Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the gas station...

Second Avenue and First Street last evening. Photos by Bobby Williams.

[Updated] Jesus is now chained to a fence on Avenue B

Well, I did go back to Avenue B and 13th Street tonight to see if the statue of Jesus on the market for $50 (plus $5 delivery!) was still there...

He is... I thought he was there for the taking, but there is a thick chain and padlock holding him to the fence...

Updated: Per a reader:

"This isn't Jesus, folks. Most likely a statue connected to Santeria, not a Catholic icon. From a website describing important Santeria statuary: 
Babaluaye: Patron of the sick, especially diseases. Leprosy, gangrene and skin diseases. Saint Lazarus. White and purple beads. Old man on crutches accompanied by dogs."

Comfort and joy

The Casualties at Coney Island High from 1995. Gets me in the holiday spirit. (I could have used "Kill Everyone" from their pre-Christmas show at CBGB in 1997.)

Going rate for Jesus today: $50 (plus delivery fee)

Avenue B at 13th Street. Chino is asking $50 for it ... throw in an extra $5 and he'll deliver it.

Fined Christmas tree vendor leaves early; plenty of trees left elsewhere

Here's the scene today on Second Avenue along the St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery...



As Patrick Hedlund reported at DNAinfo yesterday, Roger Baust, who has sold Christmas trees along here the past six years, packed it in early. The city fined him $1,500 for keeping a "warm-up hut" on the sidewalk to shelter his staff from the cold.

"I'm just calling it quits because I just can't go on any further," said Baust ... adding the combination of fatigue and dealing with the city forced him to pack it in early.

"I usually stay there until Christmas Day."

We're told that Christmas Eve day is one of his top-selling days of the season. We still have questions about this story, as mentioned yesterday. The disconnect between the alleged complainant(s) and the sudden summons by DOT a few days before Christmas is creepy.

And his crew left this behind... (and some trash, according to a commenter here).



Meanwhile, a quick survey of neighborhood tree stands revealed... there are plenty of trees left...

In front of the St. Mark's Market...



Houston in front of Whole Foods...



Rite-Aid on First Avenue...

Who is this dagger-carrying mystery man arrested in the East Village?

From the Post today:

Authorities have two questions for a bushy-bearded mystery man found wandering the East Village with a giant dagger poking out of his backpack back in March:

Who is he? And why did he (allegedly) have a loaded pistol, three more daggers, a stun gun, and a total of 305 additional rounds of ammo in his South Street storage locker?

James Edward O'Donnell, 39 -- that's the name and age he gave cops -- insists he's an American and a war veteran, but when his prints were run after his arrest on St. Marks, he came back with not only no rap sheet, but no drivers license, no Social Security number, nothing.

"This is a very strange case, in that this defendant has been accused of all forms of weapons charges and the people are absolutely uncertain as to his identity or whereabouts," Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lewis Stone said today, as O'Donnell sat before him at the defense table.

Someone has to know this fellow...

Heavily armed cops spotted on the Bowery

We spotted four heavily armed NYPD officers this morning — decked out in riot gear and whatever kind of heavy artillery that they carry — on the Bowery between Second Street and First Street... it gave the tourists walking by something to talk about... One tourist nervously approached one of the men, who responded they were just on "routine patrol." Uh-huh.

When a cab ride will (nearly) cost you an arm and a leg (well, at least an arm)

From the NYPD Daily Blotter in the Post today:

A hack from hell rolled up the window on the arm of a man and dragged him for several blocks through the East Village, law-enforcement sources said.

The victim had accidentally left his cellphone in Eddy Brizard's cab on East Houston Street early Saturday morning, the sources said.

Brizard, 56, somehow tracked him down and brought back the phone, but then demanded $20, the sources said.

The man said he didn't have the cash and tried to snatch the phone back through the window -- but the driver allegedly raised the window and snagged the victim's arm.

Brizard was charged with robbery, assault and reckless endangerment, and his hack license was suspended, said a Taxi and Limousine Commission spokesman. The victim was not seriously hurt.

Le Souk is back open and loud as ever

We know that Le Souk is throwing a New Year's Eve bash at their old space on Avenue B ... Perhaps the Le Soukers were giving the space a test run last night... As one resident said, "it was so loud tonight all night after, say 11 pm. Around 2:30 am, I finally got up to see what the problem was ... Surprise! Le Souk."

Indeed.




The State Liquor Authority terminated Le Souk's liquor license in October 2009.

A very Billy Christmas

Here's the photo that accompanied Billy Leroy's holiday e-mail this year... (sent to us by a friend)



The note reads:

Wishing you a Scary Mary Christmas
from all the folks at Billy's Antiques

3 old-timey scenes from the holidays

Oh, just three old-timey holiday scenes from the Museum of the City of New York archives....

First, Macy's from 1944 (no photographer listed)...



And Sixth Avenue looking south from 22nd Street circa 1902 (by Byron Company) ...



Also on Sixth Avenue from 1902 (by Byron Company)... no address given, but that's certainly the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion that later became the Limelight...

McDonald's gets festive for the holidays

First Avenue near Sixth Street tonight.