A few minutes ago on First Avenue

Snow flurries. Woo?

Via Eventphotosnyc — photo by Jon Gurinsky

Patrons accuse the Continental of discrimination

Neighborhoodr reports on a demonstration that occurred Friday evening outside the Continental on Third Avenue near St. Mark's Place. According to Neighborhood, "Those present were protesting against what they claimed is discrimination on the part of the bar’s bouncers. One woman, an African-American, claimed she was allegedly told 'Your kind don’t know how to act' by a bouncer when she tried to enter the bar."

The group was organized by The ANSWER Coalition. There is also a Facebook group called Boycott Continental Bar in NYC.

The Local East Village interviews Trigger Smith, the Continental's owner, who said his club isn't doing anything improper. Per the Local EV:

Mr. Smith, who is white, said that patrons were not being turned away because of the color of their skin but because the bar has a policy against admitting patrons who do not adhere to its unwritten dress code.

“It just so happens that more people of a certain minority wear these things than others,” Mr. Smith said. “But I don’t want white trash either, or Jersey Shore boys.”

He went on to say that he doesn't want to admit "frat boy" patrons either.

[Photo via Neighborhoodr]

Pruning in the rain

A few people waiting for tables for Prune's brunch yesterday morning... For a moment, it seemed like some kind of spectator sport (the golf umbrella)... and a few people escaping the rain under the awning... with their faces pressed against the glass... Must have been one humorous sight from within the restaurant...

2 Cooper Square decides that its in the West Village now

OK, I was not awake when I posted the item earlier about someone tagging 2 Cooper Square ...

I didn't notice that the new Cooper Square sign notes that the entrance is on West Fourth Street...



As Stedman commented, "Are we the West Village now? I didn't get the memo."

Monk Thrift shop yielding to a Chase branch?

That's the rumor anyway here on Avenue C and 11th Street, where the Monk Thrift Shop has shuttered. (Just last week.) Someone please call Rev. Billy.

And tough times continue for thrift stores...

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village vintage stores doomed?

Atomic Passion has closed

14-16 Avenue B back on the market

Twice now plans for 14-16 Avenue B were shot down by CB3 (and, perhaps, for good reasons — one venture called for a 3,000 square foot Italian restaurant, catering company and lounge "with an occasional D.J.") ... first in February ... and later in September.

Now, someone else has a chance to give the space a whirl... the storefronts are back on the market.




The entire corner is going for $18,000.

Folks at Tower may want to update the listing too...




Le Souk and EU?

Previously.

2 Cooper Square now officially welcomed to the neighborhood

First tag appeared sometime Saturday night.

Plus! Branding...

'Illegal activities' on 13th Street roof prompt police attention and a so-so urban etiquette sign

13th Street near Avenue A.

DBGB ready for Old Man Winter and his entourage

Does this mean the sidewalk seating is done for the season?

Empire Pizza opens on First Avenue

At the former Village Restaurant and Pizza joint on First Avenue near Second Street. It's now the second outpost of Empire Pizza, whose other shop is at 314 Fifth Ave. at 32nd Street.

Anyone try the pizza yet?

7:48 p.m., East 10th Street, Dec. 12

Here comes Santa Claus

A salute to SantaCon 2010.

Via @Santacon via Gothamist.

Mrs. Grieve objected to the headline 'Yes vagina, there is a Santa Claus.'

A few hours later on First Avenue...

Via EV Grieve First Avenue correspondent Blue Glass ... following up on this post from earlier today....

Post columnist defends the marginalized frat boy, people with college degrees

There's a humdinger of a column today in the Post titled "East Village bohemian snobs drive out the frat boys."




You need to read the article for yourself — that is, if you know how to read. ... A few excerpts to get you warmed up...

“Superdive made a lot of us into activists,” a 58-year-old former social worker named Dale Goodson told Capitalnewyork.com, which offered a fascinating history of Superdive.

So, what brand of humanity is considered undignified to a guy who spends his days shepherding the underclass?

Frat boys. Solid men in Big Ten regalia. Business types who spent their college years learning about balance sheets instead of transgressive modes of self-actualization. To these, the East Village can be as intolerant as a monocle-wearing English aristocrat from a P.G. Wodehouse novel, gazing down upon the polloi and pronouncing them a little too hoi.

And!

Community Board 3, at a meeting in which residents carried signs reading (really) “Not in my backyard,” last month opposed one businessman’s request for a liquor license at a new space to replace a former bar at 34 Avenue A — without even listening to his proposal. Silence a dissenting voice? Not very “Rent.”

Or maybe very “Rent” indeed. A bohemian’s idea of anarchy always seems to come with a surprisingly detailed set of standards. The story of the East Village might be how little things have changed — it’s still a cramped little hipster Vatican suspicious of outsiders.

But if your neighborhood is steeped in youthful rebellion, don’t be too outraged when free-spirited types come flocking around in a mad celebration of twentysomething exuberance. And don’t hate them just because their hero is Rex Ryan instead of Allen Ginsberg.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sends message to SantaCon

Last night, EV Grieve reader Hank's Pound of Spaghetti passed a long a photo of someone with a GIANT Santa head entering Diablo Royale Este on Avenue A...

Well! Turns out this was no ordinary Santa!.... It was an Ahmadinejad Santa ...



Via @Preovolos.

Check out Melanie's photos too... She has a great shot of this...

ConEd provides this morning's entertainment

Dunno if the photos and video do this justice... on First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street...

Mother Nature sneers: 'Your $3 umbrellas from the deli are no match for me today'

We're losing a lot of good umbrellas out there today. P.S. It's raining.

And just think if it was, oh, 25 degrees colder today

The morning after

Yesterday morning on Avenue B and Houston

The Lower East Side — 'still better than SoHo'

The Post checks in today with a piece on the (likely) closings of the Mars Bar and Max Fish. A few excerpts...

"The Lower East Side felt like it was over a while ago, but [Max Fish] is a very symbolic closing," said author Richard Price, who used the neighborhood as a backdrop to his best seller "Lush Life."

"There are no neighborhoods in Manhattan anymore. South of Harlem, it feels like a bunch of districts where rich people can crash."

And from artist Aaron Rose, former owner of Ludlow Street's Alleged Gallery:

"The Lower East Side will always have some kind of edge until they manage to kick out the Latino community," said Rose. "A lot of people get pissed off that it's not what it used to be, but it's still better than SoHo."

Rather hilariously, here is how the Post chose to illustrate the article...





P.S.
Chilling?

When you try to enter Diablo Royale Este in an extra large Santa head

Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street..... Thanks to EV Grieve reader Hank's Pound of Spaghetti for the photo....

Thanks!

A big thanks to all the Santas who visited the neighborhood tonight and peed on our sidewalks, threw up on our stoops, made fun of our bars, didn't tip our bartenders, etc., etc.

Held hostage by Santa

Earlier today...photos by SantaCon correspondent Blue Glass...

Virage reopens

Virage on Second Avenue at Seventh Street closed this week for renovations... and, per their sign, they were expected to reopen last night... and they were open...