 2004. It reportedly left tenants from 16 apartments in two buildings without homes. Click here for coverage from The Villager.



[Villager photo by Bob Arihood]

Unzipping the mystery at Zips (trying to, anyway)

There's no shortage of chitchat among a few neighbors [that I happen to know] of the former Zips Deli on Avenue B at Fifth Street. Rumors abound that this space will become an upscale diner-type place, though I never report on unconfirmed facts, unsubstantiated rumors or other un-words. Oh, oops. Anyway! Something is happening here...



Yesterday, a worker was removing the graffiti from the front doors.



And there has been plenty of hammering and nailing kind of thing happening behind the brown-papered doors. An EV Grieve tipster who caught a look inside said the interior is shaping up to look like an upscale diner-type place, though you likely already knew that by now.




The EV Grieve tipster frets that what goes in this spot could have a negative impact on the neighborhood...if it's something obnoxious that attracts the let's-be-loud-and-pee/barf-in-the-streets-real-late-and-yell-for-a-cab crowd from outside the neighborhood. The people who are already going to a few places just south of here on Avenue B.

Related:
Check out this shot of Zips on Flickr...

Houston and Avenue B in 1997....and 2007

Two weeks back, we mentioned the new mural by Chico and Tats Cru on Houston and Avenue B.

Here's a quick look at some recent history of the corner...

May 2007:



September 1997:



Someone wasn't a big fan of the Royal Family....hence the "die" mustache for the late Diana, Princess of Wales.



[The 2007 photo via the Associated Press; the 1997 photo via the Grieve family camera]

Michael Rosen discusses Formula Retail Zoning

This week's issue of The Villager includes an op-ed written by Michael Rosen titled Fighting on many fronts to protect our neighborhood. In the article, Rosen, a founder of the East Village Community Coalition, discusses Formula Retail Zoning ... and this video made by Nicholas Whitaker for the East Village Community Coalition.


Formula Retail Zoning from Nicholas Whitaker on Vimeo.

Rhyming and dating

I was reminded it that it's Spring Break for some colleges...a time when students go to warm places and drink and act dumber more than usual. Here's a clip featuring the Beastie Boys from MTV's Spring Break 1987 coverage of the wackiness in Daytona Beach. Back before the Beastie Boys became sensitive and stuff. Try not to cringe.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

Spend an evening with Drew Hubner and Jim Coleman -- next Tuesday (East of Bowery)

Biker Bill has words for Biker Billy the chef (Slum Goddess)

The LES bartender who tried to kill Teddy Roosevelt (Ephemeral New York)

On 64 years living in the West Village (Washington Square Park)

A curious closed-up shop on Court Street (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Say goodbye to a big chunk of Delancey (Curbed)

Alex can't help but keep looking at the former Cedar Tavern space (Flaming Pablum)

No dinner for this Red Tailed Hawk tonight (Neither More Nor Less)

A night out at the Village Barn (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

Where the Sun still shines (BoweryBoogie)

What the fuck is A-rod doing in these photos? (The Superficial)

Starbucks to run expensive ad campaign to show that its coffee isn't expensive

AdAge.com has it:

Distressed that Starbucks has become the "poster child for excess," CEO Howard Schultz said the coffee company plans to run an ad campaign proving its coffee isn't expensive.

"There's a myth out there that there's this $4 cup of coffee at Starbucks," Mr. Schultz told shareholders at the company's annual investor meeting earlier today. "For whatever reason, Starbucks Coffee Co. has become the poster child for excess, and if you want to be really smart, you should cut out that $4 cup of coffee."

Next, perhaps Mr. Schultz could create a campaign that improved the taste of their coffee, something that doesn't taste like, oh, dusty tar.

Of course the people we really want to leave just won't

From the Times today: "New York City lost less population to other states in the 12 months ending July 1, 2008, than during any year in decades, according to census figures released Thursday. If that trend continues, the city’s population will top 8.4 million in 2010."

However, these figures don't represent all the job losses that hit in the latter stages of last year. Still, we can make it a trends piece!

“This is new, a real deviation from the average,” said New York City’s chief demographer, Joseph J. Salvo. “Whether it’s a trend is another thing.”

The latest census estimate did not reflect the decline in private-sector jobs in the city late last year.

Dr. Salvo, the director of the Department of City Planning’s population division, said, “When you take a look at the conditions in the rest of the country and what has happened to the housing and economic market in a lot of places our migrants have gone to, it’s very tempting to conclude that perhaps people are staying put more because the opportunities that were afforded there are not there any longer or are no longer attractive.”

In any event! Shall we start a list of people we wish would leave the city? I'll start with the guy on the bus talking on his cellphone about the lack of good golf courses in the city.

Is it safe to venture out again?

I've come out of hiding...Is St. Patrick's Day over yet? And thanks to the jokester who sent me the info on the St. Patrick's Day bash at Turtle Bay on 52nd and Second Avenue...

