Be warned! Today they learn how to operate the sprinklers; tomorrow, the air conditioners

At the Tompkins Square Park dog run yesterday. Photo by Bobby Williams.

June 27

Here we are, last night on 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

...where Candee and Joe worked to authenticate this find...

No!

Yes!

Gruber MacDougal, spokesperson for the International Coalition of Tree Tossing in the Spring and Summer (ICTTSS), sent his approval via an intern while waiting to board an Airbus A320 Prestige in Zurich.

Bowery Beef back in business with new security

Last week, we noticed that Bowery Beef was closed...

Bowery Beef, which holds down the cafe space at The Bowery Poetry Club, had been robbed several times, as Grub Street reported earlier this month.

Bowery Beef's Ray LeMoine told us that they were now back open after waiting for a security system.

University of the Streets, 8:35 p.m., June 27

Matt Lavelle Big Band. Photo by Dave on 7th. Go to the website for upcoming shows at University of the Streets.

Going for a ride with Fran Lebowitz

Over at the Times this evening, there's an interview with Fran Lebowitz, who owns (and drives!) a 1979 Checker Marathon, "which she keeps in an expensive garage in the East Village." Reporter Michael M. Grynbaum tagged along for a ride. An excerpt from the Q-and-A:

What about those pedestrian plazas that the mayor installed in Times Square?

Closing down the streets the way he did — you know, the lawn chairs in Times Square and that kind of stuff? It’s grotesquely suburban. O.K.? It makes New York seem like a failed Rust Belt city, where they are trying to, you know, bring people downtown to a mall where no one shops because the factory closed. It is the opposite of an urban environment.

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Mykola (Mick) Dementiuk for the link ...

Along for a ride

Bobby Williams took this shot earlier today in Tompkins Square Park...

What do you think of the new outdoor toilet in Tompkins Square Park?

Photo by Bobby Williams.

Behold the Economakis Dream Mansion

Workers have removed the construction netting from 47 E. Third St., soon to be the single-family Economakis Dream Mansion.

Here's a shot of the building, once a 15-unit tenement, from September 2009... So long pesky fire escapes!



Around that time, Scoopy at The Villager got a tour of the building. You can read that here.

An epic Plant Thief sign

EV Grieve reader John Iz spotted this instant classic Urban Etiquette Sign at the 6th & B Garden ...

Big Gay Ice Cream signage spotted on Seventh Street

EV Grieve reader Elizabeth Frayer of New York Natives spotted signage of the coming-soon Big Gay Ice Cream shop on Seventh Street in the former Xoom space...

Still no official opening date, though...

Meanwhile, a look inside the shop via the Big Gay Ice Cream Facebook page... which includes a mural (in progress here) by Sam Simon...

Olivia has closed on East Ninth Street

When we last checked in on the Mediterranean-themed Olivia on East Ninth Street, the restaurant had closed because of a problem with the air conditioner...

A few weeks later, the space is now for lease.

Olivia had taken over the the short-lived Sintir, the Moroccan eatery/lounge that opened in May 2009. Too early to say that this is a jinxed/doomed location for a restaurant?

Wai? Cafe ready to open as Y Cafe on Avenue B

As we pointed out back in April, Wai? Cafe had left its First Avenue home... and was relocating to Avenue B near 11th Street... There is now a sign... as well as menus ... looks as if they're going by Y Cafe these days.

The menu looks similar too...

No exact opening date just yet.