Noted

Engineers have discovered dangerous cracks in 200-year-old wooden beams right above Mayor Bloomberg's desk in City Hall, leading to an emergency $5.5 million contract to stop the roof from falling in. (New York Post)

An excellent body of work

Last August, I did a post on artist Dan Witz. He uses some of the uglier new buildings in Brooklyn and the LES as the backdrops for the photo-based, heavily re-painted stickers that he mounts on plastic and glues to the walls. Anyway! His work came to mind after reading about an upcoming exhibit of his work in Amsterdam April 9-20.

This is one of his newer works that I wasn't familiar with... from somewhere in Brooklyn.



You can find more on his Flickr page.

Noted

"George W. Bush is getting $7 million for his memoir, tentatively titled "Decision Points," scheduled for a 2010 release by Crown, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group." (Page Six)

Reverend Billy investigates how the downturn is having an impact on local businesses ("Stay out of the national chains!")

Thanks to the tipster who passed along this link...

Mayoral candidate Reverend Billy talks with business owners on East Ninth Street on how they're coping with the recession. This was filmed as part of the Uncommon Economic Indicator project with the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC.

More love for Britney on Avenue B...

At Sixth Street...Previously.

More on Mr. Zero

[Update: The link to This Ain't the Summer of Love's Mr. Zero post/photo archives is currently down...we'll let you know when it's back up...]

In case you missed his comments yesterday on my Urbain Ledoux/The Tub post, NYCDreamin at Ain't the Summer of Love dug around for some more information on Urbain Ledoux, the man behind the former diner/greasy spoon The Tub on St. Mark's in the 1930s:

According to what NYCD found:

Urbain J. Ledoux -- better known as "Mr. Zero" -- introduced a novelty in the form of a 5-cent turkey dinner. He fed turkey dinners at "The Tub" in the basement of 33 St. Marks Place, on the basis of "All you can eat for a nickel," and said that he was able to break even financially. Dealers furnished the turkey and trimmings at cost, the cooks volunteered, the diners waited on themselves, there was no overhead and and at the end of the day the ledger showed no red ink marks, according to Zero, who claims credit for the world's greatest achievement with the 5-cent piece.

NYCD also found further Ledoux-related archival photos...as well as this video..."Near the end of this clip, you can see some of the men from the Bowery taking a meal at one of Mr. Zero's charity relief soup kitchens," NYCD wrote...

Signs of the coming Depression?

Two times in two different locations in the East Village...I saw someone walking down the street blowing on a harmonica. One more sighting and this is enough for a trends/lifestyles piece in the Times.

At the Tub, Christmas 1933

From an archival photo from Corbis dated 1933. Here's the original caption:

Homeless and Unemployed Men Eating at Relief Center
Mr. Zero A Real Santa To Them. Nearly 5,000 homeless and unemployed men were the guest of Urbain Ledoux (Mr. Zero), at a Christmas Day dinner served by him in his haven for the needy, called the Tub at 33 St. Mark's Place, New York City. The principal item was Mulligan stew, made of turkey, chicken, goose and squabs, and how they enjoyed it. Here are some of the needy "digging in" at the savory meal prepared for them.

33 St. Mark's Place is now home to, among other things, Rockit Science Records.

(Hat tip, Mick)

[Image: via Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS]

Don't mess with Mr. G

Been a little slack. On my to-do list since, uh, last summer...join Jeremiah's Urban Etiquette Signs pool at Flickr. Anyway, here are a few candidates from making the rounds in recent months...

Jaws

A few weeks back our pal BoweryBoogie mentioned the Western Union ads on the vacant groundfloor storefront along the Ludlow...

Anyway, this damn thing continues to terrify me...

Appreciating a great bar on a day where it's not safe to go into any bars

Mars Bar, of course. First Street at Second Avenue. Not that you'll see anyone here today in green plastic hats and what not, but you never know what pub crawlers might be around on March 17...












Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day. May you not have to spend it near anyone who has been drinking Irish Truck Bombs. (Yeah, it's a pitcher instead of a pint.)

Just another photo of a dog trying to hotwire a van

Looking how guilty he/she looks! Caught on Ninth Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

What's wrong with this picture?

Spotted in the Financial District.

Avenue ATM (aka, how many stupid ATMs does one block need?)

A new ATM was recently installed in front of the China Wok on Avenue B at Third Street....



Fine, though there was already an ATM across the street by Mama's Bar...



and one a few feet away farther south on Avenue B...



and one a few feet farther than that on the same side of the Avenue...



and two directly across the street from these...



Not to mention the ATM outside the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union on the northeast side of Avenue B at Third Street.

For those who need some spiritual intervention while preparing your taxes this year

On Avenue D.

What's on the minds of the neighborhood's youth?

Let's take a look at the chalk art some schoolchildren recently left in Tompkins Square Park...based on this they seem to be well-read...with a firm grasp of important societal issues....





And they seem to be reading the tabloids as well...

Looking at the crack at St. Brigid's

The Villager recently has an article on the architectural plans to renovate St. Brigid's at Eighth Street and Avenue B....One of the major challenges: the large crack on the north side, which is partially detached from the church. Here's what it looks like: